In “Lenkom” Mayakovsky fights in a battle with Gorky and Yesenin

The new chief director of the theater allowed the public everything

On the day of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Mayakovsky, when Moscow was desperately split by a thunderstorm and flooded with downpours, Mark Zakharov’s Lenkom from the capital showed the musical Mayakovsky, which itself was like an element. The reference point for a new audience is obvious: hip-hop, poetic battles. Staging by the new chief director Alexei Frandetti, music by rapper Basta, world-famous Vasily Vakulenko. The MK columnist visited the pre-premiere show for his own.

I must say that “Lenkom” was the last to be noted on the topic of the poet-herald-leader, but on the day of his birth. During the season, their “Mayakovsky” was presented in turn by the Teresa Durova Theater (“It’s more elegant without galoshes”), the renovated Luna Theater on Malaya Ordynka (“Mayakovsky. City Musical”) and the Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra (“Akhmatova and Mayakovsky”). But everyone was waiting for Lenkom’s statement: too many intriguing details accompanied the staging of the new chief director. That the budget of the performance is operatic – almost 70 million rubles, that the music is written by Basta, who is not only a rapper, but also a rather large businessman. That Lenkom will manage not only on its own, but will also invite artists from outside. And so on and so forth.

Alexei Frandetti in a summer-colored suit appears at the left portal. He says that, of course, he is worried (it can be seen), that he loves artists and gives the audience an attitude: “You can not deny yourself anything: sing along, if you like, shine with lanterns, like at rock concerts … “. In general, he allowed the public everything. But on the day of the run, the audience showed good manners and did not go peddling. On the contrary, they were attentive, followed history, which went off scale in terms of passions – revolutionary and love.

Lenkomovsky “Mayakovsky”, according to the figure of a historical person, is powerful and takes on quantity: the scenery made by the St. Petersburg artist Vyacheslav Okunev, who works a lot in the musical theater, is powerful, and they contain all the brightness of the revolution and its darkness. Lighting designer Ivan Vinogradov has at least a thousand light transitions and commands. More than 130 costumes, and taking into account the two compositions, some roles even more. Almost all print the aesthetics of futurism. Sharp cut lines and geometric shapes of bright colors captured the denim costumes of extras, the poet’s beloved toilets, and he had five of them.

He came and struck with his voice, style, appearance.

Not a man, but a cloud in his pants. Storm cloud…

And most importantly, music: it is played by the cast in the box, on the stage, performed by the actors. Moreover, in a hard rap style, which is not at all easy for singing dramatic ones. In the process of preparing the performance, sculpting a theatrical monument to Mayakovsky, Frandetti mercilessly cut off everything superfluous: for example, two numbers that promised to become hits flew out of the production. For example, the final duet of Nora (aka Veronika Polonskaya) with the poet before he committed suicide.

“The troupe was practically in mourning about this, but I removed it anyway,” the director told me after the performance. – In general, in this sense, in any original performance, much more is left overboard than on board. As you know, 50 numbers were written for the musical Cabaret, and as a result, 17 numbers remained. The same is true here: a lot of the work of the composer and arranger was left behind the scenes.

The role of the poet is played by two young Lenkom actors – as tall as he is: Igor Konyakhin and Stanislav Tikunov. Konyakhin is known as Count Rezanov from Juno and Avos. Over the past two seasons, Stas Tikunov has had many notable roles in the theater, not only heroic, but also characteristic, and he must be the most interesting Mayakovsky.

Revolution, social order, writers’ showdowns in the form of impressive poetic battles between Mayakovsky and Korney Chukovsky, Maxim Gorky and Sergei Yesenin. Chekist control over the creative intelligentsia – all this is mixed up in Mayakovsky. But the main thing in the musical will still remain a love story. Despite the tragedy of the ending, the audience sang along with the stage at the show.

By the end of the season, Mayakovsky, as a preview, will play three more times. Well, they promise to play the premiere at the opening of the new theatrical season in early September.