Unique exhibits were shown at the exhibition in memory of Mark Zakharov

An exhibition dedicated to Mark Zakharov’s 90th birthday has opened in Moscow. A detailed biography of the Master, authentic costumes of heroes of cult Russian films, director’s notes, personal affairs of Mark Anatolyevich and the scenery of the play “Juno” and “Avos” in 1981 – visitors saw all these artifacts of theater and film history in one place thanks to the collaboration of fifteen museums and private collections and one university.

Project “Mark Zakharov. Formula of the Master”, which started in the exhibition halls on Petroverigsky Lane, almost comprehensively reflects the biography and work of the hero of the day. This would have been impossible if, in addition to ROSIZO, GITIS, the Bakhrushinsky Theater Museum and a dozen more museums and collectors had not joined the project. At the same time, the exhibition includes items from the personal archive of Alexandra Zakharova – the briefcase that we see on the “cover” stand was preserved by the daughter of the great director.

There is also a cap, which is difficult to separate from Zakharov’s image. These two exhibits greet visitors to the exhibition.

Then, in two adjacent halls, they see posters, books, photographs of iconic places/events or actors, accompanied by blocks of black text along the wall and quotes such as: “A smart face is not a sign of intelligence, gentlemen. All stupid things on earth are done with this facial expression. Smile, gentlemen! Smile.”

It turns out a kind of chronological scale: 1933. Mark Zakharov was born in Moscow, on Krasnaya Presnya. 1955. Enlisted as an artist at the Molotov Drama Theater. 1973. Appointed chief director of the Theater. Lenin Komsomol…

And so on – a quote, a photo, and a lot of attention is paid to the censorship restrictions that stifled Soviet culture, otherwise this creative path (he headed – directed – directed a film, became known throughout the country, what a great guy!) will seem strewn with roses.

The productions that are prohibited from being shown are listed, and “the threat of banning the song about a butterfly due to sexual connotations” is indicated.

Indeed, it is useful for a millennial to know that in the USSR there was no sex to such an extent that mentioning women’s breasts and chasing the brainless Butterfly with Sparrow in a humorous song seemed the height of indecency.

The exhibition’s organizers showed the play “A Profitable Place” at the Satire Theater in 1967 (according to Ostrovsky), which had fallen under the skating rink, by hanging an empty frame.

This emptiness is almost biblical – I remember that the Apostle Paul saw an idol of the “unknown God” among the pagan Athenians and praised the Greeks for praying to the Creator, whom they did not know, but had a presentiment of, guessed about his existence.

But let’s move on. Adjacent to the biographical halls are two theater halls and two that tell the story of Zakharov, the film director.

There is no stone at the crossroads, but it turns out that if you go to the left, you will get to “Juno” and “Avos”, and in the original version: especially for the exhibition, ROSIZO restorers recreated the bow of the ship “Juno” that stood on stage in 1981. Also from this performance is the costume of Count Rezanov (the only one) and a number of other stage clothes, which were worn when performing roles in the performances of Mark Anatolyevich, Inna Churikova, Alexander Lazarev, Oleg Yankovsky, Alexandra Zakharov.

The theatrical part of life is objectively reflected as fully as possible – sketches of scenery and mise-en-scenes, scenery models, and this is not only “Juno…”, but also “The Thief”, “Funeral Prayer”, “Three Girls in Blue”, “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro” “, “The Cherry Orchard”.

In the archives of the State Institute of Theater Arts, they even found two personal files – Zakharov the student and Zakharov the teacher.

But if you go to the right, you will find yourself at the rope ladder from the film “That Same Munchausen”, near which they put a sign: “Only Munchausen can climb,” and next to it they wrote the hero’s daily routine with climbs, clearing of clouds and the war with England.

There is also a whole gallery of costumes shown in films – the costume of the Baron the Dreamer, Count Cagliostro from “The Formula of Love”, the Wizard and the Minister-Administrator from “An Ordinary Miracle”, as well as the handwritten script of the cult film, yellowed with time.

Mark Zakharov has not been with us for four years, but the goal of the project was to show him “alive, like life” (here I use the definition of Korney Chukovsky). And project curator Andrei Raikin and a team of like-minded people succeeded.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29140 dated October 20, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Briefcase, cap, “Juno”