Evgeny Vakhtangov’s ancestral home was solemnly opened in Vladikavkaz

On April 30, the house of Evgeny Vakhtangov was solemnly opened in Vladikavkaz at noon. The epic with the restoration of the family nest of the brilliant director and creator of the theater, which began in 2015, has finally ended spectacularly.

The second day in Vladikavkaz it is raining and decent. Therefore, no one expects a miracle that someone will part the clouds with their hands and the sun will suddenly shine. The opening of the Vakhtangov House, scheduled for noon, will take place in any weather. The house on Armenian Street, where the future genius of the Russian stage was born in 1887, in a dense ring of umbrellas. The most practical managed to buy raincoats in local household stores. Here, the Vakhtangovites are almost in full force, local residents, representatives of the city administration, journalists – there is just no one here. A total of 475 guests from Moscow and other cities. In any case, there are catastrophically not enough rooms in hotels for everyone.

In front of the olive-colored front door (it is also on the frames) from the side of Baeva Street, as it should be, there is a red ribbon. There is a small stage on the corner. The young artist Vitaly Ivanov, pressed against a brick wall by the crowd, invites the director of the Vakhtangov Kirill Krok to the stage, and he rises with a tray full of … white gloves.

– People’s Artist of Russia Sergey Makovetsky, People’s Artist Irina Kupchenko, Honored Artist of Russia Viktor Dobronravov – continues the presenter. And now Makovetsky and his comrades, having received gloves, shovels, set off to plant lilacs – the favorite flower of Yevgeny Vakhtangov, which 101 years ago became a symbol of the theater he created. And thus, in an hour, 48 artists, divided into threes, plant 16 lilac bushes along two facades of the house from the side of Armenian and Bayev streets.

And here the guests are in for great news: Baev Street, or rather part of it, will soon cease to exist, since a decision has already been made to rename it to Vakhtangov Alley. So in the near future a new route will appear on the map of Vladikavkaz – Vakhtangov Alley – his ancestral home, where he returned after 116 years. It is hard to imagine a better gift for a Master, a brilliant artist. It is also difficult to find such examples in the history of the national theater, and indeed of the country in general: for one theater to carry out such an unbearable project practically at its own expense. Vakhtangovsky invested 250 million of his own rubles for the restoration work of his founder’s house, which lasted almost three years. This had never happened before either in the Soviet or in the “fat” years of the 2000s. But maybe Vakhtangovskiy will create a precedent.

Planting work is driven by rain – it is no longer coming, but pouring. Theater director Kirill Krok on stage in a wet black suit assures that the calendar dates this year have converged in the most amazing way:

“We have only round dates,” he says, “like a parade of constellations. Evgeny Vakhtangov was born 140 years ago, 120 years ago he left his father’s house, 110 years ago he organized a student studio in Moscow, and later it became the Vakhtangov Theater. The fame of his troupe grew, and the native house, which was behind me, unfortunately fell into decay. In the end, we made a decision – this should not be so and make every conceivable and unthinkable effort to return the native Vakhtangov House to his hometown, Moscow, the country, all Russian culture and the world theater. We are opening a new museum and theater space and this event, believe me, is of a federal scale.

– The Governor of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alanya Sergey Menyailo attaches the medal “For the Glory of Ossetia” to Krok’s black jacket – the second most important award in the republic. Lyudmila Maksakova in a white trouser suit and white headscarf reads Pushkin from “Eugene Onegin” to the music from Vakhtangovsky’s theatrical hit of the same name.

– When the ribbon was cut in four hands by Krok, Sergei Menyailo, cultural adviser to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Tolstoy and Vakhtangov’s great-granddaughter – Dina, the crowd rushed into the house. They let 15 people through, so a chaotic dump and crowd was avoided.

– And immediately the tour begins in a brand new, brand new house, which was the first to visit the MK columnist back in February and knows it with closed eyes. The first floor, where the tobacco shop of one of the richest people in the city, Bagrat Vakhtangov, was historically located, will now be a cozy concert hall with a stage, with a spacious foyer in front of it, and behind it – dressing rooms with showers for artists and technical workers. On the second floor, where, in fact, the Vakhtangov family lived since the end of the century before last, there is a memorial area with a suite of five rooms along the windows, a luxurious terrace and six rooms for artists coming to Vladikavkaz. Moreover, in several halls, exhibits, most of which are genuine, can be touched with your hands. For example, pull out a chest of drawers and read a letter that lies there and is waiting for someone to find out what was written about in the century before last.

– The piano came from Nalchik, it was handed over by the teacher of the great conductor Yuri Temirkanov. She assured that with a high probability little Zhenya Vakhtangov could learn to play this instrument.

– Everyone walks around the house and admires: “A masterpiece, unrealistic.” Maria Aronova admits: “I feel that I did not come to the museum, but to my grandfather. To the house where they were waiting for me, where I am warm and comfortable. Vladimir Vdovichenkov was here at the start, when there was nothing like this, but at the finish line – delight. And so everyone – no one prevaricates. The house stands, lives, breathes. The walls are reinforced with authentic bricks from the 19th century, and the roof has genuine tiles.

– Well, in the evening, not far from the House on Freedom Square, a big concert will take place with the participation, of course, of artists of the Vakhtangov Theater of all generations and guest stars – Larisa Dolina, Meriam Merabova, Nikolai Baskov, Elena Cherkviani, Dmitry Yermak, the Republic group. For a week, a stage was erected on the square, which is larger than the Historical Vakhtangovskaya on the Arbat, and it also crashes into the audience with a long podium. However, the rain, according to the forecast, also intends to come to see it. And he will be the only one without an invitation.