The fortress theater was revived in the Chertkov estate

Premiere of the play-walker “Lubyansk make-up artist”

In the Saltykov-Chertkov estate on Myasnitskaya, in a bright blue rococo mansion, the premiere of the immersive play “Lubyansk Make-up Artist” took place. Spectators wander through the enfilades of the old count’s house, richly decorated with mirrors, Gothic stucco, oak panels, intricate fireplaces, Moorish mosaics, marble staircases designed by the famous architect Shekhtel. And in the halls, scenes from the life of the Russian serf theater of the early 19th century are played out. Young actresses in frivolous outfits rehearse a play from the life of Hindus, fall in love, make up, are tortured, play the premiere, make escapes and, in the end, create the theater of the future.

Divided into four groups, the audience gathers in different locations, from where they will have to make a promenade through the backstage of the serf theater of the cruel Count. The count is played by the very charming and attractive Eduard Flerov. The creators of the performance also announce Leonid Yakubovich in this role. It must be admitted that with his servants, dressed in very erotic crinolines and bodices, he is rather gentle than rude. However, the magnificent Evdokia Germanova, who plays Lyubov Onisimovna, once a serf actress, and now the mistress of a public theater, reveals the true position of the artists:

– Those who forgot the role or mixed up the words were flogged right in the intermission backstage, so that groans and screams could be heard from the audience in the hall. For rudeness to the butler, for the slightest miss, they beat him with batogs. And if someone tried to start tricks with the count’s actress, they were even tortured to death.

How exactly they were tortured – the audience sees with their own eyes: outside the window, a sufferer, really suspended upside down, groans. Guides in black cloaks with hoods lead the guests of the estate further – deep into the plot of the performance and the history of the Russian theater.

Eduard Boyakov’s performance – the first premiere of his New Theater – is based on the prose of Nikolai Leskov. The plot of the “Dumb Artist”, the main literary source of the performance, has been supplemented and continued. The main character, theatrical make-up artist Arkady (Kirill Klimenko), becomes a hero in the full sense of the word, giving his life for the Fatherland. And Lyuba (Daria Duzhenkova) turns out to be the founder of a directorial dynasty – her grandson (Valentin Klementiev) will be destined to create a modern theater. And to the question, “what should it be?” the founder replies: “I’ll tell you what it will not be: boring, cruel, godless.”

In the finale, all the spectators gathered in the main theater hall to see the snobbishly funny Indian drama “Beautiful Sakontala”, and then the end of the whole story about the artist who accomplished the feat, about the repentant vicious count and about the serf actress who turned into the mistress of the theater troupe. And they also saw the same curtain, which became one of the symbols of the new theater of the director’s era: not lowering, but parting.