“Vasily Terkin” for the defenders of Donbass: what is happening with the Mariupol Drama Theater

The situation in the south of the DPR allows you to work, but the issue with the building has not been resolved

As a result of the battles for Mariupol, the cultural infrastructure in the seaside city was significantly damaged. As a result of the “arrivals”, the roof of the Philharmonic Hall was damaged, and Ukrainian militants completely destroyed the local theater. A year ago, on April 21, 2022, the long-suffering settlement was liberated, but peaceful life returned there, of course, not immediately, but it happened simultaneously with the return of cultural life. For the upcoming anniversary, the MK correspondent talked with the general director of the Mariupol Russian Drama Theater Igor Solonin.

– Mariupol is now more or less a rear city, the situation in the south of the republic allows you to give performances and invite spectators to them? When will the stage of the former philharmonic society transferred to the drama theater be filled with life?

– Yes, we are in the Philharmonic, this building was transferred to us on the balance sheet, a major overhaul was carried out there. But the issue of belonging of this object to the tribunal (over Ukrainian war criminals. – B.S.) has not yet been finally resolved. It is unclear whether there will be a tribunal or not. The law enforcement agencies have not removed the regime of the building, so we only hold rehearsals there, and all performances and concerts are on the road: in schools, houses of culture on the territory adjacent to the city, in military units.

– I remember that for some time your theater was temporarily located in the Palace of Pioneers.

– We had 8 premieres there – a performance based on the play by Alexander Vampilov “The Elder Son”, “The Golden Chicken” by Orlov and “Vaudeville” by Chekhov. Then came the lyrical comedy “Did you call the groom, girls?”, the New Year’s fairy tale “The Bremen Town Musicians”, the solo performance “Master” by Bulgakov and there were two concerts.

— Is the geography of the theatre’s near trips-tours — is it Mariupol itself and its environs?

– Mariupol, the villages of Sartana, Stary Krym, Urzuf, Sopino and others.

It is there that the clubs and the Palaces of Culture have been preserved in a more or less intact state.

– You mentioned performances in military units. How do soldiers react to the arrival of artists? And what genres they prefer – it is clear that they have enough drama in their daily front-line life. Then what is comedy?

– Especially for the military, we made the play “Vasily Terkin” and the concert “Soldier’s Soul and Share”. The stage director, artistic director of our theater Alexander Rostov (Honored Artist of Russia, who previously worked at the Stavropol Theater. – B.S.) personally travels to military units with this repertoire.

— I know that the Mariupol Drama Theater works not only locally, but also has time to go on tour to Russia. How successful was this activity?

– Only in 2023, as part of the “Big Tour”, from March 3 to March 27, we visited ten Russian cities: we started from Novocherkassk and ended with Voronezh. And the second part of the troupe went to the festival in Ulyanovsk, where they went with the premiere – the play “Monsieur Amilcar”.

– Is the repertoire under the Ukrainian authorities different today? Do your colleagues recall the “Ukrainization” of the theater with a shudder?

The repertoire has certainly changed. Those performances that used to go on were for a certain stage and life moments. Comedies dominated – now we are leaning towards serious things that make you think. At the same time, some of the former names were restored.

As for the language. Until 2019, the Russian language sounded on our stage. The theater was run by the right person in this regard, he is still working with us. Under him, there were no special “deflections under the changing world.” But for the last two years we have been forced to play exclusively on the Move.

Did you manage to save the troupe? Give specific figures: how many people worked in the theater before the outbreak of hostilities and how many remained?

– Before the special operation, we had about 40 actors, at the time of the premiere in the fall of the 22nd – sixteen, most of them from the previous cast. Now we already have 26 actors, six ballet dancers and eleven orchestra musicians.

And all of these are locals?

– All local. Only artistic director from Russia.