During the Russian Revolution and Civil War, amateur theatre groups sprang up in cities across the country. Workers, peasants, students, soldiers and sailors provided entertainment ranging from improvizations to gymnastics and from propaganda sketches to the plays of Chekhov. In this work, Lynn Mally reconstructs the history of the amateur stage in Soviet Russia from 1917 to the height of the Stalinist purges. Her book illustrates in detail how Soviet culture was transformed during the new regime's first two decades in power.

During the Russian Revolution and Civil War, amateur theatre groups sprang up in cities across the country. Workers, peasants, students, soldiers and sailors provided entertainment ranging from improvizations to gymnastics and from propaganda sketches to the plays of Chekhov. In this work, Lynn Mally reconstructs the history of the amateur stage in Soviet Russia from 1917 to the height of the Stalinist purges. Her book illustrates in detail how Soviet culture was transformed during the new regime's first two decades in power.