Viktyuk theater Mowgli of good hunting. Mowgli

Amber reviews: 81 ratings: 81 ratings: 27

Roman Viktyuk Theater

has a reputation as a shocking theater, so a play appeared on my February theater calendar “Mowgli. Good hunting!» . The director of this production is Dmitry Bozin. It was interesting to see how and if it could be made special.
I always liked The Jungle Book, Kipling was able to humanize like no one else animal world. The Jungle Book was very strange book, she was not forgotten, she radiated energy that you intuitively, unconsciously, but very clearly feel in childhood. To look at the world through the eyes of the leader of the wolf pack Akela, the kite Chil, the incomparable Bagheera, the wise Kaa, the majestic Hatha, the vile Tabaqui, the ruthless Shere Khan - it was unusual and somehow influenced your view of how the universe works. The laws of the Jungle were cruel, but correct, correct in relation to the world as a whole. And next to them, people lost, their greed, ignorance, and low vibrations manifested themselves.
In “The Jungle Book” there was something hidden between the lines that filled the soul with light, which made us realize the existence of universal laws of Life, the connection between everything that exists on Earth. The understanding came that all living beings on the planet live according to the same laws and rules, without division into higher and lower. The correctness of anyone’s actions in relation to the world is the main law of the Universe. The energy of actions and thoughts of all inhabitants of the world forms the World itself and returns to us.
At the Viktyuk Theater “Mowgli” is a production for adults, for those who still feel the connection and power of the book.
The last thing I expected when I came to the performance was that I would “float” without recognizing the scenes that seemed to be memorized by heart. The feeling of misunderstanding can be compared to not reaching the meaning that was clearly embedded in the actions, but which I could not decipher.
Two Kaas, two Bagheeras, four Shere Khans, six Hathas. Despite the fact that the characters themselves were not on stage, and they were not designated in any way. All the actors were dressed in black, were barefoot, and were not identified in any way. The sequence of scenes did not match.
After the performance, the idea occurred to me to ask questions to the director himself - and how successful it turned out to be! The answers received from Dmitry Bozin plunged me into shock and amazement, but most importantly, the puzzle instantly came together!

It turns out that Joseph Rudyard Kipling - “ English writer, poet, journalist, intelligence officer, athlete, youngest laureate Nobel Prize"was a Freemason, was a member Masonic lodge#782 “Hope and Perseverance”! And, naturally, his views and beliefs could not help but be reflected in his work.
It turns out that to tell the story of Mowgli, to show his path, purpose, goals, Dmitry Bozin used literally magical techniques. The director speaks to the audience in a certain language - the performance is filled with symbolism, occult signs, and is tied to numerology.

To understand this performance, it is necessary to part with stereotypes, to feel all the diversity, versatility and mystery of this huge world in which we live, and in which man is not the only one endowed with Reason.
To understand this performance, you don’t need to pretend to be smart; it’s better to re-read “Mowgli”. The performance begins with the chapter “ Wild dogs"(I already wrote above that the sequence of scenes has been changed, and for this reason the time of action will constantly flow from the present to the past, future or vice versa). Find the poems mentioned below by Dmitry Bozin. And - turn off logic, turn on imagination, forget that you know everything about everything!
You don't know anything!)
And only then will the Fire Flower bloom, you will hear the Treasured words of the Jungle and the heavy tread of the Master of the Jungle across the trampled fields of Bharatpura!
Have a good hunting!

Even if you are far from mysticism and esotericism, this performance is worth watching in order to see:
- magnificent decorations in the form of tusks and Kaa the python in the form of two leather nets
- a luxurious chase of a herd of buffaloes after Shere Khan
- how Mowgli saves Messua’s mother and father from the wrath of the villagers (the scene in the cages is excellent)
- the battle of Wolves with Red Dogs
- the story of Hatha and his three sons about the trampled fields of Bharatpura
- Akela's farewell dance

INTERVIEW WITH DMITRY BOZIN

Why is Mowgli played by a girl? (I saw that there is a man in the second cast, but, nevertheless, why is one of Mowgli a woman?)
Dmitry Bozin: This is very important question. Mowgli is played not just by a woman, but by Maria Mikhailec. With her voice, hands and energy. Of the entire young team of this theater, only she and our wonderful actor Ivan Ivanovich were able to enter Mowgli’s energy field. In addition to resilient physics and emotional strength, it was also necessary to have internal magic, which makes Mowgli related to all the Deities testing him or protecting him in this “Fairytale Forest”.

Why are there two Bagheeras and four Shere Khans?
Dmitry Bozin: The performance was built in the “Space of the Great Kaa.” The scene of his hunt, described in the book as a magical act, became for me the key to determining the principle of the energetic existence of the actors in the play.

- We see, O Kaa.

Two or three times he crawled along, making large circles and shaking his head now to the right, now to the left; then he began to twist his soft body into loops, figures of eight, blunt triangles, which turned into squares and pentagons; curled up in the form of a mound, and moved all the time without rest, without haste. At the same time, his quiet, continuous buzzing song was heard. The air was darkening; finally, the darkness hid the slithering, changeable coils of the snake; only the rustling of its scales could be heard...
And one more important component is the ritual basis of Masonic initiations - the Gothic peak, following the goal, the willingness to part with many of their lives. Kipling was a dedicated Mason. This fact provoked me to use the pyramid symbol within important totems for Mowgli: the Buffalo, sacrificed for his life, and Hathi, the great Keeper of the Law.

Why is everything in the play “black”, without identification marks; how can one recognize, for example, who is Balu or who is Akela?
Dmitry Bozin:“The Space of the Great Kaa” in combination with burnt gothic is the basis of the appearance of the performance. And the “facelessness” of the actors allows them to more easily shape the spaces of the characters and mix in them, forming their energy fields from the inside. Numerology, as a numerical expression of energy, was useful to me in conveying the feeling of danger threatening Mowgli. In addition, Shere Khan consists of heroes testing Mowgli, and Father Wolf and Mother Wolf are heroes guarding him. The energy field of the Great Hatha is formed by six men, and the field of Bagheera is formed by two women (“... I dance with my shadow...” is an important quote for me that characterizes Bagheera).

What determines the choice of music? Why not ethnicity, let's say?
What is the role of "dryads"? What is the meaning of their presence on stage?
Dmitry Bozin: Indian ethnic music sounds in the play twice at those moments when a transition in time occurs. Other music in my inner perception is also deeply natural, and imbued with the energy of ancient rituals. Young Israeli rocker Asaf Avidan is a remarkable energy phenomenon in modern times. musical culture. His music begins my performance, bursting into it with the voice of a wounded animal, and ends it with a song full of wonderful inner awareness that we feel, even if we do not know English. Another young American musician sounds - Dave Matthews, who has a bewitching voice and thinking. Also, his song is sung by our actor at the moment when the epitaphs appear (in the song the hero asks the gravedigger not to bury him too deep so that he can feel the rain) Also sounds Marion Williams - a powerful gospel singer, singing to us about the death of Christ , bringing into our space a feeling of impending catastrophe. Well, how can you not feel how ethnic those bells and sighs are that permeate our performance Alesya Manzha, a living composer, sitting next to us and carefully shaping the sound field with the help of a synthesizer. She firmly holds the line of dead buffaloes, which will inexorably crush Shere Khan without interrupting the military march (This is another Kipling poem - “Infantry Columns”) And then the rebellious soul of Shere Khan will be accepted by the dryads, who then live in our forests. Inside every wild conflict there are attentive spirits, waiting - whose soul will leave the body?

Anna Stolyarova reviews: 127 ratings: 129 rating: 20

I visited the Roman Viktyuk Theater for the first time, and not even to the performance of the Maestro himself, but to the performance of his Disciple, probably the most charismatic actor of the Theater - Dmitry Bozin. "Mowgli. Good hunting!" This is his first performance as a director.

To my untrained eye, this work differs from the sometimes shocking works of the Master. It’s understandable, the director is different, and the subject matter is generally not provocative. But still, the performance turned out to be in the style of the “Viktyuk Theater” - bright, saturated with special light (or rather, the play of light and shadow), very plastic. And unusual.
Well, tell me, where did you see a girl in the role of Mowgli? Or two actresses simultaneously in the role of Bagheera? Or four Shere Khans? Continue? I’m generally silent about Kaa, although it was Kaa’s interpretation that I liked most. Since it is clear that the python is big, long... and most importantly, wise. That's why I really liked Kaa's polyphony. And also long net structures in which both Kaa and Bagheera live. Although, if we talk about numbers, then such polyphony is the essence of Kipling’s passion for symbols, numerology and everything related to Freemasonry. ". But if you look from this side, from the side of Kipling’s membership in the Masonic lodge, then such a split... dissociation and other multiplication of the personalities of the heroes is justified. Although very unusual..
So, Mowgli. Maria Mikhailets plays, no, lives on stage as a half-wild, desperate and proud “Little Frog”. Extraordinarily strong, acrobatically graceful, straightforwardly proud Mowgli. Seeing in the program that Mowgli was a girl, at first she tried to discern girlish features. But no, I only saw a growing teenager learning the Laws of Life among honest and proud animals. Mowgli learns the laws of the pack, honest laws. When “all for one”, when there is the Law of the Jungle - Family - pack - people.
Incredible wolves. Their voices...and the howl of Vantala! These were not people on stage, but real wolves!
An excellent solution to use ropes as symbols of connections, as vines, as a way to rise above.. These dances with them are mesmerizing..
The play deeply conveys the philosophy of Rudyard Kipling's fairy tale. The laws of nature are primary. The strict hierarchy of the Pack is justified and opposed to human laws, which are sometimes deceitful and selfish. "It is better to be torn to pieces by beasts than to be killed by people." Animals do not kill for fun or gain, but only in battle, in order to survive.

This is a very poetic performance, beautiful and musical. Perfect in its eclecticism. And most importantly, it makes you think and unravel the magic of “The Jungle Book”, find numerous subtexts, admire the grace, plasticity and athleticism of the artists, sometimes shudder from the Wolf’s gaze, fall in love with Mowgli’s mother, admire the wisdom and hypnotism of Kaa, feel in the thick of the battle between Akela’s wolves and Red Dogs, succumb to the charm of the Druid chants..

Or maybe someone will find something of their own...Good hunting, Mowgli!

Anastasia Subbotina reviews: 111 ratings: 111 rating: 16

The time has come to talk about the play “Mowgli. Good hunting" in more detail. I’m not sure what I can do to ensure that the review reflects all aspects of the performance, but I’ll try.
The first thing I would like to note is the rhythm. The rhythm of the performance, which puts you into a trance, immerses you in yourself, much like Kaa’s first appearance, when he entangles the “little man” in his rings.

The moon is setting, he said, is there enough light to see?
A groan sounded from the walls, like the sound of the winds in the treetops:
- We see, O Kaa.
- Fine. Now the dance begins, Kaa's dance of hunger. Sit and watch.
Two or three times he crawled along, making large circles and shaking his head now to the right, now to the left; then he began to twist his soft body into loops, figures of eight, blunt triangles, which turned into squares and pentagons; curled up in the form of a mound, and moved all the time without rest, without haste. At the same time, his quiet, continuous buzzing song was heard. The air was darkening; finally, the darkness hid the slithering, changeable coils of the snake; only the rustling of its scales could be heard...

The rhythm is maintained further with music from Asaf Avidan, Dave Matthews and Marion Williams.
The second is color and light. The color in the play is black, and it would seem that both the characters and the scenery should have merged in it (almost everyone and everything is in black), but without identification marks it is easy to guess who is Baloo, who is Bagheera (a wonderful duet of two shadows), who is Sher- khan (one in four persons). But light plays a role - either the moon or the Red Flower.
And most importantly - an amazing cast.
Ivan Ivanovich in the role of Mowgli seemed to me a harmonious character (I read other opinions, looked closely at first, but didn’t notice). He was so touching in the scene with his parents, and then he transforms when he returns to the pack.
Anton Danilenko is wonderful in the role of Akela, for some reason he turned out to be the most attractive character for me.
Bagheera performed by Victoria Savelyeva and Elena Chubarova is a very interesting find, especially in the scene of the conversation with Mowgli. There are two actresses on stage, but Bagheera feels like there is only one.
I would also like to mention the Director in this performance. The performance begins in his voice, and Dmitry knows how to read, immersing readable text. And in each chosen song, in each change of rhythm, the same movements were traced that were already felt in his mono performances, especially in “Scorpi-On,” but here it unfolded in full force.

Elena Smirnova reviews: 73 ratings: 73 rating: 16

"Performance about Witchcraft" Great Nature»

In July 2012, I attended the annual theater marathon held by the Roman Viktyuk Theater and... I simply “fell ill” with it!!!
All the performances created by brilliant Roman Viktyuk.
And now its leading artists have decided to have their say in directing!
Dmitry Bozin - until recently, almost not a single performance in the theater was performed without his participation.
I have no words to express my gratitude to this talented artist and wisest man for opening completely different worlds to me. His author’s programs “Turtle”, “Unbearable Love for People”, “The Author Categorically Affirms”, “I-NOT-ZA-TE-VAI!” (jump into the elements) and “Scorpi-On” look in one breath, make you very think about a lot and change your view of the universe!!!
Until today, I was not able to watch the performance staged by Dmitry in his native theater back in 2017, but I had a presentiment that it would be something extraordinary. And so it happened!!!
“Mowgli. Good hunting! completely fits into the scheme that I have already worked out over the past 6 years with this theater - I watched (with my mouth open) the performance, now re-read the book, find and listen to the music, study the interview with the director and go watch the performance again, but with different eyes!!!
Yes, from the first time it is simply impossible to understand and digest everything seen and heard during those two hours that this magical, almost ritual action took place.
So far, my “puzzle hasn’t worked out.” All that remains is delight from the scenography, the incredible plasticity of the young Viktyukovites, from their well-coordinated polyphony, from the wonderful performance of Kipling’s poems in the original language...
And how incredible their dances look with buffalo skulls and bamboo trunks!
The main difficulty in perceiving the performance is that scenes from “The Jungle Book” begin to be shown in a chaotic order, in twilight and in a very slow rhythm. However, then you are imperceptibly drawn into the strange action that takes place on the stage under a structure depicting either a buffalo (the ransom that Bagheera paid for a human cub), or a people’s dwelling, or the blood-filled tusks of Hatha, and you simply cannot take your eyes off it!
A very interesting performance, in which it is impossible to single out any one performer (may my beloved Ivan Ivanovich, who plays the role of Mowgli, forgive me), before us is a single Flock, living according to its own laws.
Maybe that’s why, by the will of the director, there is no “real” Kaa, Sherkhan, Hatha and others here famous characters, they are only just indicated.
Bagheera, “two-faced and unpredictable,” plays here with his shadow.
There is no point in retelling what you saw. The performance turned out to be beautiful (despite its monochrome), very poetic and musical.
“According to the director, this is a play about animal rage and animal tenderness. About a great warrior, not inferior in spirit and anger to Achilles, and his mentors, equal in wisdom to the centaur Chiron. About clarity of mind when you reach the edge of life and consciously cross the threshold of great fear or when your mind orders your angry heart to keep the blade in its sheath. And yet... Undoubtedly... This is a play about the Witchcraft of Great Nature" (from the performance page on the theater website - http://teatrviktuka.ru/maugli/).
Dmitry Bozin chose very Difficult language- the performance is tied to numerology, filled with occult signs, Masonic symbols (including the main one - the pyramid), but it is definitely worth watching!!!

Andrey Travin reviews: 49 ratings: 49 rating: 10

As a little boy, I watched the debut film of director Nikita Mikhalkov, “One among Strangers, a Stranger among Ones,” at the Pervomaisky cinema, and as a man with a gray beard, I watched the purely adult play “Mowgli” at the Viktyuk Theater. Good Hunting,” which would be more appropriately called “Mowgli. One among strangers, a stranger among one’s own.”
Because this topic is the main one there (for the viewer). It is the essence of the conflict of the play, and not at all in growing up, becoming and other topics that are too pretentious for me.

This is a production with barely describable scenery. For example, metal rings rising upward indicate the presence of the Kaa python.
The artists imitate the habits of animals with their movements, but, of course, without fanaticism, not like in animal styles Wushu.

And this, one might say, is a monochrome performance! All the artists are dressed in black and you can’t tell Baloo from Bagheera by their clothes.

By the way, I read in one of the reviews that this is a colorful performance! I don’t know what substances a person needs to watch this spectacle under in order to see the bright colors in it.

It often contains Kipling's poems: in two languages. For example, “Day-night-day-night - we are walking across Africa” sounds in Russian, and the central poem:
“...Then you will accept the whole world as your possession.
Then, my son, you will be a Man!”
sounds in English: “...you’ll be a Man my son!”

The play “Mowgli. Good hunting! based on Kipling's "The Jungle Book" - the first directorial work on the native stage of the theater's leading artist Dmitry Bozin. Forest nymphs (dryads) take part in it - for greater physicality of the spectacle. And so, I repeat, “Mowgli. Good hunting! - this production is about how difficult it is to understand someone who is so different from you.

The performance shows:
- battle of free tribe wolves with red dogs
- the pursuit of a herd of buffaloes after Shere Khan
- how Mowgli saves Messua's mother and father from the wrath of the villagers
- the story of the elephant Hatha and his three sons about the trampled fields of Bharatpura
- Akela's farewell dance.

The director put various meanings into the action that were incomprehensible and/or uninteresting to me.
I have already tried to write a novel with numerological, astrological and other esoteric meanings. There is nothing important about this.
If Dmitry Bozin is still interested in this, then let him play with it.
What about the viewer? He takes away what he can. The action itself is intense, as if it were not Mowgli, but Macbeth, and therefore lasts without an intermission. The first impatient spectators began to leave after the story about the fields trampled by elephants.

The auditorium at the Viktyuk Theater is quite unique, cut in two. But the place in which it is located is generally avant-garde. At a time “when huge periods led to long periods,” a denunciation was written against the architect Konstantin Melnikov that his building of the Rusakov House of Culture resembled a swastika from above. The architect did not end up in the camps, but was removed from active architectural work in 1936. Meanwhile, the Rusakova Palace of Culture is the first theater in the world in which the balconies are located outside the walls of the building. However, this time we were sitting in the stalls, and on the balconies I could only go to Christmas trees or to the movies as a boy...

In 1988, I watched three performances by Viktyuk at once. But to tell the truth, at that time I didn’t think at all about who the director was and what his style was. In the new century, I may not have thought about Viktyuk, if not for the Rusakov Palace of Culture, which he was given as a theater premises, and which I had to pass by so many times along Stromynka. And now I had a chance to see what it’s like inside now.

ms_sunshine94 reviews: 97 ratings: 97 rating: 7

The beauty of the jungle, putting you in a trance

“Mowgli. Good hunting! at the Roman Viktyuk Theater - this is the first directorial work of Dmitry Bozin, probably one of the Master’s most famous students. Despite the fact that the director is not Roman Grigorievich, the performance fit perfectly into the style of the Theater.
I was surprised that there were quite a few children in the hall - after all, this is not at all children's performance, rather, it’s a fairy tale for adults, kind of scary.

The action begins in complete darkness, and Dmitry reads the text. Gradually, the jungle is filled with sounds and animals emerging from the darkness, but the lighting still remains weak, it is a bluish-violet light in which the faces of the heroes are hardly visible. The jungle in this play is a harsh place, strewn with the bones of killed animals, where a big hunt is being prepared, and perhaps it will be the last for its inhabitants.

To my surprise, Mowgli was played by a girl, Maria Mikhailets, and it was not at all felt that this was not a young man, she was so flexible and graceful. And whether it matters who plays the role, the main thing is to convey it correctly. This director’s intention extends to all the roles - and we see two Bagheera (Adelia Abdulova and Vera Tarasova), or Kaa, played by a string of actors, who move and speak in unison - and I think this is a most ingenious decision. Wise Balu (Dmitry Tadtaev), old proud Akela (Alexey Sychev) ... such familiar heroes appear before us completely different, but very correct.

In parallel with the preparation for the Hunt, we are also shown retrospective scenes - Bagheera’s memories of how she ransomed Mowgli from Shere Khan by killing a buffalo, or how the already matured Mowgli first came to people. People in the village, by the way, live in cages - and there is another question: who is his own boss - a man or an animal? The scene is touching when, after meeting his real, human mother, Mowgli meets Mother Wolf (Natalia Moroz). And when Mowgli and his parents are accused of witchcraft and want to kill - it’s better to live with wolves, honestly, than with such wild people. Revenge, however, will be cruel...

I can list for a long time how beautiful the scenery and ways of depicting the heroes are - for example, it also stands out that instead of the elephant Hatha we see only his tusks, but he is completely real, he is also a hero. And how wonderful are the numerous tricks on ropes, on rings, in cages....Bravo to the physical training of the actors!

Meanwhile, the hunt is approaching, Red dogs are already approaching... How will it all end? Good hunting, Mowgli, good hunting!

And I’ll add that I really like the Theater tradition, according to which at the end the director himself comes out to bow - I think it’s very touching.

Unfortunately, this time there was a fly in the ointment. In the wardrobe they gave me a number that was not for my jacket. As a result, after the performance it turned out that this number was someone else’s parka, and on the hanger where my jacket was, there was no number at all. The young man took my number, took my parka, but, of course, did not give me the jacket, did not listen to me, ignored me, no matter how much I asked to resolve the situation. Finally, after I stood in the wardrobe for 40 minutes and all the spectators had left (in fact, only my jacket and this ill-fated parka remained on the hangers), they asked me with some pretension where the number for my jacket was. How can I answer this question when you didn't give it to me? Finally, after proving that my jacket was mine, they gave it to me. Fortunately, they didn’t even demand a fine for my supposedly “lost” license plate; I wouldn’t have been surprised by that, to be honest. It would be possible, for example, to apologize and politely ask to wait until the spectators leave, and not silently turn their backs on me from time to time. In short, guys, be more careful, it’s a very unpleasant mistake, and the attitude is even more unpleasant.

Tamara Nelidkina reviews: 11 ratings: 11 rating: 2

Tamara-nel This performance is the first production of the Honored Artist of Russia Dmitry Bozin,
leading artist of the Roman Viktyuk Theater.

This performance is based on Rudyard Kipling's "Mowgli".

We have all read and watched numerous film adaptations of the work
K. Rudyard, froze while watching cartoons
tapes on this topic.

And so the Roman Viktyuk Theater turned to this material,
to present your vision of K. Rudyard's work "Mowgli",
find something new in reading this work.

In my opinion, this is a theater troupe engaged in this
the performance was a success.

In the play "MOWGLI. GOOD HUNTING!" the topic of growing up is raised,
human existence. A human cub, caught in a pack of wolves,
survived and proved his maturity through struggle.

The characters of the play communicate in the language of spirit, intuition and imagination.

The heroes of the work are played out in an original way
K. Rudyard - python Kaa, Bagheera, Balu, Sherkhan, Akela.

Metal rings lifted upward and accompanied by
chorus of artists' voices, almost realistically give a picture of presence
in the play Python Kaa.

Other characters are also well played out with the help of the play's props.

The ox skulls and ropes were used in a very original way,
imperceptibly turning into swings and stands.

The actors performing in the performance masterfully control their bodies, almost
"animal" plastic.

Any big dream requires fulfillment, otherwise the taste of life fades... To the question: “Do you often make the dreams of your actors come true?” Roman Grigorievich answered: “You just have to hear.” And it's really simple if one heart is open to another.

The Viktyuk Theater is generally a theater of subtle matters, where behind the visible stage “shocking” there is a door with answers to our internal questions. But every time, having gone beyond this line, the viewer will have to work hard on his own along this path.

Mowgli in Bozin's play is a mystery, as are the rest of the characters. But even more interesting! Including young actors, who for the most part came to this theater quite recently.

They say that rehearsals were preceded by endless trainings, when they pronounced the text together, changed roles, entered into free improvisation with the opportunity to change into another character, start working on a different line of action... How else can you create that magical world of the jungle into which this suddenly finds itself? no one's little boy?

Dmitry set the guys on the path of searching for a language in which to speak with the audience. “It’s cool, interesting, great,” they admit. “It’s like in life - you stumble, get up, move on.” And it wasn't just about Mowgli's survival, it was about personal overcoming.

“Kipling’s “Song of the Dead” was what gave me the key to reading this book,” says the director. “Her lulling rhythm: “Calm... Calm... Hush... Hush...” There is no haste in “The Jungle Book”, the slowness and continuity are fascinating.”

Perhaps you can only hear another in silence. Have you tried it? And also, if you know the language of the interlocutor - be it a bird whistle or a snake hiss.

So what can such a naked dog do against red dogs? The one who once turned out to be a stranger to both animals and people?

“For me, Mowgli is a kind of Soul that must grow stronger in this tough world,” says Dmitry. - People rejoice in such lonely people, no one necessary souls— the world needs them, and then they are killed anyway. Very earthly history“such a hero comes every time in different faces and people even call him god, but the end is the same... Although, this, of course, does not mean that we should not fight and that the jungle should not grow in us.”

For the director, his main character is a spirit with a knightly upbringing, nurtured in a noble community where rules are mandatory. And this is another reason to listen to the silence.

Who will we see in the space of Mowgli, in the space of Baloo, Akela, Bagheera and Kaa? What will Shere Khan's space tell us?

According to Dmitry, he has long been thinking in terms of spaces, and here the characters appear exactly like that. And the space of the forces of Nature, very visible and tangible, the forces of driving and supporting, loving and warning, into which Viktyuk’s youngsters immerse the audience and themselves, otherwise how to hear silence?

SCENES FROM THE PERFORMANCE

“We were all one people then”
How Fear Came to the Jungle

“I am Bagheera, Bagheera, Bagheera. I danced with them as I dance with my shadow."
Jungle Invasion

Roman Viktyuk Theater has a reputation as a shocking theater, so a play appeared on my February theater calendar “Mowgli. Good hunting!. The director of this production is Dmitry Bozin. It was interesting to see how and if it could be made special.
I always liked The Jungle Book; Kipling, like no one else, was able to humanize the animal world. “The Jungle Book” was a very strange book, it was not forgotten, it radiated energy that you intuitively, unconsciously, but very clearly feel in childhood. To look at the world through the eyes of the leader of the wolf pack Akela, the kite Chil, the incomparable Bagheera, the wise Kaa, the majestic Hatha, the vile Tabaca, the ruthless Shere Khan - it was unusual and somehow influenced your view of how the universe works. The laws of the Jungle were cruel, but correct, correct in relation to the world as a whole. And next to them, people lost, their greed, ignorance, and low vibrations manifested themselves.
In “The Jungle Book” there was something hidden between the lines that filled the soul with light, which made us realize the existence of universal laws of Life, the connection between everything that exists on Earth. The understanding came that all living beings on the planet live according to the same laws and rules, without division into higher and lower. The correctness of anyone's actions in relation to the world is the main law of the Universe. The energy of actions and thoughts of all inhabitants of the world forms the World itself and returns to us.
At the Viktyuk Theater “Mowgli” is a production for adults, for those who still feel the connection and power of the book.
The last thing I expected when I came to the performance was that I would “float” without recognizing the scenes that seemed to be memorized by heart. The feeling of misunderstanding can be compared to not reaching the meaning that was clearly embedded in the actions, but which I could not decipher.
Two Kaas, two Bagheeras, four Shere Khans, six Hathas. Despite the fact that the characters themselves were not on stage, and they were not designated in any way. All the actors were dressed in black, were barefoot, and were not identified in any way. The sequence of scenes did not match.
After the performance, the idea occurred to me to ask questions to the director himself - and how successful it turned out to be! The answers received from Dmitry Bozin plunged me into shock and amazement, but most importantly, the puzzle instantly came together!

Thanks to Olga Bobkova (c) olgabobkovafoto for the photos

Turns out, Joseph Rudyard Kipling- "English writer, poet, journalist, intelligence officer, athlete, youngest Nobel Prize laureate" was a Freemason, was a member of Masonic Lodge No. 782 “Hope and Perseverance”! And, naturally, his views and beliefs could not help but be reflected in his work.
It turns out that to tell the story of Mowgli, to show his path, purpose, goals, Dmitry Bozin literally used magical techniques. The director speaks to the audience in a certain language - the performance is filled with symbolism, occult signs, and is tied to numerology.

To understand this performance, it is necessary to part with stereotypes, to feel all the diversity, versatility and mystery of this huge world in which we live, and in which man is not the only one endowed with Reason.
To understand this performance, you don’t need to pretend to be smart; it’s better to re-read “Mowgli”. The play begins with the chapter “Wild Dogs” (I already wrote above that the sequence of scenes has been changed, and for this reason the time of action will constantly flow from the present to the past, future or vice versa). Find the poems mentioned below by Dmitry Bozin. And - turn off logic, turn on imagination, forget that you know everything about everything!
You don't know anything!)
And only then will the Fire Flower bloom, you will hear the Treasured words of the Jungle and the heavy tread of the Master of the Jungle across the trampled fields of Bharatpura!
Have a good hunting!

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RAMT

Rudyard Kipling

About the performance

The first directorial work on the native stage of Stromynka by the leading artist of the theater, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation DMITRY BOZIN.

According to the director, this is a play about animal rage and animal tenderness. About a great warrior, not inferior in spirit and anger to Achilles, and his mentors, equal in wisdom to the centaur Chiron. About clarity of mind when you reach the edge of life and consciously cross the threshold of great fear or when your mind orders your angry heart to keep the blade in its sheath. And yet... Undoubtedly... This is a play about the Witchcraft of Great Nature.

It is not easy when two people converge in one being - the nature of the human tribe and the primal nature of the animal essence. The wolf cub Mowgli has grown up, and the time has come to decide which tribe to follow, the voice of which blood is stronger. While he is a wolf, even dead rope-lianas come to life on his body, becoming the elastic body of a boa constrictor, the forces of the forest serve him and all its inhabitants help him, space obeys him, and Kaa’s voice is born from his breath. But it remains to be seen which nature will win, and whether he, who grew up in the wild, will be able to be in those cages that people call home.

The space, organized by the artist Efim Ruakh, is, without exaggeration, a living participant in the performance on an equal footing with the actors. It is being rebuilt, is in continuous movement, often turning into the very heroes of the book of this magical jungle (“The Jungle Book”!) - those whose scale is no longer possible to comprehend human perception, nor limited by the visible stage space.

But that’s what theater is for: to expand consciousness, awaken imagination and sharpen all the senses. The chorus of cautious voices merges into an otherworldly sound, unusual for human hearing, from which the words of the wisest of the jungle inhabitants, Kaa, are woven together, familiar from the book. Bagheera, two-faced and unpredictable, plays with his shadow after hearing the spring singing of the forest. And the tusks of Silent Hatha, emerging somewhere high above everyone in the uncertain light of forest mornings and evenings, give peace and allow one not to be afraid - like the highest justice, like the constant awareness that it exists.

The glorious hunt will be the last for many, but this does not mean that you need to run away from the fight... and from the degeneration of your own nature.

We have all known the choice of the matured Mowgli for a long time from our favorite childhood book, but we will still wait for his decision with the excitement of a child who opened this book for the first time. Now Kaa has aged and turned black - “are you still alive, little man?” - yes, this little man will always be alive. As always, this book will be alive.

The song of death will sound over the jungle more than once. But those who hear it will be ready for it, knowing for sure that the flow of life is inexorable, and death is just the first step along the path of the sun.

Creators of the play

Translation
NINA DAROUZES

Stage director
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation
DMITRY BOZIN

Scenography
EFIM RUACH

Suits
EFIM RUACH

Plastic director
VLADIMIR ANOSOV

Lighting designer
ANDREY DYOMIN

Sound engineer
VALERY SALAKAEV

Characters and performers

Mowgli
IVAN IVANOVICH
MARIA MIKHAILETS
STEPAN LAPIN

Baloo
DMITRY TADTAYEV

Akela
ANTON DANILENKO
ALEXEY SYCHEV

Gray brother
MIKHAIL URYANSKY
ILYA KRASNOPEEV

Baldeo
NAIL ABDRAHMANOV
ALEXANDER TITARENKO

Vantala
ALEXANDER SEMENOV

Father wolf
DMITRY GOLUBEV

Bagheera
VICTORIA SAVELIEVA,
ELENA CHUBAROVA
ADELIYA ABDULOVA,
VERA TARASOVA

Mother Wolf
NATALIA MOROZ

Messua
SVETLANA GUSENKOVA

Priest
IVAN STEPANOV

Queen of the Dryads
ANNA PEROVA

Dryads
ANASTASIA YAKUSHEVA
ELINA MISHKEEVA
MARIA DUDNIK
VALERIYE ENGELS

Video

Viewer reviews

THE MOST MYSTICAL MOWGL
To understand this performance, it is necessary to part with stereotypes, to feel all the diversity, versatility and mystery of this huge world in which we live, and in which man is not the only one endowed with Reason.
To understand this performance, you don’t need to pretend to be smart; it’s better to re-read “Mowgli”.
And - turn off logic, turn on imagination, forget that you know everything about everything!
Even if you are far from mysticism and esotericism, this performance is worth watching in order to see:
— magnificent decorations in the form of tusks and Kaa the python in the form of two leather nets,
- the luxurious pursuit of a herd of buffaloes after Shere Khan,
— how Mowgli saves Messua’s mother and father from the wrath of the villagers (the scene in the cages is excellent),
— the battle of Wolves with Red Dogs,
- the story of Hatha and his three sons about the trampled fields of Bharatpura,
- Akela's farewell dance.

The play deeply conveys the philosophy of Rudyard Kipling's fairy tale. The laws of nature are primary. The strict hierarchy of the Pack is justified and contrasted with human laws, which are sometimes deceitful and selfish. “It is better to be torn to pieces by beasts than to be killed by people.” Animals do not kill for fun or gain, but only in battle, in order to survive.

As soon as I saw the poster, I felt how much I wanted to go to this performance and try to capture the mood and energy inherent in it. And I was not disappointed. The performance made a stunning impression on me. Dmitry Bozin's performance is akin to the jungle. When a novice tourist finds himself in the jungle, it may seem to him, the uninitiated, that it is impenetrable, that many trees are similar to each other, and there is a cacophony of sounds all around. But it’s worth stopping, listening... stop peering and learn to See, and... the world changes beyond recognition. Volume and depth appear. The jungle is no longer just a “forest”. They reveal their Universe, in which man is by no means the crown of evolution. This World has its own laws, and each Creation has its own bright individuality, and especially extraordinary individuals boldly look into the eyes of their Shadow and dance with it.
The performance explodes patterns and forces you to look at the familiar from a different angle, look for answers outside and inside yourself at the same time, decipher and unravel what is hopelessly confused. Love, devotion, courage, kindness; meanness, betrayal, lies. To whom and which of these qualities is closer: the Beast or the Man? Who is the Beast really, and who is the Man? And what do the Masons have to do with this whole story?