Exactly the same and in musical theatre Opera and ballet: if we are talking about the content of the role, it is quite specific. For here, again, we recall once again, in principle, not in each case the content of the role is extracted from the music. There from the point of view of the content of the role and, consequently, the whole content of the drama theatre, and today (not only today) all verbal art, then the theatre of music. And content role musical.

What is the content of musical images? If you are not afraid of the “globalist” of this issue and the deliberate coarseness of the response, such a response is necessary and possible feelings. Not the people, as in a play or novel, and people’s feelings. In the Opera and ballet person the actor plays the role of the senses. Opera is not a person, although he has a name, and feeling. Or rather, a very complex set of feelings. And since we are yet in the field of maintenance, we must say: content is limited to content the role of music in the Opera and ballet alike. Here, in this respect, the differences between them are not. Love to sing or dance in musical theatre. And only in pantomime, the artist can portray the thing as such.

We have argued that could not play “the role of the stump” in the drama theatre. It is impossible to play in musical theater. But in the theater of pantomime, this role is even possible to play. It is in this theatre that sort of role most organic. Why?

Compare all the adjacent theatre full-length old. Music, literature, plastic arts. Imagine now that the theatre is “looking for content” role appeals to them, every one of them. Requested and received what I was looking for: the content of each art there is material for theatrical roles. Theater, and just roles, they are just in the theater, only “app” to play them in person and watching and listening to the public. But turn up their actors for themselves and for us, in each case in a special place.

If we remembered all of the original spatial and temporal art, and found that the theater was able to extract from each something that made roles, we can conclude that content or, if you will, the origin of the role is one of the possible criteria for division of theatre types. The mother put literature, music, plastic. The roles are: the man, the feeling, the subject (maybe more accurately thing). And the theatre drama, musical and pantomime.

Turning now to the form. Does she give any criteria for the separation of the theatre on? Gives, no doubt, and she. In one case in front of us, in the other doll, in the third shadow. This is the immediate form in which we perceive the image. There is the temptation as hard as in the case of content, “to relate” to someone of the participants to any element of the system performance. The specificity and severity is always attractive, but the risk is probably too great. We can’t say, for example, that this actor in the form of a doll.

And don’t even dare to claim that the doll is a form of role. Unless the actor plays the doll, not the doll playing, say, man? In essence it is the same with shadow, and actor living plan. Therefore, the logical form attributed to a scenic part of the image and so on the basis of formal criteria to build another, in contrast to the meaningful range: the theatre of the living actor (a better name has not yet been invented), puppet theatre, shadow theatre.

It is clear that these two series overlap. We have to remember that puppet theatre could be an Opera, therefore, music can be dramatic. Shadow theatre, as well of course, you can talk and sing. And so on. Noting for accuracy that multiply one row to another mechanical will fail (shadow pantomime, although theoretically possible, in fact still looks too much speculative construction). Fix the main. On those two levels, which we have considered, a real sense possess only “two stage” definition. For example, the dramatic puppet theatre. And although in the everyday practice of naming species the transition to such determinations is hardly possible (and hardly necessary) this definition, which takes into account both criteria, formal and substantive, scientific “order of magnitude” more correct ones we use.