Russia (bbabo.net), - Stargorod invented by Nikolai Leskov - the place where the events of his chronicle "The Cathedral" unfolds - appears on the stage of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop in the new play "Teasing Movements of Water" by Yevgeny Kamenkovich.
Unlike "Lefty" or "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", this work by Leskov is rarely of interest to directors - only Roman Viktyuk released "The Cathedral" in a variation of Nina Sadur on the Vakhtangov stage 30 years ago. A new staging was made by Andrey Tupikov.
The difficult name - the variant of the title discarded by Leskov - refers to the gospel parable about the sick, waiting for a surge of healing water from the source visited by the angel - and in a broad sense about the sinful human race, hoping for salvation. We will see the parable - the moralizing meaning excites the author of the play as well as the author of the novel.
We will see a parable - the moralizing meaning excites the author of the play as well as the author of the novel
Three ministers of the church live and, as best they can, instruct the parishioners for the good: priests Saveliy Tuberozov - the oldest, wisest, in handsome gray hair; the quietest Zakharia Benefaktov in a halo of red whirlwinds and beards, and the deacon Achilles Desnitsyn, frantic in all manifestations. Tuberozov is played by Ivan Verkhovykh. He is adamant in service, boldly defends the truth, opposing both church and secular authorities. Actually, the canvas of the performance is his flipping through his diaries over many years and memories of long-standing events.
Father Saveliy is the moral center of the performance, a righteous person, his whole life is following God's will and fighting vices - his own and others'. The only weakness is that he secretly smokes a pipe. Saveliy dearly loves his ingenuous troublesome wife (Alexandra Keselman), but for his soul he has a different, stern and intelligent interlocutor - the landowner Plodomasova. Young Ekaterina Smirnova convincingly adds weight to her voice and habits, hobbles with two clubs and sits down to play the harpsichord. After her death, Plodomasova will continue to appear to Savely, throwing away the sticks - after all, the dead remain to live among the living as secret interlocutors of the heart.
Father Zakharia is meek, like Alyosha Karamazov, Nikolai Orlovsky plays him with light strokes, a quiet smile, reconciling intonations. His antipode is a bright-eyed fellow deacon (Vladimir Svirsky), choking from running and rampage, telling himself to be called Achilles the Warrior and sincerely convinced that his street fights are spiritual warfare for the glory of God.
The scenery by Alexander Barmenkov is simple-minded and old-fashioned. The wall with a crumbling fresco of the Garden of Eden in a naive spirit is Savely's house, and on the reverse side - brickwork, entwined with artificial ivy - the property of Bizyukina, an ardent young nihilist. Along the ramp - baths with water, casting glare on a white transparent curtain, several pieces of furniture, a harpsichord and a piano - that's the whole laconic setting.
If Tuberozov's main business is preaching, and the main pain is that Christianity has not yet been preached in Russia, then it is not surprising that the authorities of all levels turn out to be his enemies, demanding not preaching, but denunciations. Savely opposes the consistory in the person of the sinister censor (Alexander Morovov), and the imposing leader of the nobility (Veniamin Krasnyansky), and the teacher Prepotensky, a militant atheist, inseparable from the school skeleton. Mikhail Krylov in this role ironically draws a district simpleton, fanatically confident that godlessness is equal to enlightenment, and imagining himself as Chatsky, hopelessly in love with Bizyukina. Bizyukina gives her heart to the irresistible Izmail Termosesov - having arrived in Stargorod as a secretary, he quickly takes matters into his own hands, sensing an easy career take-off. Alexander Michkov plays the devil, in which there is not a single dignity, except for the devilish charm, and the darkness of vices.
Stage images do not know the development of characters - this is not psychological realism, here all the characters are unambiguous, as in a popular print or an icon, and represent the struggle between good and evil forces. Three representatives of the church symbolically embody the three sides of a person: Achilles is a sinful and carnal beginning, the dove Zechariah is a loving heart, and the adamant Tuberozov is a spirit seeking God. The images of their enemies are caricatured and grotesque, but humor is present in the representation of each of the parties.
Neither side will win, as in life; the eternal questions asked by the theater will remain unresolved. But those who have passed away gather in heaven to visit Savely, and paradise turns out to be so similar to the bright canopy of his house.
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