Performance of 8 poets at the Yermolova Theater. From the void ... (Eight poets). Last season lived up to your expectations

A unique opportunity to hear the great poetry and prose of the Russian diaspora performed by Oleg Menshikov, Vladimir Andreev, leading artists of the Yermolovsky Theater. Familiar names and verses. Forgotten names and forgotten poems. Great Russian poetry and prose, written far from the motherland. The first wave of emigration that arose after 1917: Georgy Ivanov, Marina Tsvetaeva, Sasha Cherny, Zinaida Gippius, David Burliuk, Vyacheslav Khodasevich, Ivan Bunin, Vladimir Nabokov ... Exiles from Russia, having lost loved ones, their homeland, support and support, they received in return the right creative freedom. Paris, Berlin, Prague, Belgrade, Sofia, New York… How did they live, what did they think about, where did they look for inspiration? How do their works sound today and what do they mean for us today, living in a different rhythm, different concerns? What helped them to create immortal works in difficult conditions, which even today, a century later, make us listen, think, wonder and empathize? Poems were once copied into the notebook. We carry it with us, sometimes look, re-read. Or we forget about it forever. Or we remember, only by chance stumbling upon these once written sheets. But poetry is always with us, they arise, sometimes you don’t even know where. Our performance is poetry that unites people of different generations, arising from books, scattered sheets, from notes, from the depths of memory, from the void ...

This is one of the best performances of the capital's theaters today.
Suffice it to say that this is a poetic performance, and the author of the composition is Antonina Kuznetsova. From the point of view of artistic taste, all the verses and prose are selected and arranged flawlessly. This is such a gallery of poets of the Silver Age, but without the Mont Blancs like Blok or Akhmatova. Few of us know the poetic works of Khodasevich, Georgy Ivanov, David Burliuk, combined with the most famous poems of Bunin and Tsvetaeva, but in such a frame they sound in a new, different way.
Scenography is mean - rising-falling sheets-rolls of paper. But it is very logical in such a performance and, moreover, it allows you to transform these sheets into canvas, then into a screen, then into matter ...
The action is built exceptionally dynamically, at a frantic pace, but this is some kind of internal dynamics coming from acting and the grotesque presentation of poetic material. Everything is pointed, everything is highlighted, everything is accentuated - the impoverished emigrant life, longing for Russia, suicide, death and hopelessness. But it is pointed precisely grotesquely, without tragedy, without anguish. Even Tsvetaeva's poems. One of the most terrible was chosen ("Two hands, lightly lowered ..."), but somehow these young students who staged a poem sang it, muttered it, shouted it - and everything was immediately replaced by something else, less piercing .
The poetry of Gippius was presented very funny and somewhat mockingly, without much reverence Georgy Ivanov (by the way, without stamps like the famous bangs) with his "pink sea" and "Lermontov's silver spurs" - about his genius was also quite ambiguous.
Tragic was, perhaps, only Bunin with "Loneliness" (not even an émigré poem, but it came in handy) and the evil Nabokov in Berberova's no less evil assessment with his "Dreams" and farcical presentation in the play "Exile" (but without the creepy " Shooting", for example).
The music was reminiscent of the Stray Dog and The Bat cabaret, Vertinsky's poetry evenings and fashion salons in the spirit of the Vyacheslav Ivanov tower. Something hummed, played, sometimes howled, but everything was somehow unobtrusive. Stylization under the era of the Silver Age without transferring "on the forehead" of these cabaret-cafe-chantans - stylization through acting, through music and half-light-twilight, through costumes and the manner of holding one's head.
Of course, Oleg Menshikov, who read Georgy Ivanov at the very end, was irresistible in this pseudo-classical pathos, in these mannered head tosses and abrupt stops. It was a wonderful ending to the whole composition.
The only thing the directors can be reproached with is that for the main musical theme of the performance - a romance to the words of G. Ivanov "I don't remember you ..." - they stole the theme from Nikitin's old song "I sculpt from plasticine". As I understand it, this is a reproach to Andrei Popov, who is listed as the composer of the play.
And the rest - exceptionally high-quality work. Recommend!

Artistic director of the Yermolova Theater - "MK": "We can hit so that they sweat"

“From the Void…” (eight poets) is the name of the premiere, which will be presented in a week by the Yermolovsky Theater. And his artistic director Oleg Menshikov for the second season goes his own way, lying away from fashionable trends, and is not afraid to seem unfashionable. Opens doors to everyone without prior face control. He is not afraid to admit mistakes and trusts his own intuition more than someone else's recommendation... But on the eve of the premiere, we are talking with him not only about the poets of the first emigration.

When I came to the theater, I said in my keynote speech that we needed a poetry evening, but, to be honest, I didn’t understand then what it would look like. Since August, we started thinking and as a result of discussions, we decided that we were doing a performance. And now on December 9 - the premiere of "From the Void ..." (eight poets). We chose the poets of the first wave of emigration - Bunin, Sasha Cherny, Nabokov, Gippius, Khodasevich, Burliuk, Tsvetaeva and Ivanov, whom I, by the way, read. I am the artistic director of the production, and as artistic director I invited four young directors who are responsible for different blocks. For example, Olesya Nevmerzhitskaya puts the Gippius block, Sergey Aronin - Nabokov and Khodasevich, Lesha Razmakhov - Sasha Cherny and Denis Azarov - Tsvetaeva and Burliuk. I make Ivanov myself.

- Will it be a one-time poetic action?

No, it's a performance. We even ordered additional light for a lot of money. Decorations - minimalism. In addition to me, a cohort of Yermolovsky masters reads - Vladimir Andreev, Olga Selezneva, Viktor Sarakvasha, Vladimir Kuzenkov and, of course, young artists.

But the culture of poetry reading... It is almost lost, despite the fact that some theaters are struggling to keep it. For example, MHT.

You see, I think that by and large it is impossible to teach to read poetry. You have to be born with this gift. But, for a moment: our curator is Antonina Kuznetsova, a great master of reading programs. She was on the first, dirty run, chose a few "victims" for herself, with whom she would work specifically. I myself connected to some works, because the directors admit that they cannot teach artists to read.

But it turned out to be such an infectious thing - to read poetry. And you know, it won't be for the general public. But I realized that by reading these verses, we are first of all giving ourselves a gift. Just acting happiness, especially when you learn by heart. I don't really like to learn by heart, but here I have to.

- How are you with the roles in this case?

And I don't like to learn roles.

- Maybe you work with an “ear” on stage, like some (shame!) media artists?

I know that they work, but I am without an "ear". It is very disturbing, in my opinion. I was recording a song here with an “ear” (I would have learned it, but I didn’t know what I would have to record on that day). When they gave me an “ear”, I realized that you are busy catching it all the time. Maybe with age I will have to, then I'll get used to it.

- Tell me, is it true that you swung at Hamlet this season?

I didn't waver. You see, what a thing - a guy came with a performance to show, because everyone knows that we have a new stage opening, we need performances of a small form ... And there I saw this Sasha Petrov. He has a completely forgotten role - a neurasthenic hero.

- How about you?

Well... I'm not exactly neurotic.

- You are a cheerful neurasthenic.

Well, yes. So, when I saw Petrov, I immediately realized that I should be taken to the troupe. What to do for him? Thought it was Hamlet. Yes, he's 24, so what? Let be. I am sure that his name will be heard and a new name will appear on the poster of Moscow. And why shouldn't a young artist start his career with the role of Hamlet? Better Shakespeare than some nonsense from the stage to pronounce.

- Nice Hamlet, that is, Petrov?

Yes. And with the cinema, I think he will have a serious romance. Hamlet is staged by Valera Sarkisov. Plus there are guests - Andrei Ilyin for the role of Claudius and Agrippin Steklov - for Gertrude. Ophelia was supposed to be played by Christina Asmus, but she is pregnant, so Tolstoganova will be Ophelia, but not Vika, but her sister Rita. The premiere is on December 21st. In general, we have some kind of nightmare in December: a poetry evening, then Hamlet, then New Year's Eve with an orchestra.

Then we are waiting for the opening of a new stage, and there Denis Azarov will make "Romeo and Juliet", "Irons" by Yablonskaya - Razmakhov, and Nevmerzhitskaya will stage "Adam and Eve". Plus, the actors are preparing three independent works - until I tell you which ones. So what? A new scene calls for new names. I hope we open it in February.

- You've been in Yermolovsky for a year. Has this year changed you in any way?

You know yes. But now I've taken on the directorship as well. These are not ambitious things, I just realized that dual power in the theater is impossible. Or do you have to trust the director so much, and he is yours absolutely on the board (there are examples of such, but there are very few of them). And so... In Russia, there is a principle: whoever has the money has the power. The director manages the money, which means that they go to him to sign papers, and two camps immediately form.

So you don't want to give up power?

If a person comes to free me from a bunch of unnecessary things, I will give it with pleasure ... What happens: now the choreographer Sergei Zemlyansky will stage Caligula. Casting starts.

- Are you there?

Me not. But he offered me one job, and because of all these things I can’t, I postponed it. Because I will let him down and just die: I play 12 performances a month. Being once the main artist in Ermolovsky, I did not play so much.

- You thoroughly plunged into the directorship? Did you get the buzz from sovereignty?

I don't want to dive into it. After my "Partnership" (private theatrical business of Oleg Menshikov. - M.R.) I feel like I'm in a prison here. The one who is on top is trying to preserve the repertory theater, but in my opinion, he is trying to ruin it. Because so many obstacles, obstacles, pieces of paper, unnecessary rubbish kills him. I didn't even expect this. Entreprise is heaven! You are your own boss: what you want, then you do - in a good sense of the word. For now, I have to do it myself. I'm waiting for a person. Man come!!! And so I come to the theater every morning by 11, regardless of whether I have a performance in the evening or not. And after all, with a swollen head, he must go on stage.

- So a few months ago you submitted an application to the Department of Culture about leaving?

Yes. But it was an emotional impulse. It went off scale a little - I say, I did not expect that everything would be like that. Now I've gotten used to it. I then said to myself: “Well, Oleg, you haven’t spent a year. What is hysteria? Once undertook, bring the matter to a certain stage. The theater is not built in a year, it is not built in two. You need to beg. It was my birthday here, the guys congratulated me, and I told them that, in my opinion, the theater that I want to do here is just beginning to emerge. Only now people are starting to gather, a team of artists, workshops - all this should be a single organism.

- Can you formulate - what kind of theater do you want?

It’s hard for me to speak, because when you explain, it turns out clumsily. I know exactly which one I DO NOT want - the one I left. A quagmire that cripples human destinies, characters (I mean Yermolovsky and all others). I know the number of anonymous letters that are written to me in the Department of Culture.

- Now?

Both now and before. I even know who writes them. I don't react to it at all. Write, gentlemen, write. Saw, Shura, saw. I'm not going to waste time and energy on them: let them live as they live. I think I'm not the only one - they write on many.

- But what can happen is that on Taganka, when a group of people excites everyone and brings the situation to the point of absurdity.

Well, we can also show our teeth. We are not as soft-bodied as we seem at first glance. We can hit so that they sweat.

This is the kind of theater I don't want. I do not want envy, malice - alas, these are identical concepts of the theater. I don't want indifference. I want people to stand up and be happy that they have a rehearsal. I'm not talking about the audience, but about the feeling inside the theater. To be good together. Now, if we achieve this, it will be good for the audience. That's why I opened the door for the young: it's impossible to figure them out just like that. For example, Zemlyansky is good, but he is already in great demand. And the rest? You need to look for them only by intuition.

- Do you want to invite a fashion director?

There is such a concept. But, firstly, they are painted. And secondly, I don't need trendy ones. Here come the young to me - I rejoice. I don't need stars. We called Agrippina and Andrey not on a star basis - according to the director, they just fit these roles. But I just have no desire to make a supermarket of stars.

Did last season live up to your expectations?

More than. At the end of the season, I read out the figures: at many performances we have 90 percent of the audience. And not only with my participation. Sasha Baluev came here (we haven’t seen each other for a long time) and asks: “Well, they ask you for tickets to Dorian Gray?” - "Yes, Sasha, I have." We have a number of performances for which tickets are asked at the entrance. At a time when buying tickets to the theater is not a big problem at all. Therefore, I feel a sense of pride.

- Are you going to put something yourself? Or has the routine stuck and this abyss has swallowed you up?

I will play. If I start betting, then not earlier than by the end of the season. Or the next one.

- It turns out that you left your favorite football too?

Well, I do not. Monday and Thursday. If I don't play football, if I don't spend an hour in the fresh air, then the clinic will be in a month.

Confidently choose Alla. Anya's poems seemed to me weak for a graduate of a literary institute. I beg your pardon.

Anna Arkanina - 04/03/2018 at 15:40

I believe that Alla makes a much more mature impression. It’s only a pity that Galina Ivanovna, either due to fatigue or some kind of “hovering in the clouds,” whenever possible avoided her usual specifics, spending a lot of effort either on philological trifles or on the details of the author’s biography. But I admit that a certain over-elaboration of Artsis's poetics just made Sedykh delve into such unimportant syntactic details.

Sergey Kasyanov - 31.03.2018 at 19:57

Very bright feeling from the meeting. In general, I once again strengthened my opinion that "tournaments" and "battles" of poets are a rather flawed business. Each has its own spark. By the way, I don’t know if one can believe Vasily Kamensky’s statement about how the “King of Poets” was elected in February 1918: they say, he himself, together with Mayakovsky and Burliuk, put “left” voting tags on the side of Igor Severyanin, as a result which Igor Severyanin received a laurel wreath (borrowed for this purpose from a funeral home next door :-)), and they are money. Most likely, this is a tale, but it also shows the relativity and conventionality of such "championships" (in a different setting and with a different "composition" of voting guests, the result could be completely different). Anna's poems are fresh and direct, although they are not without roughness (which Galina Ivanovna spoke about in detail); Anna herself during the reading reminded me of Alina Seregina (both with a slightly enthusiastic manner and voice; but not with the virtuosity and recklessness of the verse) :-) As for Alla Artsis, it seems to me that some of the colleagues voting here (both for and against) are too redundant they use a word denoting Alla's profession: firstly, for example, even a "positive" phrase like "I am for an architect" without mentioning the name sounds rather impolite; and secondly, no matter how much was said in the conversation in the studio that the poet’s architectural education clearly affects the structure of her poems, but it by no means exhaustively explains their “pluses”: there is a system, but there is a mood (sorry for the pun ); and the sunshine of the poem "Mozart" captivated me (I even consider some of Galina Ivanovna's critical remarks about it superfluous).

Vladimir Demykin - 30.03.2018 at 23:08

Anna is very nice. This cuteness, immature impressionability, narcissism ("I must admit: I'm not a princess at all.
Gray drizzle - words") disarms. She does not want to be scolded for banalities ("Forest, you are beautiful in any weather") and outright blunders ("I whisper in my ears - mugs"), and even for capricious stamping of a foot I do not want to ("I'm so I want it to be like before! Do you hear up there?")
Without these qualities there is no lyric poet. But here's a heightened sense of the language, the author's WORK - the choice of the best word for the best place - was not enough for me. Lacked personality, non-general expression. The lyrical hero is sweet, but infantile. It looks like he hasn't grown up yet. There is no woman in the poems, there is no refraction into the thin word of one's own life experience, burnt by grief and happiness. There is a cute babble. So far - babble, not an artistic word. Alla has skill. True, in the demonstrated verses "Winter in Gorokhovets", she did not have enough accuracy or vocabulary to bring to a wonderful finale with more convincing poetic language than ballast:
Until the ice stood on the river,
Without curbing lead waters,
Winter is coming along the coast
Wandering, not salty slurping.
The whole stanza is a poetic husk, in my opinion.
But in general, work on the word is visible. And the result of this work is visible - an unexpected paradoxical image, shocking, memorable.
Anna, on the contrary, shows laziness, a non-strict approach to herself. It never impressed me. Therefore - Alla Artsis.

Natalia Malinina - 03/31/2018 at 00:20

I turn to those support!
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Uliana Valerievna - 03/29/2018 at 08:56

In Alla's poems, the harmony of form and meaning serves the feeling. And this feeling is harmonious, understanding of the thoughts and feelings of LG - the artist, the mother of the family, the poet - comes at the level of instinct and continues at all levels - to the highest - love and music!

Olga Taller - 30.03.2018 at 21:28

Alla Kharlanova, in my opinion, is at the beginning of her journey. After 10 years of silence, it is difficult for a graduate of the Literary Institute to start writing poetry. She, of course, is a beauty, a feeling, sensual person, a bow to her husband for a tender attitude towards her treasure. But her poems are still boring and childishly naive. I cannot agree in principle with Galina Sedykh's erroneous, I think, assessment of "dry skeletons of blades of grass." This is very bad. This is the same as once written by Sasha Abramov, also a graduate of LI: "one-legged birches." It's horrible. After all, there is a word in the Russian language bylinka. Remember Turgenev: "Grey, dry blades of grass timidly hid under the fence ..." Here is poetry. And yet Anna creative success!
I vote for Alla Artsis. She, in my opinion, is a more mature poet, who is quite professional in the word and the technique of versification. I listened to it with pleasure, as if I had been to the cinema or looked at it with curiosity and read a guide to Moscow. Why not publish such a guide? Why wouldn't the Moscow Mayor's Office order Alla such a poetic local history Moscow Almanac guide for Muscovites and guests of the capital?