Born as a result of a creative cooperation between the producer Elshan Mammadov and director\choreographer Igor Orshulyak the project is unique for the Russian stage.
It was a milestone decision to drive away from a popular “musicians joke” genre and to make a real dramatic show where the story is told by the music, where all genres of artisitc performance are combined: dance, mime, circus. The actors tap dance, roller skate, dance in different styles, make acrobatic tricks while playing live.
One of Chekhov’s most famous works, this classic play distils the eternal themes of joy and sorrow through bitter-sweet moments in ordinary life. Exploring the glowering landscape of frustrated hopes, a meaningless job and a wasted life, the play echoes the sentiments of many people today. Vanya’s outburst, “I have never lived!”, has proved revelatory across a century.
Until now, the world-famous story simply sparked associations with the ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky. Now, due to the efforts of the composer I. Rogalev, director A. Maksimychev and Artist T.Melnikova, a new genre solution has been found for the well-known fairy-tale. Thanks to the vocal and recitative, a ballade as the most characteristic genre of the Middle Ages has become the main means of expression. “Sleeping Beauty” in the staging of the Puppet Theatre is a play for children who think that they are already grownups and for adults who understand that essentially they are still children.
“This performance is a free interpretation of the well-known fairy tale by the Charles Perrault created by composer I. Rogalev, script-writer and producer A. Maximychev and actors T. Melnikova and E. Ageeva (laureate of the premium “Golden Mask”). The story is a resurrection of the old spirit of home theatre. Performed as a humorous pantomime, children and adults are delighted by the lovely scenery, cheerful music, expressive marionettes made of the wood by means of traditional techniques and the masterly peppering skill of the actress who adroitly handles 21 marionettes. “Cinderella” won two national “Golden Mask” awards in Moscow.
A young man in his thirties, a resident of Podolsk near Moscow is detained and interrogated. The reason for detention is unclear – sober, accurate, he was able to present his documents and his identity was verified. But officers at the police station are determined to carry on with a very emotional interrogation, threaten to plant drugs in the man’s pocket or make him a suspect in decades-old cold cases. A typical situation from crime reports and detective stories… Yet, one should never underestimate an all mighty police force.
Questions raised by the officers are completely inconsistent with the protocol and the laws of human logic. This performance is specifically targeting those of us who are constantly unhappy and complaining about something – a damp climate, boring work, an indifferent husband or wife, or a dull life in general. Perhaps, they should once visit a police station where the “Man from Podolsk” happened to be.
From what initially seem to be miniature, fragmented episodes, a story is miraculously created like an intricate puzzle. Entirely silent, wordless performances conjure up the explosive conflict between a lonely man and a solitary woman. While they search the earth for love, they switch roles and flit through genres, adopt masks and manipulated puppets. In the end, the happy end never arrives, but the fascinating journey does bring some comfort.
What motivated Jean Anouilh to turn to the tragedy by Euripides? On one hand – our time, when the impending threat of social fall is destroying the personality, the culture, the politics, on the other hand – an attempt to stay in denial craving for entertainment, show and feckless gaiety. The fact that society has no intention to examine its medical history scares, as xenophobia, racism and violence raise their heads. Against the backdrop of the disastrous fall of morality, cynicism, striving for wealth and the increasing power of money the man is gradually destructing. Only the strongest ones will manage to be unlike the others, to defend one’s independence and not to adjoin the stream of the philosophy of wealth, to reject the tempting postulate of “I am like all the others” and to realize that the faceless ruck is ruinous. Anouilh’s “Medea” descended from the Euripides’s buskin and became closer to us, the vocabulary of the play is modern. Dialogues of the heroes corkscrew from past to present and back to the past. The creators of the show tried to distinguish the meaning of the flows of words and actions.
The great actress Sarah Bernhardt is trying to reconstruct events of the past. In her memories, she is on the stage again, in her childhood, immersed in the conflict with her mother, or in conversations with her lover. Why she needs it all? Yes, she needs it to fill her fading life with emotions and passions, but this time only in memories. She still needs the stage and partners. Sarah Bernhardt delivers monologues and has imaginary dialogues with her secretary Pitou.
Some important words remain unsaid, so Sara Bernhardt stubbornly continues her one-sided dispute with her late opponents. At the verge of nonexistence, her feelings, suffering, passions, irrationality all come back naturally. This is what life is all about, and what theater is about.
Rimas Tuminas in his production of “Eugene Onegin” does not aim at a full scenic adaptation of A.S. Pushkin’s novel in verse. For his main theme, he chooses a story of Tatyana’s love for Onegin, a story with prologue and epilogue. The performance unfolds in the memory and imagination of A.S.Pushkin’s characters. We are transferred from Onegin’s room into his country estate, then into the Larin’s house nearby, then to Moscow – and finally back to his room. The scale of events constantly changes: from noisy celebrations to secluded contemplation, from crowd scenes to lonely recollections, all of which are drawn together from the past just like the fragments of Tatyana’s love letter, framed and hung on the wall next to Onegin’s arm-chair.
