renewed, flood the Russian market with its paints, which, by the way, are of lower quality as compared with those of England and France.
V. The Theatre as a Means of Culture
In addition to what is contained in Document No. 20 (page 68) on this subject, we add Documents Nos. 27, 28, 29 and 30, which show conclusively that the theatre is to be made, in Soviet Russia, a part of the esthetic life of the whole population.
DOCUMENT NO. 27
The Repertoire Committee of the Art-Educational Section
The object of the Repertoire Committee is first, the drawing up of a repertoire for district theatres, and secondly, the preparation of a list of plays for workmen's theatres.
In the opinion of the Committee the following principles must underlie the preparation of the repertoire: 1) plays on the repertoire list must be artistic creations and adapted to the needs of the theatrical art; 2) they should heighten and strengthen the revolutionary spirit of the masses; 3) they should be optimistic in spirit.
Owing to the insistent and continual requests from localities a preliminary list has been prepared including the following Russian and foreign dramatists.
Russian—Gogol, Griboyedov, Shackovsky, Ostrovsky, Leo Tolstoi, Turgenov, Tchechov, Suchovo-Kobulin, Shchedrin, Gorky, A. Tolstoi.
Foreign—Calderon, Lope de Vega, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Beaumarchais, Moliere, Schiller, Blanche, Ibsen, Shaw, Romain Rolland, Verhaeren, Delle-Grazie, Mirbeau, Hauptmann.
The plays approved by the Committee will contain short reviews, written by the members of the Committee containing: a) plot and central idea of the play, 2) characterization of the stage personages, 3) possible cuts and change of scenes, 4) illustrative points on scenery and costumes (preferably accom-
59
