“The Love Test” was held at the theater of the musical Mikhail Shvydkoy

Covid in puppet version

Pushkin in “Mozart and Salieri” gives valuable advice: “…When dark thoughts come to you, open a bottle of champagne or re-read The Marriage of Figaro.” You can now add one more to this list of recommendations: go to the play “The Love Test” at the Musical Theater. A good spring mood created by lively melodies and colorful colors is guaranteed. The music was written by Artem Pys, lyrics by Elena Kiseleva and Alexey Kortnev. The colorful picture was created by Anastasia Nefedova. And director Marina Shvydkaya combined all this into a fun, witty show. The production features “synthetic” theater artists led by the most charming Efim Shifrin. In short, satisfaction guarantee.

If you have already forgotten what Covid-19 is, what it is like to be in self-isolation, and how the neologism “lockdown” is translated, then you will have to remember all this. In the play “The Love Test,” the viewer will be transported to the recently experienced pandemic era, when life was divided into “before” and “after,” when it seemed that “the world will never be the same,” when customary standards collapsed and when people understood clearly: everything what they need is love. And health, of course.

However, the Covid context of the performance does not pressure or frighten. It is packed in bright costumes of acid colors, filled with sparkling garlands of lights, strobe lights and video projections. Everything flickers and sparkles, cheerful music, only slightly diluted with short dialogues, sounds almost non-stop. The visual solutions of Anastasia Nefedova are made in the aesthetics of the Oscar-winning film “Barbie”. Unfortunately, this technique, clearly stated at the beginning of the performance, was somewhat blurred by the directors. And it was revived only in the uplifting finale, where the characters, presented in characteristic acidic plastic with an abundance of all shades of pink, began to dance, choreographed by Victoria Litvinova.

In a word, this Covid is presented in a puppet version, which today is designed not to scare, but to make you laugh. And this is successfully done by actors who, as is characteristic of the style of the Musical Theater troupe, famously combine buffoonery techniques with organic acting “according to Stanislavsky.”

The main character, the charismatic Roman (Denis Kotelnikov), meets the no less charismatic Katya (Asya Budrina) at a club disco. A suddenly announced lockdown ruins the heroes’ plans. Strict isolation makes it impossible for them to meet. However, are there any limits to true love at first sight? Roman sets out in search of his beloved, for which he has to become the freest person of the pandemic era – a courier. But Katya doesn’t give up either: she helps old people who don’t have the skills to order online. The life of an apartment building unfolds before the eyes of the audience. It’s full of fun events, diverse characters, and dynamic relationships. The extreme of the pandemic is pushing everyone to unconventional solutions. As befits a musical comedy, there is another couple: the eccentric Amalia (Ekaterina Novoselova), who lives strictly according to Feng Shui, locked in her apartment, and her submissive fiancé Vadim (Konstantin Ivanov), who is waiting in vain for his bride in the Maldives. To everyone’s delight, they get married online. Gamer Pasha (Vadim Dubrovin), who hasn’t left his apartment for five years and therefore hasn’t even noticed the pandemic, finally leaves the house to meet lonely businesswoman Irina (Anna Guchenkova). Neighbors stand in line to walk Katya’s dog – the only way to legally go outside. The idea is being developed: people go “free”, accompanied by their various pets, including caterpillars, crocodiles and even horses.

“Where is the conflict?” – a sophisticated theatergoer will rightly ask. There is, and what else! He is entirely concentrated in the “elder of the house” Koshkin, who has finally seized real power. Don’t let in and forbid! Only in this is the salvation of humanity possible, as Koshkin sees it in the brilliant performance of Efim Shifrin. The image of Koshkin came to the play from Soviet classics – this is Ogurtsov from “Carnival Night”, and Bunsha from “Ivan Vasilyevich”. However, no matter who Shifrin plays, the hero’s charm is guaranteed. I even wonder what would happen if a wonderful artist played a real villain…

Artem Pys’ music is melodic and energetic. The composer uses a variety of pop music genres from foxtrot to disco. The orchestra, conducted by Arsentiy Tkachenko, maintains the powerful drive set from the first bar.

Connoisseurs of the classics will probably guess the operetta “Moscow, Cheryomushki” as the source of the idea. Well… Shostakovich is a good reference for modern musical theater.