I am innocent: Mirkurbanov turned Gerasimov's anniversary into a court case

On the day of the 75th anniversary of the artistic director of the Satire Theater Evgeny Gerasimov, an unusual premiere took place. Actor and director Igor Mirkurbanov invited the hero of the day to play in the play by the Austrian playwright, where public love turns into harassment faster than the lights go out. The production combines detective, comedy and elements of state protocol. However, the main question of the evening was not "who is the killer", but whether the intrigue of the play will withstand the set jubilee pace. Izvestia attended the premiere screening.

An anti-fascist comedy with a judicial flavor

Despite the fact that the plays of the Austrian playwright Fritz Hochwelder, a staunch anti-fascist, were translated into Russian back in Soviet times, his name is still almost unknown to the Russian theatrical public.

Actor and director Igor Mirkurbanov brought The Innocent to the Satire Theater for the 75th anniversary of artistic director Evgeny Gerasimov. Moreover, according to the plot, the characters of the play are also celebrating an important date. Why not combine all the events in one evening?

In the current production, Mirkurbanov performs in several capacities at once: director, author of the stage version and musical design, choreographer, performer of the role of district judge Stark. However, Igor Lagutin played the premiere — the director himself was involved in the play of the Theater of Nations at that time.

It is important to note that Igor Mirkurbanov demonstrates almost manic directorial productivity. Mark Zakharov's Lenkom released "Gogolliad" and "The Beloved Side." And more recently, the premiere of the confessional play "Gutta-Percha Man and Nutcracker" took place in the space "Inside".

The prologue to the performance was government congratulations and the audience's celebration of Evgeny Gerasimov. Actor Andrei Ankudinov took the stage, invited the hero of the occasion to applause, noted that the Satire Theater's mailbox had been full of telegrams since morning, and then read out congratulations from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Inna Svyatenko and Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova personally came to congratulate the hero of the day.

— Dear, beloved Evgeny Vladimirovich, the only thing I could bring today was my heart. However, it was broken by you. I glued it together as best I could, patched it up with flowers. I certainly wish you well-being, longevity, and all the best. You've brought me back to the Theater of Satire. And they did it in an amazing way, reminding all of us that satire is a mockery of human shortcomings, not a laugh at a person," Maria Zakharova said from the stage.

The hero of the day himself concluded this lengthy prologue, urging the audience to be supportive of the subsequent action.

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The skeleton in the closet and loss of conscience

On the stage there is a schematically created rich decoration of the living room: a wooden table at which the Erdman family is having breakfast, in the left corner there is a fireplace with a bearskin by the master's chair, a wardrobe behind which the pipes of the organ can be guessed. In the depths there is a kind of amphitheater. According to Mirkurbanov's idea, all the actors are constantly on stage: they sit on chairs and descend from the dais at the request of the text. This technique emphasizes the publicity of what is happening and gives the action a resemblance to a trial, where there is an accused, a judge and a jury.

— The play "Innocent" is about the mass loss of conscience. This theme is typical of the anti-fascist literature of the post-war period. But at the same time, when director Igor Mirkurbanov began to analyze this material, another theme emerged — the internal struggle of the main character, Anton Buglak, who played the role of Christian Erdman's future son—in-law, told Izvestia.

According to the plot, in the garden of an influential and immaculately respected industrialist Christian (Evgeny Gerasimov), sewage suddenly begins to be laid. Workers find a human skeleton with a fractured skull. Rumors immediately spread around the town, local law enforcement officers open a case, and the iron reputation of the owner dissipates before our eyes like a morning mist. Faithful wife Charlotte (Yulia Piven / Marina Ilyina) laments that she has been living with a murderer for 30 years. Daughter Kristina (Yanina Studilina), best friend Julius (Mikhail Khomyakov / Andrey Zenin) and neighbor Pettering (Yuri Vasiliev / Yuri Vorobyov) join the charges.

The Comedy of Defeats

An important element of the performance was a round screen that turned into a full moon, a crystal chandelier, or a window into the otherworld. The viewer periodically saw on it a mysterious figure of a man with a shovel, a plague doctor surrounded by dead roses and colorful shrubs.

Igor Mirkurbanov's choreographic idea was realized on stage by Dmitry Gostev, a young actor and dancer. He plays tenor Luciano, who 35 years ago quarreled with the main character over a woman. The character has no words: his role boils down to a few spectacular dance moves to the music from The Phantom of the Opera. The guest spends almost the entire performance inside an unusual cabinet—organ structure.

The play is billed as a sitcom with a detective twist, and the audience really reacts to individual lines. However, it is not possible to fully immerse oneself in the proposed story. Despite the short running time — only an hour and a half — the action does not have time to captivate the viewer. The production seems to be woven with rough stitches from individual patches, and the viewer has to connect the story in his own head.

"Innocent" in the Theater of Satire is a fast, noisy, visually inventive performance in which the form sometimes outstrips the content. Hochwelder wrote about how easy it is to destroy a person's reputation. Mirkurbanov shows how easy it is to destroy an intrigue if you rush too much.