Plastic drama with elements of tragedy: premiere at Taganka

The short text of the story “The Kiss” was only the basis for the production, its skeleton. “Taganka” received a performance-dream, a performance-atmosphere, a performance-emotion. Denis Azarov, director of the play, added a lot of characters with their fantasies, dreams, memories. Babel’s story made it possible for the playwright Olga Nikiforova to think out, to fantasize about what could be hidden behind short remarks, descriptions of the story.

They added nameless soldiers to the production, tired, suffering, writing letters to their mothers. The mysterious image of the Steppe is the personification of the feminine. There is not a lot of text in the performance, but a lot of feelings. From all this, a story about love in chaos and the cruelty of revolution and civil war is created on stage. Trying to create beauty and love when everything is destroyed.

On the eve of the celebration of the birthday of the founder of the Taganka Theater Yuri Lyubimov, the troupe released a premiere – the play “The Kiss. Cavalry” based on the work of Isaac Babel. Cast: Pavel Levkin, Daria Avratinskaya, Anton Anurov, Maria Matveeva, Alexander Zaryadin, Philip Kotov, Nikita Luchikhin, Alexei Finaev-Nikolotov, Sergey Kirpichenok, Roman Serkov, Igor Ivanov, Daria Balabanova, Mikhail Lebedev, Konstantin Lyubimov, Ivan Novoselov, Oleg Farafonov, Maxim Mikhalev.

“In our performance, there are almost no words from Babel’s redundant text, with which it is easy to go to the literary theater: we composed a performance-feeling, where the lace of relations between a man and a woman is delicately weaved. But this will not be a plastic performance, words will appear when it is no longer possible to do without them … ”- director Denis Azarov says about the work on the production.

The premiere performance of “Taganka” presents exactly the atmosphere, and not a production that immerses the characters in the relationship with the help of plastic images. On stage, emotion is conveyed through rhythm and energy, pushing words into the background. How the audience will perceive it is the second question, but the press, judging by the applause after the run, liked it.

The key to salvation from chaos, war and fear lies in love. And whatever the times, it is love that warms people’s hearts, gives us hope, gives strength on the path to light and truth.

“Taganka” is waiting for its audience!

Vladimir Sabadash, Anna Duhon.

Photo by Sergey Vinogradov