The Vakhtangov Theater signed an agreement with the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania

Vladikavkaz is waiting for a new theater festival

On Friday evening, when all of Moscow was silently standing under the picturesque snow in traffic jams, the Head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania Sergei Menyailo was only three minutes late to the Vakhtangov Theater. But not for the performance – they were canceled on the Historical Stage anyway, here the premiere is at the release. The head came to Arbat to sign an agreement on cultural cooperation with the theater, whose name in Vladikavkaz sounds like a password – Evgeny Vakhtangov.

Oddly enough, despite all the long-standing historical ties between the Vakhtangov Theater and Vladikavkaz, the head of North Ossetia-Alania has never been to the theater on Arbat. Therefore, the first thing for him is a short tour of the theater – it is conducted by director Kirill Krok along the following route: the historical foyer with portraits – an exhibition on the third floor with the halls of the legendary play “Pier” (model, photos, costumes) and the workrooms of Simonov and Ulyanov – restored historical spectator buffet. Evgeny Knyazev joins the excursion along the way, but for some reason in an old-regime suit – a bow tie, a crimson vest, a soft, but somewhat worn-looking olive-colored jacket. It turns out that he came running from the rehearsal of “An Ordinary Miracle”, where he played the role of an innkeeper. As the rector of “Pike”, and not at all the leading artist of the theater, he has his own proposals for the head of the republic.

– I am delighted! – says the head of North Ossetia-Alania. – I’m delighted that history is being preserved here, and it’s not just one day. There are generations of worthy, talented people here who put their souls into this theater and whose memory is preserved here.

The route logically ends in the director’s office with antique furniture, where official papers have already been prepared on the table.

Today we are signing a very important document,” Kirill Krok announces, “important both for the Republic and for the Vakhtangov Theater, that we are strengthening our cultural ties not only by the existence and functioning of the Vakhtangov House as a branch of our theater.

In his response, Sergei Menyailo emphasizes that the agreement he is signing is very important for his republic. “We are saying that there is no history without culture, no patriotism without centuries-old history, without morality, without education. In Vladikavkaz we have many historical places, historical and cultural monuments: the Philharmonic, the Mariinsky Theater, the Pushkin Museum, and now the Vakhtangov House and the Vakhtangov Theater – we have registered it as our home. Few people at one time believed that the Vakhtangov House could be restored. And today people come to this House!

The head of the republic is confident that only thanks to the intervention of the Vakhtangov Theater, the city was able to preserve the Vakhtangov House. So, this event served as an impetus for the further development of cultural ties between the best capital theater and the North Caucasian republic. According to the signed agreement, the partners planned a number of large-scale events in 2024, both in Vladikavkaz and Moscow. Thus, already in mid-July, the first theater festival “Vakhtangov. The way home”. The exhibition “The Vakhtangov Century” is being prepared, and for the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Republic itself, its leading theaters will host tours in Moscow. Evgeny Knyazev, having discussed with the head of North Ossetia-Alania the issues of teaching the Ossetian course at the Theater Institute named after. Boris Shchukin, for his part, proposed creating a literary museum in Vladikavkaz for Gaito Gazdanov, a writer who was once highly appreciated by Ivan Bunin and Maxim Gorky. Sergei Menyailo promised to support this idea.