Mark Zakharov staged a play based on Shakespeare for the first time. Performances based on Shakespeare: from traveling around the theater to online screenings Various productions based on Shakespeare's plays
This coming Saturday, the Lenkom Theater will premiere a new play by Mark Zakharov. “Falstaff and the Prince of Wales” is a free stage fantasy on the theme of Shakespearean comedies and tragedies. They promise a “visual attack on the viewer,” new meanings and subtexts, metamorphoses of the main characters and, of course, favorite artists in unexpected images.
This premiere is one of a series of theatrical sensations, noted. Mark Zakharov has never staged Shakespeare before. Somehow, he says, he was afraid. However, the public knows well that for Zakharov any brilliant text is a theme for fantasy and a reason for play. Intellectual. Apparently, Shakespeare's time has come.
“There are certain difficulties. Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov said - I don’t stage and don’t like Shakespeare, because it’s very ponderous, archaic. I agree with him. And at the same time, you can get very emotional from it,” said the artistic director of the Lenkom Theater. Mark Zakharov.
Zakharov took not the most popular texts as fuel - historical chronicles dedicated to Henry V, and wrote his own story in company with Julius Kim. About metamorphoses with a person who has fallen into power.
The times in the play are dashing - the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. And Dmitry Pevtsov’s role is bloody. It was not for nothing that the Prince of Wales became Henry V, the English king.
“Such a strange story of a man who was a kind of Robin Hood for himself, and in the end becomes Hitler. Killing everything that was connected with the past, breaking all human connections,” said the leading actor Dmitry Pevtsov.
However, the genre of the play is by no means a tragedy, rather a farce. Always next to the Prince of Wales is his faithful companion and jester Falstaff. The character is still unsolved, admitted Sergei Stepanchenko. It is generally accepted that he is a reveler, a rogue, a glutton, but in reality he is a deep man hiding behind a mask.
“I think that every performance will probably be different. Well, what in the weather, what in the world, probably. And the character reacts on his own, this is independent even from the actor,” said Sergei Stepanchenko.
The theater is in a special state - pre-premiere. There is a feeling that the artists do not leave the theater at all. The atmosphere at rehearsals is extremely creative. Improvement proposals are received regularly.
King Henry IV, played by Igor Mirkurbanov, is not against creativity and improvisation.
“I misbehaved quite a lot, allowed myself a lot at rehearsals, despite the fact that Mark Anatolych, of course, is a despot and quickly stops all this. Well, because he knows exactly what he wants,” he said.
The stage, as always at Lenkom, is bright and spectacular. Literally everything is moving.
“If a person comes who does not understand the text, a foreigner, he should still watch with interest. This very visual attack on the viewer, it should fascinate and attract a person,” explained Mark Zakharov.
Almost a week until the premiere. And it is possible that Shakespeare is the ideal author for Zakharov. He is also a master at bringing laughter through tears. It’s even strange that they haven’t met before.
Yulia Bogomanshina, Alexey Kolesnik, TV Center
When should I take it? Two more years and he won’t go anywhere with me at all. Already now, at 13, I can only lure him to an adult performance - God forbid even one child slips through! Therefore, we preferably go to performances 16+, although he, of course, does not understand everything.
Reason one. Theater buffet
Do you believe it? I lure people to performances only with a buffet. We especially honor julienne in the theater in the South-West. Many thanks to the chef! If it weren’t for him... At the same time, a family connection was discovered - I, too, am crazy about the cafe in the basement of the theater. Only I prefer ice cream. And, in general, it seems to me... Well, I hope... I didn’t ask because I’m afraid to be disappointed... Gleb likes the atmosphere of the theater. A scene that is so close. Six green rows. Posters in the corridor, already familiar faces of employees. The road to the buffet, again.
Reason two. Scary
I have a fixed idea that every person should know the works of Shakespeare. Therefore, as soon as the child reached adolescence, I realized that I had to act, urgently go to the theater. Do not read under any circumstances. After all, Shakespeare wrote for the stage, which means that is where he should be studied.
But the most important thing is to choose the right piece. With my son’s character, neither the romantic “Romeo and Juliet”, nor the complex “Hamlet”, nor the philosophical “King Lear” suits us. We need the most terrible play, where there are witches, witchcraft, fortune telling and bloody murders.
Reason three. Koldovskaya
I watched “Macbeth” with Valery Afanasyev and Irina Bochorishvili at a theater in the South-West in the 90s. The highlight of the performance was not the main duet, although they played great. There were three witches played by male actors. They played with masks placed on the back of their heads and their backs turned to the audience. Honestly, it was creepy.
When I decided to go with my son to the updated performance of “Macbeth,” I really hoped that such frightening witches would be abandoned. And what luck! Everything is the same as before. By the way, I should note that the actors playing the roles of the witches are in excellent physical shape. These are Georgy Iobadze, Vadim Sokolov and Alexey Nazarov. Bravo, guys! You set the tone for the performance.
Witches appear not only in scenes of their predictions. They open the doors to warriors going to battle and to courtiers at a ball. They accompany the heroes almost everywhere. This is the leitmotif of fate. Or rock, if you like. At this point, we can philosophize that we are not playing, but we are being played. Or you can just enjoy the excellent direction of “Macbeth”.
But it turned out even worse than I remembered. Anyone who has been to a theater in the South-West has seen the size of the stage and auditorium. When everything happens so close, then every word reaches “the mind, the heart, the liver” (Gleb Zheglov).
Praise, praise be to you, Macbeth, Thane of Cawdor, king to come!
Reason four. Discussion
This is why I go to the theater with my son. For the sake of discussing what we saw. And since the path to our house from the theater in the South-West is very long, you can hear a lot of interesting things.
“Yes, this is a plagiarism of “The Matrix”! Remember when Neo broke the vase? He broke it because Pythia predicted it to him. And would he have broken her if she had not said anything?”
Wow! This is the main idea of the play. Did Macbeth kill King Duncan because the witches told him to? And what would have happened if the fiends of hell had not met on his way? Of course, this is rhetoric. We will never know what would have happened. But it’s worth thinking about why an excellent warrior, a loyal vassal, an honest family man suddenly became a maniac killer. Was there some kind of wormhole in Macbeth from the beginning, or did the proximity of power take its toll?
If you think that Shakespeare's play is morally outdated, then it is not so. Imagine this situation.
You believe in fortune telling and horoscopes. Anything can happen. And now they predict that you will become the editor-in-chief of the magazine. And you are an ordinary correspondent. Of course you don't believe this nonsense. Suddenly the next day you become a deputy. Here you should be happy and get down to business. Which, by the way, is what Lady Macbeth tried to do. However, something prevents you from living in peace; in your dreams you see yourself as the most important boss. And so you bait your boss in front of management, and he leaves with psychological trauma. Yes, of course, the scale is not the same, blood is not flowing like a river, but the essence is the same.
I thought about the problem of power again and decided: well, this power. You never know how the body will behave in such an unpleasant neighborhood. If you succumb to this passion, then there are two ways out: either, like Lady Macbeth, you can’t stand what you’ve done and go crazy, or, like Macbeth, you cut everyone left and right, trying to keep the crown. My thought is this: it’s better to be a Thane of Glamis, or at most a Thane of Cawdor, but not the King of Scotland.
By the way, my Gleb considers Macbeth a good person. Why? He killed King Duncan with his own hands. “It’s not his fault, his wife ordered him.” A curtain.
Poor, poor King Duncan. I wished him with all my might to live longer, because he is played by the magnificent Oleg Leushin!
Reason five. Acting. Lady Macbeth
Starring actress Lyubov Yarlykova. She is a true discovery for me. I liked her Snow White and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but Lady Macbeth is completely different. This is a serious dramatic role. And what an interesting interpretation it turned out to be.
There is an opinion, and here Gleb is somewhat right, that she is the main villain, because she pushes her husband to kill. Lady Macbeth Lyubov Yarlykova begins to repent of her deeds as soon as she saw the dead body of the king. How brave, decisive, and cold-blooded she was when she persuaded her husband. It seemed to her, what is the life of one person in front of such career prospects!
And so she leaves the room where the murdered king lies, and looks at her hands, stained with blood. Oh, what a poignant moment this is. And superbly played.
But the lady pulls herself together and lives on according to her plans. However, her husband, who was so God-fearing at first, begins to kill people in batches. The unfortunate Banquo, who had the imprudence to witness a conversation with the witches. Then all those dissatisfied with the new regime. Then the wife of the most dissatisfied one and his young daughter.
Well, it’s understandable why Shakespeare included such heart-warming scenes. So that all viewers will be thoroughly impressed. And for me, the most poignant moment of the performance is the death of the poor lady. I think all the guilt for what her husband had done fell on her, and she then... died.
I still can’t get into Macbeth himself, performed by Sergei Borodinov. Everything was clear with Valery Afanasyev. A man strives for power: nothing can stop him. And on this path the living thing in him dies. How indifferently he accepted the death of his beloved. She died, that's how she died. And Sergei Borodinov has a different performance. What awakened in Macbeth when he sat over his wife's corpse? Regret? The question “Why did everything go wrong?” We need to reconsider. That’s what’s good about theater performances in the South-West. They are alive.
Reason six. Decorative
I saw the moors where Macbeth and Banquo met the witches. I saw the gloomy stone castle where King Duncan was received. I saw cramped rooms with low ceilings, where sleeping people lay side by side. I saw Lady Macbeth sneaking into the king's bedchamber. I saw the throne room of King Macbeth. I saw another castle where Lady Macduff and her children were hiding. Saw Dunsinane Hill and Birnam Forest. I swear I saw it all. And on the stage there was only a gate.
Incredible. Beautiful, interesting and impressive, alive. But also contradictory, sometimes deceptive. Such "Shakespeare in Love." He is anything but boring.
The most amazing thing about the play is its design. Everyone did their best here: costume designer, lighting designer, set designer. Screens that create a circle play a big role, thanks to which we can easily find ourselves in a variety of places. However, using screens to display some kind of picture on them is a banality, and in “Shakespeare in Love” the screens create, say, shadow theater effects, when shadows turn into heroes or vice versa. And the coolest thing that the artist was able to achieve with the help of screens was the theater effect. The “behind the scenes” effect and the “on stage” effect. The circle creates an absolute sense of presence, we see the stage from behind the scenes, the actors on it, and the next moment the screens unfold and we already see the stage, and the main characters play their roles, and yes, this is an absolutely convincing performance within a play. Lighting also helps in creating the theater effect: at some point the actors seem to be standing in front of a full hall in the light of spotlights, and this is very impressive.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the costumes. They are absolutely modern, but stylized for those times. There is “expensive and rich” here, but this style is inherent exclusively to the extras and nobility. Basically, everything is quite concise. I noticed a small detail for myself: Romeo’s costume in the play is very reminiscent of Tybalt’s costume from “Romeo and Juliet” at the Operetta Theater. Very.
You can’t judge a performance by the first act alone, that’s for sure. The first act leaves two impressions. The main character, Shakespeare, is a very young man, a little flighty, charming, energetic and... ordinary. He lives, fusses, suffers from lack of inspiration, tries to write, even writes something, but the main thing that cannot be felt in the first act is that Shakespeare is talented and even brilliant. Literally everything in his work is borrowed. When he tries to come up with something, the first lines are suggested to him by his poet friend Keith Marlowe. When he stands under the balcony of his new love, like Romeo, the poems are not his again, and Keith comes to the rescue. Even the plot of Romeo and Juliet is suggested by Shakespeare. It seems that our Will is simply connecting something from what a friend tells him, something from what he experiences himself, but nothing comes from himself. It's like he's not a hero. Here is his beloved Viola - the heroine. Even Keith is a hero. But not Shakespeare. And how the sponsor of the performance saw talent in Shakespeare is not at all clear.
However, the second act begins to bring everything together. Suddenly, Keith Marlowe turns from a character who clearly exists into what feels like an almost mystical entity. And this explains a lot. If the first act suggested that the director and the author of the play were trying to make it clear that Shakespeare was either a fraud and not the author of his works, or a completely collective image, now there is confidence that it is, after all, himself. He exists and he is talented. Because Marlowe is perceived not as a man of skin and bones, but as the very inspiration of Shakespeare. Then it is not some poet friend who whispers poems, but Shakespeare himself who composes them, not someone who gives him plots, but he finds them himself.
The main character Viola is presented as a source of inspiration for Shakespeare, both directly and indirectly. There are definitely some elements of Romeo and Juliet that are woven into the play as a whole, and it's not just the balcony scene. At first, life influences art, but then art also influences life. The love line in this story is perceived not as some kind of ordinary romanticism, not as a tragedy of lovers, but as part of the fate of both. Viola had to meet Will, but also go through her own path, make her own choice, find the strength to give up what she wanted, so that Will could go through his. And without Viola, he might not have been able to do this, because everything that happens affects a person and changes him. Of course, the comparison between Will and Romeo, Viola and Juliet is obvious, and it is not for nothing that the play within the play is interrupted at the very end: as if history itself suggests that the conventional prototypes will have a different story. It’s as if history does not allow us to put an end to either the lives of the heroes or the work of Shakespeare.
The war of theaters and the war against the theater are now perceived as curious. Perhaps the competition between different actors and different theaters would have been perceived simply with curiosity, if not for their final unification in opposition to what could become the coffin lid for both. In opposition to the creaking rusty order. And not even orders, but what is declared order at the request of not even those in power, but those hanging around nearby. The fight against the new, even if completely harmless, is carried out under the sign of protecting morality and, of course, morality. In the role of threat - the queen's confidant. The presentation is such that he is not against anything in particular, but against the theater as such, against the new in their person, which yesterday’s competitors feel. I don’t know about you, but I have certain associations. It’s also funny how our cheerful actors send their enemies straight to hell, and they go there almost voluntarily.
The evolution of the queen's images is interesting. Her first option is to be neutral. She looks like the ladies of that time, with the same wigs and rich outfits. Let her be omnipotent. The second appearance, when the queen communicates with Viola, seals the girl's fate: she is all in red. The color of blood. Red Queen. Danger. And the third, when the queen saves with her wisdom: she is in light. She became the White Queen.
When I saw Kirill Chernyshenko in the role of Shakespeare, the first thing I thought was how outwardly interesting and attractive the actor is, you’ll just fall in love. Kirill plays youth. His image has frivolity, lightness, impetuosity, and his Shakespeare clearly follows his destiny and his destiny. I don’t think that Kirill plays the only and most important love in life. Viola is one of them. Kirill’s hero is very lively and real, and definitely not a portrait from a textbook. He is very human, but in the second act, his peculiarity and chosenness, if you like, are finally visible.
Viola Taisiya Vilkova is a real heroine. Taisiya creates a contradictory image: on the one hand, she is a romantic girl dreaming of love, and on the other, she is an active and action-ready heroine, decisive and courageous. Viola Taisii is amazing because she always makes her own choice. Even her marriage is her choice. She stands very firmly on her feet. She may be hurt, but she is ready to forgive. Her image is very complete. Despite the love story, the heroine has a dream - to be an artist. And the performance is the path to fulfilling a dream. The ending may be relatively sad, on the one hand, but on the other hand, Viola gets what she dreamed of, and her story is completed. The only small drawback is that the actress’s diction is not very clear, and it is not always clear what she wanted to say.
I will note Andrey Kuzichev as Keith Marlowe. Of course, it’s influenced by the fact that I can’t get rid of the image of Mercutio that he had in Ridge MGATO, and that’s why Andrey reminds me of him so much here. In part, Keith's fate is the same, similar and close. Andrei makes Keith moderately mysterious, moderately earthly, moderately - no, not kind, but definitely not evil. It is quite neutral, and the actor accurately creates an image from which you cannot immediately tell whether he really exists or not.
There are so many other characters that even the program does not help me understand who played whom - I simply am not able to remember all the names of the characters. But I will say that I was incredibly impressed by the actor who played the hero, who, in turn, rehearsed the image of Juliet. He transformed into a woman SO believably! And without any antics. He literally became her! Very cool!
I liked the performance. The design simply has a wow effect. It seems like there are a lot of people and characters on stage, but somehow everything comes together. Suddenly you understand some things that may not be immediately obvious. Shakespeare is definitely unexpected with his, at first, ordinariness and transition to talent in the second act. And the performance within the performance turned out just great.
A performance based on the legendary work of the world-recognized classic of British literature Tom Stoppard “Shakespeare in Love”. This is a witty fantasy based on the biography of William Shakespeare, in which a young playwright finds lost inspiration thanks to sudden love and creates one of his most important masterpieces - the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.
A mischievous and sad story about people of the Renaissance who value honor and dignity above all else, believe in friendship and brotherhood and are ready to fight to the death for the sake of their love. The unforgettable love story of Viola de Lesseps and William Shakespeare will be presented in the production of the most outstanding theater director in Moscow - Evgeny Pisarev.
Here is what the director of the play, Evgeny Pisarev, says about “Shakespeare in Love”: “The story was long. And it began twenty years ago, when the Oscar-winning, famous film “Shakespeare in Love” was released. Since then, for me, a young artist, it has been a dream to play Shakespeare. But as the years went by, I didn’t get to play anything like it. Then I started directing and thought, why don’t I stage this in our theater.”
Stoppard's theatrical fantasy, with its attractive backstage atmosphere of "Elizabethan" England, with many memorable characters and unexpected plot twists, in our time of cynicism and disunity, is designed to unite viewers in the territory of sincere emotions and genuine poetry.
Who is it suitable for?
For adults, fans of Shakespeare and the original work.
Why is it worth going
- Performance based on the famous work
- Romantic story
- Great acting
On April 23, the birthday of the great English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is celebrated all over the world. This year the date is round - 450 years, so the capital's theaters have prepared special productions that will allow a new look at his works.
On April 23, the only showings of the production will take place at the Theater of Nations "Shakespeare. Labyrinth". Visitors will be able to walk through the dressing rooms and back staircase, see the auditorium without seats and much more. In the foyer of the theater, spectators will be given masks and headphones in which they can listen to the audio guide.
The guests are greeted by Shakespeare himself, in whose role the illuminator of the Theater of Nations made his debut. Eight teams took part in the production. Someone talks about the attitude towards the classic, someone about the anniversary, someone about how plays are written.
The first show is at 18.00.
On April 23, King Lear will be shown at the Soprichastnost Drama Theatre. The production tells the story of a ruler who is carried away by his own greatness and vanity. At the end of his life, he learns the whole bitter truth about himself, his daughters and the mistakes he has made.
Starts at 19.00.
On April 23, the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya will stage the play “The Tempest,” which directors Igor Drevalev and Lev Durov perceived as the story of the wizard Prospero. Betrayed by his own brother, Prospero lives on an island and decides the philosophical question - to forgive or take revenge.
Starts at 19.00.
"Shakespeare. Ghosts and Witches." Photo: o-stage.ru
On April 25, the Theater Club on Tishinka will show the play "Shakespeare. Ghosts and Witches". In Sergei Aronin's production, the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedies are not boring romantics, but Shakespeare himself is a cheeky guy with an earring in his ear. He invited people to his birthday party and then suddenly died. And then doubts arose whether this Shakespeare even existed.
Starts at 20.00.
“Hamlet” can be seen in several theaters at once: April 23 – at the Theater in the South-West, April 26 – at the Nikitsky Gate Theater, April 30 – at the Russian Army Theater. A "Romeo and Juliet" will be shown on May 1 at MDT Dzhigarkhanyan.
On May 13 and 14, London's Globe Theater will come to the Mayakovsky Theater with the new Hamlet. His performances will open the theatrical program of the Cross Year of Great Britain and Russia. The Globe's world tour will end on April 23, 2016, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.
The performance was created in accordance with the traditions of Shakespearean theater - practically without scenery and props, and the actors themselves act without makeup. In total, the production features 12 actors, each performing several roles. They also accompany themselves on instruments, dance and sing.
As part of the Shakespeare Theater Festival in the capital, online broadcasts of the playwright’s performances are being held. Next up is the broadcast of the play “Coriolanus” from the Donmar Theater. The small Donmar Theater in Covent Garden has become the most prestigious "small stage" of theatrical London. Coriolanus stars Tom Hiddleston (Thor). The next screenings will be held on April 23, 26, 30 at the Formula Kino cinema.
