Comedy about Blavatsky: an extraordinary heroine required an extraordinary approach

The premiere of the play “The Cheerful Woman” took place at the Moscow Hermitage Theater. The focus is on an unusual heroine - Helena Blavatsky, famous for her extraordinary activities. And she was involved in the occult and, they say, was even a medium. "MK" attended the premiere show.

In the foyer of the theater there is a huge poster with the Blavatsky family tree (to make it clearer to the audience who is who on stage). Below is the caption: “Several branches of the family tree of a religious philosopher, occultist, spiritualist and traveler.” The last type of activity sounds unexpected and even modest compared to all the others.

In the buffet two ladies are talking:

- An incomprehensible, unhappy and misunderstood woman!

- Do you think so? Or maybe she just decided to become famous?

With this question we follow into the hall, especially since the third bell is calling. In passing, we notice the expected but unexpected guest of the premiere, Olga Ostroumova, who came to support her playwright son. We manage to pick up a program whose design catches the eye. The picture literally says to its viewer: “Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM.” An extraordinary heroine requires an extraordinary approach. However, more on this a little later.

The artistic director of the theater and the director of “The Cheerful Woman”, Mikhail Levitin, came out to greet the audience and introduced the audience to the cast and characters who were brought on stage - after all, the play is new, its author is Mikhail Levitin Jr. And therefore, understanding the possible questions, they immediately dot the i’s. They also commented on the design of the poster and programs. At the end of August, the Hermitage said goodbye to its artist Evgeny Dobrovinsky. He managed to sketch six versions of the poster for the upcoming premiere literally two hours before the creator suffered a massive heart attack.

“I took this as a good sign, perhaps somehow connected with Blavatsky,” Levitin comments, the content is optimistic, but it sounds bitter, “It is fortunate that he remained alive in his posters and in his love for his friends. And then the artistic director punished: “Judge strictly!” And the action began.

The first scene is already well known; it was demonstrated at the troupe’s gathering before the start of the season in mid-August. In it, as a cameo, the author of the play, Mikhail Levitin Jr., and a certain lady (Ekaterina Teneta, we will see her in the role of Blavatsky) with a dog named Izya Levit Tsarevich, whom Levitin meets while walking his dog, participates. By coincidence, she turns out to be a fan of Blavatsky, she even traveled to Blavatsky’s places in India, where during meditation she heard a strange “blyam” sound. It turned out that this is how the meditators landed with her after... levitation. The audience also had to levitate. And blamp too. The story with the lady, by the way, is also taken from life. At the troupe's meeting, they talked about intentions to invite the very woman who accidentally became the prototype of Blavatsky's fan, embodied on stage. And indeed, she attended the rehearsal of the play and was delighted with the production.

The little scene with the dogs raises important questions:

— I wrote a play about Blavatsky.

- So many tragedies can be written about her...

- But I have a comedy!

- Comedy??! ABOUT BLAVATSKY?!?!?! — the lady with Izya Levit in her hands almost breaks into a scream.

The question is more than reasonable. The figure of the occultist, although controversial, is humanly sad. Blavatsky, by and large, never recognized female and maternal happiness, despite the fact that she was married more than once, her only son died (and even then, this may be a legend, since according to official information she had no children). Bringing onto the stage a lady who became famous for creating the Theosophical Society, allegedly communicating with the dead, and levitating - a brave act. Especially against the backdrop of the growing theatrical trend right now to show great scientists on stage. Against the background, for example, of Landau and Kurchatov, to whom productions at Vakhangovsky and Bronnaya, respectively, will be dedicated, Blavatsky’s personality contrasts greatly. So the act is daring and courageous.

The viewer is presented with the Tiflis period of Blavatsky’s life, which is accompanied here by Harry Hummel’s decorations, made in an oriental style and truly reminiscent of a Georgian courtyard. Especially the carved balcony.

A comedy on the verge of farce - just look at Blavatsky’s grandmother (Daria Belousova), speeding across the stage in a wheelchair. There are also spectacular elements - stunning fiery Caucasian dances of Imam Shamil (Khetag Gasiev). And how dashingly the young circus performer Blavatsky (Maria Glyants) jumps out of a giant cannon!

But still, one of the angles from which it is proposed to look at this story is from the position of a child, Sergei Yulievich Witte (Alexey Soshin), whom Blavatsky exclusively calls Prime Minister on stage. And if the production really embodies a child’s view of the life of this amazing woman, then this explains a lot.

There were no clear answers to all the questions that people came into the room with. And is it necessary? As Levitin himself said: “The play is not about a person, yet theater is not “The Life of Remarkable People.” We are looking for our heroes. And here the point is not in Blavatsky herself, but in the existence of people like Blavatsky...”