CHARACTERS OF THE PLAY BY E. CHIRIKOV "RED CLOWN AND WHITE PIERRETTE" AS MASKS OF COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

Abstract

This article discusses the use of tradi-tional commedia dell'arte masks in the works of Evgeny Chirikov, a major writer at the turn of the 19-20th cen-turies. Exploration of the dramatic work by E. Chirikov, written at the time of the Civil War, of the significant re-lationships between the main characters that match the traditional masks of Harlequin, Columbine and Pierrot, and the atmosphere of the time portrayed allow us to suggest a high artistic skill of the writer, who followed the theatrical traditions and made his most vivid con-tribution to the images of the characters at a complex historical time.