Abstract:

The article is devoted to the aspect of Ivan Turgenev’s family everyday life which reveals their passion for the home theatre. The primary source of the study is the private estate library that contains publications on organization of amateur performances. The indication to existance of home theatre at Spasskoe is Vladislav Ozerov’s play “Oedipus in Athens” and the farce by Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Druzhinin, Vasily Botkin and Dmitry Grigorovich. The theatre was represented in form of improvisational plays, those Turgenev created for the children who visited his estate.

Keywords: home theatre, family leisure, books from the estate library, amateur perfomances, improvisation