ИСТИНА

"Candida" came to Russia in 1907 being translated by Evgeny Tropovsky, and, as a contemporary mystery, was immediately noticed by Nikolai Evreinov who, at the time, was precisely focused on reviving and reinterpreting medieval mystery plays at the Starinny Theatre [Old-Fashioned Theatre] in Saint Petersburg. His unconventional approach to the production of "Candida" manifested itself already in the choice of actors: having at his disposal professional performers, he gave centre stage to amateurs, and entrusted the parts of Marchbanks as well as Shaw’s spirit himself to female performers. Another stage version of Shaw’s mystery that followed was created by Pavel Gaideburov – the founder of the First Peredvizhnoy [Itinerant] Theatre in Russia and advocate of psychological and synesthetic approach to dramatic material. This research relies on the reviews of both productions published in theatre periodicals at the time, and archival materials containing Evreinov’s correspondence and Gaideburov’s memoirs that allow to reconstruct their artistic attitude to Shaw’s texts as well as the process of bringing "Candida" to life.