Citizens, do you have an extra ticket? – Moscow truth

Theater “Sovremennik” on Chistye Prudy presented to the public the premiere performance “Theater”. The first thing that the happy ticket holder faces is that that theater does not begin with a hanger, but with a crowd at the entrance, thirsting for an extra ticket.

The play is a creative development of the plot of the novel “The Theater” by Somerset Maugham.

“I never allow outsiders to come to rehearsals, but since you are now our accountant, you seem to be part of the troupe, and I don’t mind making an exception for you if you want to come,” Michael said. “That is extremely kind of you. I have never been to a rehearsal in my life. Will you be in the new play, Mr. Gosselin? “No, I don’t think so,” is a key quote from Maugham’s novel for the new play by Sovremennik.

It is unlikely that only accountants were sitting in the hall, but theater lovers for sure. The performance won on several fronts at once. First of all, it is, of course, a hook for a favorite classic novel. If Russians like something in English culture, it is incurable, like Shakespeare, Burns and Maugham.

The second is a play that is skillfully composed on a multitude of associations. As if an umbrella covers a significant segment of Russian culture. Dostoevsky’s The Idiot and Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard are rehearsed on the stage, and these works are surprisingly included in the concept of the play.

In addition, the plot is built on the principle of a nesting doll: the theater puts on a play about a theater that puts on a play about a theater that … – and so on. The audience seemed to be given the opportunity to attend numerous rehearsals.

To imitate the rehearsal atmosphere, the orchestra was seated on the stage. This is not the limit of innovations; in the film “Carmen” in the frame, tailors sewed costumes for the performers.

Another factor of luck has been repeatedly ridiculed and ridiculed, but it still works, and it is impossible without it – the presence of recognizable well-known actors on the stage.

However, in the play “Theater” the venerable recognizable ones do not overshadow the new young talented faces. And not only faces, but legs and arms: the dance and plasticity of the body in the performance are not auxiliary, but meaningful. At the premiere, Daniil Kazantsev, who played the role of Roger, showed himself especially brightly in this regard.

The play “Theater” is another opportunity to make sure that there is no scenario crisis in Russia. There are two moments that create unnecessary sensations. There are attempts to inject Western anti-art into the Russian scene. And there are actors who have lost their role in the new realities. “Sovremennik” with his performance “Theater” refutes both points.

But all students of theater universities who dream of the stage should bear in mind the warning from Dmitry Pevtsov, chairman of the Duma Committee on Culture, head of the theater workshop of the Institute of Contemporary Art. According to him, studying is exciting, and then it would be better to get a second profession. Here we can recall the words of Julia Lambert, said to the aspiring actress: “In London, there are much fewer roles than actors.”

The conflict of interests between the people’s artist and the people has turned into a trajectory of eternity. Actually, Maugham’s novel is about just that, and not just about the passions of an aging prima donna.

“Sovremennik” turned the plot face.

The synopsis for the play reads:

The main character of the performance is Julia Lambert (Elena Yakovleva), an adult and experienced actress who has achieved everything in her life on her own. She has a successful husband and adored son Roger. Variegated colors, bright flashes, many years have passed and after years of fame, it is difficult for Julia to find something beautiful.

A woman has the opportunity to show emotions and feelings only on stage, and her husband seems ordinary to her, she simply does not notice him. And at this time there is a guy whose name is Thomas. He works in a simple office, not particularly rich and famous, but he manages to hook the actress, and she rushes into new feelings, forgetting about everything and everyone around. Julia ceases to notice the very limits of decency. She gives her new lover gifts, introduces her family and does not miss the opportunity to show her love even in front of people she knows.

But a new love must end sooner or later. Emotions once let go of a woman, and she realizes how much she did in the end and how stupid she was. The aristocratic society has long spread rumors about her naivety and ignorance. Gradually waking up, she begins to realize that Tom does not love her, but only uses her for his own selfish purposes, as usually happens in such a society.

And here is a typical excuse for an actress: “I played it all!” But for her, the game is life, and it is already impossible to distinguish one from the other. “It often seemed to Julia that she combined two faces: a popular actress, everyone’s favorite, the woman who dresses best in London, but this is only an illusion, and the heroine she portrays every evening is her true substance.”

Truly, “the whole world is a theater…” Julia finally comes to this conclusion: “All people are our raw materials. We bring meaning to their existence. We take their stupid little feelings and transform them into works of art, we create beauty out of them, their life purpose is to be the audience that we need to express ourselves.

“They say: the game is a pretense. This pretense is the only reality.” These words are written at the end of the last chapter of the novel. The author brings to this thought gradually, in the chronology of the development of the plot. In the play, the construction is more fractal than sequential. Roughly the same difference between digital and linear editing. By the way, video is also used in the performance, the screen in the background comes to life from time to time, but not duplicating what is happening, but building an associative array with the stage action and music.

The director of the play, Vladimir Pankov, very accurately chose and interpreted the most significant literary fragments for staging. It is difficult for those who have not read the novel at the beginning of the performance to understand what is happening, but, as always happens with a talented approach, at first it is incomprehensible, then you are drawn in and you can no longer tear yourself away until the very end. Of course, the game of Elena Yakovleva, firstly, is simply magnificent, and secondly, it gives the necessary charm and irony, without which it is impossible to correctly assess what is happening. Humor on stage, even in a serious drama, is absolutely necessary, it correlates with the personality of a famous actress and allows for a more voluminous perception of the plot. In addition, many scenes are updated to reflect modern realities and thus further contribute to the success of the audience.

After the premiere, the audience did not disperse for a long time. The image of old Firs, who was “forgotten” in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, does not seem out of place at the end of the performance, he seems to be saying that the performance is over, but life – another life – continues, and in this life we ​​will be a little different than before this performance.

This, in fact, is the purpose of art.

Natalia Vakurova.