“104 pages about love” on “Taganka”

The Taganka Theater presented the long-awaited premiere of the play “104 Pages About Love” based on the legendary play by Edward Radzinsky directed by Victoria Pechernikova.

“Whatever happens, the main thing is to be able to remain human. We really like this idea. And we really like the idea that love will save this world, that there is no cure for love. And if it happens to a person, it changes his genetic code. That is, a person before meeting with this feeling and after meeting with this feeling are two different people, ”Pechernikova told reporters before the premiere.

Unfortunately, the same love that the director spoke about is not at all visible in the production. The physicist Evdokimov and the flight attendant Natasha, performed by Pavel Lyovkin and Nadezhda Flerova, play in such a way that not only love, not even momentary passion can be seen. Dialogues do not evoke emotions, glances do not burn with passion, gestures are far from life.

A nostalgic melodrama about the “sixties”, when physicists and lyricists “twisted” the globe just the way they wanted it – with Radzinsky it was fantastically beautiful, emotional, loving and vital. For the current “Taganka” on the stage, only the scenery evokes at least some feelings – aesthetic.

The design of the 1960s is really “just space”, the change of plans is solved with the help of sliding panels. A hidden laboratory and a kitchen change the stage and the hairdresser’s, the dance hall at the party “strikes” in front of the aircraft cabin. Cafe “Kometa”, where the meeting of two young heroes of the story happens, is really like from our youth, where you want to return.

The costumes are even more “cool” than the scenery: wide trousers, “masculine” jackets, dresses with puffy skirts and rayon slips. For all this, a deep bow to the set designer and costume designer Ksenia Kochubey.

“I wrote a play about love. About how people fall into love, like under a train, ”Edward Radzinsky said so. “Love is not passion, not falling in love, it is immortality, it is a heavy burden, but is there anything more important in this world?” Unfortunately, there is nothing of this in the version of the Tagans.

If we accept as an axiom that only a few truly believe in spiritual love now, then yes – Taganka demonstrates exactly this. True, so that the main characters, even the absence of passion, attraction, love, play completely without excitement.

“To return the word “love” to its original meaning and to find out whether the soul has disappeared behind the veil of technology without falling into banality and sentimentality – this is what we want to achieve from the production,” the director’s words remain only a slogan.

“Taganka” wanted to contribute and took “a bold step to once again retell the viewer a story that he knows well.” The staging troupe did not succeed. Already a landmark, highly sensitive, passionate, but short love story of the heroes of Natasha and Yevdokimov, the modern viewer who came to the Taganka will not see and, moreover, will not feel it.

But there are also successes (in addition to scenery and costumes) – this is a stunningly emotional and musical youth jazz (Ekaterina Varkova, Yulia Stozharova, Alexandra Khovanskaya, Ivan Loskutov), ​​a magnificent game of the poet’s “plot scenario” (Sergey Kirpichenok), as well as the talented embodiment of several roles immediately Dmitry Mulyar. You believe his Semyonov, the stepfather of the protagonist, the zookeeper and the man with the dahlia, because he plays, and does not soullessly “perform” the role.

You come to the theater for the emotions that arise – should arise – when watching a production. And if the artists themselves do not have these emotions, then, probably, this is not the right theater, or at least not the right production.

Vladimir Sabadash.

Photo by Yuri Pokrovsky