Krivoe Zerkalo

(Distorting Mirror), a theater for small genres that existed in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) from 1908 to 1931. It began as a cabaret theater on the initiative of the actress Z. V. Kholmskaia under the auspices of the Theatrical Club. Its director from 1908 to 1928 was the critic A. R. Kugel’.

Krivoe Zerkalo was a theater of porody, social and political satire, “skepticism and rejection” (Kugel’), and “playful and subtle irony” (A. V. Lunacharskii). A skit called “Wampuka, the African Bride” (produced by R. A. Ungern in 1909), which satirized operatic stereotypes, was a great hit. The theater’s performers included M. K. larotskaia, S. I. Antimonov, K. E. Gibshman, L. A. Fenin, F. N. Kurikhin, and V. A. Lepko; N. N. Evreinov and N. M. Foregger were among its directors.