At the opening of the exhibition in Lenkom, monologues were spoken in honor of Mark Zakharov

On October 27, the Moscow Lenkom Theater will turn 95 years old. They called this date with the elegant phrase “five to a hundred” and organized a jubilee exhibition in the foyer. Before others, Alexander Zbruev, who had worked at Lenkom for 60 years, came to its opening.

He carefully walked around the stands and said: “I don’t know many here anymore.” But he perfectly knows and remembers those whom others no longer know, those who are forgotten, but founded this theater. Alexander Viktorovich does not really like the name “Lenkom” and its Komsomol connotation. He immediately remembered our newspaper: “Here is MK. And “Lenkom” is like that. But that’s the story, there’s no getting away from it.

The exhibition features photographs by Valery Plotnikov, Anatoly Khrupov, Evgenia Sirina, Yana Ovchinnikova, and Alexander Sternin, who did not live a few days before the opening of the exhibition. But all of them seem to be deprived of authorship, they have become a single whole of the history of the theater. That is, photography is not an end in itself, not an independent work of art, but part of a common cause.

“Lenkom. Five minutes to a hundred” is a reminder of some significant events in the history of the theatre. The chronicle begins with a stand dedicated to the Theater of Working Youth (TRAM), founded in 1927, from which the countdown begins, from those who already created the Lenin Komsomol Theater: Nikolai Batalov, Ilya Sudakov, Viktor Stanitsyn, Nikolai Khmelev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ivan Bersenev, Serafima Birman, Sofia Giatsintova, Konstantin Simonov, who worked as a manager, Valentina Serova. Nearby is a stand called “The Age of Efros”. And next to it is a gallery of memory of famous Lenkom members of a later period, where Bronevoy, Karachentsov, Yankovsky, Abdulov are captured in 3D. You approach the portrait, and it seems to glow, vibrate, which causes strange feelings.

The main exposition is connected with the era of Mark Zakharov, who led the theater for 46 years, from 1973 until his death in 2019. There is a nominal Zakharovsky stand, and sections dedicated to his famous performances “Juno” and “Avos”, “Memorial Prayer”, “The Barbarian and the Heretic”, “The Seagull”. Nearby is “Legends of Lenkom”: Yankovsky, Bronevoy, Peltzer, Leonov… Part of the exhibition is dedicated to Mark Varshaver, with whom Zakharov created Lenkom for forty years. He, as well as actors Viktor Rakov, Ivan Agapov, Maria Mironova, Olesya Zheleznyak, Anna Bolshova, Anton Shagin also came to the presentation of the exhibition. Varshaver proudly noted that there was nothing like it anywhere else – 18 folk and 18 honored in the troupe.

The participants delivered monologues in honor of Mark Zakharov. Ivan Agapov said that Zakharov created it, recalled how embarrassing it was in front of the master if he did something of poor quality. For Viktor Rakov, Mark Anatolyevich is an educator and teacher. And Maria Mironova is happy that she brought her little son Fedya with her to the exhibition. The actors said how Zakharov was strict, but at the same time the actresses were in love with him. Anna Bolshova was covered with red spots after talking with him and forever remembered in his performance the scene of seducing men, which Naomi Campbell could have had. The actors constantly made a reservation, confusing the middle names of the two Markovs – Zakharov and Varshaver, thanked the latter. All of them worked in this theater only with Zakharov. Only Alexander Zbruev knows the story “before”. He recalled how he first climbed the famous Lenkom stairs 60 years ago, stepping over two or three steps. Now that doesn’t work anymore. The exhibition, according to Zbruev, is made with love, but cannot accommodate the entire volume. He himself was not present at the theater when Bersenev opened it, but played with the actors who started with him. “We all talk about Zakharov, but once there was Anatoly Efros, and people said: “Let’s go to Efros.” They bought tickets for Bersenev. “All the actors in front of you were invited to the theater by Zakharov,” Alexander Viktorovich told us. – But Zakharov did not invite me. It was he who came to the theater where I worked. And for the first time I saw him at the Polyakov Theater of Miniatures, where my friend Zinovy ​​Vysokovsky invited me. Zbruev did not like Zakharov the artist at all, but he was remembered for his appearance that was different from other artists. Some time later they met on the front Lenkom stairs. Zbruev asked: “Where are you running? What are you doing here?” A week later, Zakharov was appointed chief director, Zbruev already called him Mark Anatolyevich. It was hard for him after Efros, and he reacted with restraint to the arrival of a new director. It’s always painful for an artist. But after I saw Zakharov’s performance at the Satire Theater, I changed my attitude. “I struggled with what I was on my knees,” Zbruev says. — And it was Ephros. And this is still happening. It’s hard with every new director. But today I also profess the ideas of Mark Anatolyevich.” Zbruev’s emotional speech boiled down to the fact that we must not forget those who came before us.

Now the theater has a new director – Alexei Frandetti, chosen by Mark Varshaver from eight applicants. For the anniversary of Vladimir Mayakovsky, which will take place in July 2023, Frandetti is preparing a play about his young years. Basta will write the music. Alexander Lazarev will stage Bulgakov’s “Running”. And on the day of the 95th anniversary of “Lenkom” they will give a ball “Crystal Turandot” and remember the important milestones of the theater. Olesya Zheleznyak will appear as Turandot.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28893 dated October 19, 2022

Newspaper headline:
Zheleznyak will become Turandot