“Star of the Theatergoer” shone on the Arbat

Late last night on the main stage of the Vakhtangov Theatre, the 15th ceremony of presenting the country’s main spectator award, The Theatergoer’s Star, ended. Since 2008, this Audience Choice Award has been awarded based on the results of the past season to the best creative teams, young actors and honored artists who have most clearly shown themselves in premiere productions. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that applicants are nominated and then chosen by the viewers themselves, and voting takes place online for nine months in a row.

The ceremony was led by artists Alexandra Ursulyak and Andrey Zavodyuk.

“In this difficult year, we doubted for a long time whether it was worth holding the award and arranging a holiday,” said Valery Yakov, editor-in-chief of the Teatral magazine. But the audience decided for us. When we asked the public whether to hold it or not, the answer on all resources turned out to be almost unanimous: more than 90 percent of those who voted unconditionally decided to hold it. The point here, of course, is the endless gratitude that the audience feels for their favorite theaters, actors and directors.

In the most honorable nomination – “Legend of the Stage”, the award in which is awarded for contribution to the development of the theatrical and cultural life of the country, this year there were three laureates at once.

The first was named the actress of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Natalya Tenyakova.

She worked in the BDT at Tovstonogov, she played on the stage of the Theater. Moscow City Council and the Moscow Art Theatre. But wherever she played, her work was always distinguished by a special magnetism.

Natalya Tenyakova, receiving the award, told an amazing story from her life about what, in her understanding, “legend” really means.

– Sergei Yursky and I were still young, we worked in Leningrad. Sergei Yursky made a play about Napoleon. And Eskin, who at that time was in charge of the House of Actors in Moscow, offered to play a play on his stage. And now, half a minute before the start, Eskin runs in, puts a chair in the hall and puts an elderly lady on it. I noticed her perfectly straight back. With this straight back, she sat through the entire performance without looking up from the stage. And just before parting, Eskin asked me: “Do you know who it was?” And he said: Alisa Koonen (People’s Artist of the RSFSR, wife of A. Ya. Tairov. – Note. ed.) I froze, feeling that the earth was leaving from under my feet, and told Eskin that I was very grateful to him for telling me this only now. If I had known before, then my legs would have grown to the floor and I simply would not have been able to go on stage. And after all, the Tairov Theater was killed back in 1927, none of us could see Koonen play on stage. But we all saw the photo and absolutely knew that she was a real legend.

Two other laureates of this award – Alexander Filippenko and Alexander Kalyagin were not present at the ceremony due to ill health, but sent audio messages. Filippenko noted that “the theater should comfort people in this difficult time,” and Kalyagin noted the importance of the award, in which the winners are chosen by the viewer himself through online voting, which, from his point of view, excludes the possibility of vote fraud.

The best social project was the children’s performance “A Box with Pencils” at the Theater of Deaf Actors Nedoslov, where deaf children come into contact with this wonderful world for the first time in their lives.

The best theatrical project was the audio walk “There is nowhere else to go – this is Moscow”, carried out by the Museum of M. A. Bulgakov together with the book service LitRes and the artists of the Brusnikin Workshop.

The National Youth Theater “Nachalo” from Khabarovsk was named the best amateur theater, and the Yerevan Russian Drama Theater named after A. Stanislavsky. Among the children’s projects, the performance “Alice in Wonderland” directed by Ruslan Kudashov from the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Puppet Theater was noted.

The musical “Cabaret” directed by Yevgeny Pisarev at the Theater of Nations surpassed “The Addams Family” directed by Daria Borisova and “Passion for Bumbarash” by Vladimir Mashkov by the number of votes.

The Russian Drama Theatre. Volkov from Yaroslavl is the first professional theater in the country. Four representatives of this team went up to the stage and sadly remembered Sergei Puskepalis, who untimely passed away this fall.

After the awards of the teams, the awards of actors and actresses began.

The work of Daria Moroz in the third season of “The Kept Women” was named the best role of a theatrical actress in the cinema, outperforming the work of Alisa Freindlikh in “Parents of Strict Security” and Liza Yankovskaya, granddaughter of Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky, in “Nika” by the number of votes.

“This, of course, is some kind of mistake,” Darya Moroz said from the stage, “because it is impossible to compete with Alisa Brunovna Freindlich. This is, of course, a coincidence. But thanks to everyone who made the Kept Women 3 series what it is today.

The best role of a theatrical actor in the cinema was the work of Dmitry Chebotarev, who played Dashkov, in the TV series Karamora.

“For me, this building of the Vakhtangov Theater is my own,” said Dmitry Chebotarev. – I graduated from the Shchukin Theater School, for the first time I was delighted with the art of the theater, seeing “Mademoiselle Nitush” and “The Royal Hunt” on this stage, I received the first shock and experienced the grief of a novice actor when we said goodbye to Mikhail Ulyanov. And it is here that I now receive my first individual award.

The best female supporting role was named the work of Maryana Spivak in the play “R” of the Satyricon Theater, and the best male supporting role was the work of Igor Yasulovich, who played Abbot Pafnuty in “Father Sergius” (MTYuZ).

“The theater is the best that can be,” said Igor Yasulovich from the stage. – The goal of the artist is to go to the stage, look for pain points in order to eventually interest the viewer … A supporting artist … Well, what would I do if I had no partners? (Yasulovich pulled out the program of his performance from his pocket and waved it over his head.) This award is not my merit. Because for half the performance I stand on the sidelines and watch the partners from the side. I have nothing to do in this performance.

The artist descended from the stage to the applause and the friendly laughter of the hall, which reacted to the words of the legendary actor.

The best female role was named Victoria Isakova, who played Arkadina in the play “Kostik” by the Theater. Pushkin and thanked “Dmitry Krymov and the artists who are now unlikely to gather on stage together.” Similar recognition and award in the same nomination was received by actress Olga Lerman, who created the image of Natasha Rostova in the play “War and Peace” of the Theater. Vakhtangov.

The best male role was named Cyrano de Bergerac by artist Yuri Chursin in the performance of the same name at the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov.

Among the theater directors, Tamara Mikhailova from the Maly Theater was noted.

The best director was named Alexei Frandetti, who staged “Onegin” on the Taganka, outperforming Yuri Butusov (performance “R” in “Satyricon”) and Rimas Tuminas (“War and Peace” at the Vakhtangov Theatre). “War and Peace” was recognized as the main theatrical event of the year, the best performance of a large form.

Elena Bulova.

Author’s photo