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- The Taming of the Shrews: The Russian Theater from Florence will perform in front of the government of Tuscany
The Taming of the Shrews: The Russian Theater from Florence will perform in front of the government of Tuscany
A performance in front of the Italian administration and sold—out performances at "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" in Spain - these stories do not fit well into the usual plot about the culture of cancellation. While politicians are arguing, bands abroad receive state awards, perform in front of the authorities and continue to play Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Gogol. At the end of September, Florence's only repertory drama theater with a permanent troupe, where Russian classics are staged in two languages, will show the play in front of the government of Tuscany, and then go to the national competition with "Netochka Nezvanova." The Izvestia correspondent found out how the Russian scene in Europe lives today.
Tarkovsky for Italian prisoners
The international festival "The World of Russian Theater" is once again being held in a full-time format for the first time in six years. After the screenings in Vladimir, its participants came on a Moscow tour to the Vakhtangov stage.
The busiest months are yet to come. In September, a team from Florence will perform the play "Creations" in front of the government of Tuscany, and then present "Netochka Nezvanova" based on Dostoevsky at the Italian theater competition.
The play "Creations", the Center of the International Theater. Italy, Florence
— The Government of Tuscany annually selects a cultural project that makes it free for the audience. This year, they chose our play "Creations" and fully paid for its screening," Olga Melnik, the artistic director of the theater, told Izvestia.
The Center for International Theater is the only Russian—language repertory drama theater in Italy with a permanent troupe. For Italy, where most scenes work according to the design principle and assemble actors for individual productions, such a model is a rarity. At the Russian Theater in Florence, performances have remained in the repertoire for years. Today there are already 54 of them.
The team brought the plastic performance "Creations" to Moscow. The cast includes Italians Samuele Batistoni and Valentina Schiavi and Russian actor Kirill Karasov. Olga Melnik's company has all productions in Russian and Italian. At the same time, Russian literature still forms the basis of the repertoire. In the last season alone, the theater released Schwartz's The Dragon, worked on Dostoevsky, and played Chekhov, Bunin, and Pushkin.
Russian culture here exists not only on the stage. Olga Melnik has been running a theater studio in one of Florence's prisons for many years. The last premiere of the prisoners was "Solaris" based on the novel by Stanislav Lem, and before the rehearsals they watched a film by Andrei Tarkovsky together.
Julia Vashchenko (Julia Vashchenko Theater Studio, Spain), Olga Melnik (Center for International Theater, Italy), Lyudmila Mayer-Babkina (Classical Theater, Switzerland)
Amid the talk about the abolition of Russian culture, Olga continues to exhibit the awards of Russian festivals received in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Lake Baikal and other Russian cities in the theater window. Although he admits that today such an act requires a certain amount of courage.
— We are a private theater, although with a public license. Representatives of the administration come to us, and I have an award from the Italian government. Someone asked why we don't remove Russian awards. But we're not hiding anything. Italians approach, consider, and are interested. This is also a sign of respect for us," says Olga Melnik.
Evenings on a farm near Valencia
Julia Vashchenko's theater studio from Valencia also works in two languages at once — Russian and Spanish. She holds her own international festival "Theatrical Residence", which unites Russian-speaking groups from different countries.
The theater brought Gogol's "Overcoat" to Moscow. Despite widespread perceptions of cultural isolation, Yulia Vashchenko says that the theater almost never encounters such manifestations.
The play "The Overcoat" by Julia Vashchenko Theater Studio from Valencia
— If earlier we were almost the only platform for the Russian-speaking public in Valencia, today there are many more opportunities. Movies are shown in Russian, touring performances are coming, and new theater studios are opening. And strangely enough, this turned out to be a plus for us — an audience has formed that really loves the Russian theater," she told Izvestia.
More recently, the group has received one of the main Spanish state awards among amateur theaters and regularly participates in national festivals.
The Valencian team does not hide its multiculturalism. The theater's emblem depicts several flags at once, and artists of different nationalities play in the performances. The traditional production of "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", which annually gathers full houses, features Georgian songs performed by an actor from Georgia.
The play "The Overcoat" by Julia Vashchenko Theater Studio from Valencia
— Sometimes we even tell the audience: if you are afraid outside the theater, come to us — here the fear disappears, — Yulia Vashchenko noted in an interview with Izvestia.
Bells ringing at the monument to Suvorov
The history of the Russian-Swiss Theater is no less revealing. It appeared in the late 1990s on the initiative of the Swiss themselves, who became interested in the Russian theater school. Lyudmila Mayer-Babkina, the founder of the theater, graduated from GITIS, studied with Rimas Tuminas at the directing faculty under Joseph Tumanov, and then completed postgraduate studies under the guidance of Anatoly Efros. In Zurich, she taught the Stanislavsky system, the sketchy method of Maria Knebel, and then created her own theater and studio.
The band brought the play "The Traveler" based on Bryusov's play of the same name to the festival. Starring actress Julia Belga.
According to Mayer-Babkina, the theater has not faced attacks or threats. But she remembers well the day when, on June 22, she and like-minded people cleaned the memorial to Suvorov of blue and yellow paint.
One-man show "The Traveler" from the Theater of Scenic Classics (Zurich, Switzerland)
— There is a piece of land in Switzerland that was once donated to Russia. This is a territory associated with the memory of Suvorov. Every year on the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, we gather there. This time, the monument had to be cleaned of blue and yellow paint again. We stood there, remembering that day. And suddenly they heard the bell ringing. It turned out that people in national costumes were coming down to us — with huge traditional bells that are worn during the holidays. They came up to us and said very simple words against the background of the Suvorov Memorial.: "We love Russians. We want Switzerland to become truly neutral again." It was a very strong moment for me," Lyudmila told Izvestia.
According to her, such stories reflect the attitude of ordinary residents of the country to Russian culture much more accurately than political discussions.
— People can repeat what they read in newspapers or see on television. But gradually they start to figure it out themselves. It seems to me that today we have at least begun to be heard," says Lyudmila Mayer—Babkina.
One-man show "The Traveler" from the Theater of Scenic Classics (Zurich, Switzerland)
The World of Russian Theater Festival has once again shown that the Russian-speaking theater scene abroad continues to live by its own laws. Despite the political situation, bands from Italy, Spain and Switzerland not only retain their Russian repertoire, but also become a full-fledged part of the cultural life of their countries: they receive state awards, perform before authorities, participate in national festivals and find a new audience. That is why the conversation about the Russian theater in Europe today turns out to be much more complicated and multifaceted than the stamp about the culture of cancellation.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
