Amateur theaters: soviet past and current practices

This work offers an overview of sources devoted to amateur theater as a socio-cultural phenomenon that existed on the territory of the Soviet state and in post-Soviet Russia. Since amateur theater as a socio-cultural phenomenon has a complex nature, it is advisable to apply an interdisciplinary approach to the study of its activities. The activities of amateur theaters are considered in historical, cultural and sociocultural contexts. The authors consider the sociological, pedagogical, organizational aspects of the activities of amateur theaters, as well as their contribution to the culturalpractices of the regions. Throughout the existence of the Soviet state, amateur theaters were considered as means of propaganda and education of amateur artists and their audiences in the spirit of Soviet ideology. Unlike professional theaters, amateur groups in the 60s instantly reacted to a change in ideological paradigms, asked sharp, uncomfortable questions, and reflected an active civic position. The thaw period was marked by the creative heyday of amateur studio theaters, which ended in clashes with Soviet censorship. In the 90s, after the Soviet dissolution and the abolition of the leading role of the CPSU in the life of the state, amateur groups entered the period of experiments both organizationally and aesthetically. A certain boundary of this period was the professionalization of some amateur groups and the cessation of the activities of others. The authors consider the cultural practices of amateur theaters since the 2000s, when the process of transferring part of amateur groups from departmental subordination to municipal was completed. Attention is also given to the conditions for the existence of amateur theaters in the Yaroslavl region nowadays. Amateur theaters position themselves mainly as a way of organizing active creative leisure of the adult population. The pedagogical component in their activities has an insignificant part, the repertoire is entertaining in nature. In the presence of two or three groups known outside the region, the main part of amateur theaters in the Yaroslavl region carry out a cultural and educational function in small settlements where there is no professional theater