News
NEW OLD THEATRE
Yuri Solomin on «contemporary» theatre
On March 27 we celebrate the World Theatre Day. Of course, as in any family, there are certain disagreements and disputes in our theatre community nowadays. And among the top issues is what exactly is meant by the term «contemporary theatre». Today there is a certain category of theatres that identify themselves as being «contemporary». It is hardly possible to contradict them, but, in my opinion, modernity consists primarily not of the form, but of topical issues and content.
And I think that it is not needed to misrepresent the great ideas of Shakespeare or Dostoevsky. The spectator, who comes to see Ostrovsky's plays at the Maly Theatre, draws conclusions himself - without the directors’ pointing finger in the form of rethinking the classics. The director's vision should be broadly congruent with those issues raised by the authors in their works.
Let’s take any classical work - they have already brought up all possible perennial questions - love and deception, and business, if you wish. Therefore, it is quite incorrect to divide the theatre community into either being «modern» or «traditional» (old) theatre. What does the old theatre mean? On the Main Stage we are playing Lermontov, Gorky, Ostrovsky now, in a classical manner - and all tickets are sold out.
As far as I’m concerned, the modern theatre, first and foremost, is a new drama. At the time of my youth there were Rozov, Arbuzov, Shukshin, and no one believed that these playwrights should be staged only by the modern theatre. And there were their performances at the Maly Theatre as well. There was no problem at that time, but today, apparently, someone needed to make one.
Stanislavsky did not hide that he learned a lot from the artists of the Maly Theatre, as well as from other prominent figures of the stage. However,back then all innovators of the theatre world had respect for the Russian theatre.
Even with the arrival of Meyerhold and Tairov, there were no tense antagonistic relations. On the contrary, in the time of trouble, many leading actors found shelter and work within the walls of the Maly Theatre.
Now we are witnessing separation of the theatrical "family". Many of people think that everything is possible at the modern theatre, event the explicit language. But for me it is no longer a theatre, but an utter rowdiness. The classical writers never wrote anything of the kind. Although Pushkin from time to time used some rather piquant words and phrases, but he was the real master of the language. He used a lot of marks of omission, thus giving the readers some hints. I teach my students that the ellipsis indicates a character's unspoken thoughts or words. And you have to present this thought in an artistic manner instead of inserting a few letters instead of dots.
On World Theatre Day, I call all my fellow theatre professionals to solidarity and mutual respect. After all, one of theatre’s main goals, no matter how trivial it may sound, is to educate. In Asia, Africa, America or Russia – everywhere around the world there is a theatre, and one of its main purposes is to provide an uplifting experience.
I congratulate all playgoers and theatre professionals on our common holiday. Without any single doubt, we will have a contemporary theatre in Russia, and a classical one. And let's maintain our common cause, enlightening people, pointing out the vices and healing people’s souls. Congratulations, friends!
«Izvestia» newspaper, March 27, 2017
Yuri Solomin on «contemporary» theatre
On March 27 we celebrate the World Theatre Day. Of course, as in any family, there are certain disagreements and disputes in our theatre community nowadays. And among the top issues is what exactly is meant by the term «contemporary theatre». Today there is a certain category of theatres that identify themselves as being «contemporary». It is hardly possible to contradict them, but, in my opinion, modernity consists primarily not of the form, but of topical issues and content.
And I think that it is not needed to misrepresent the great ideas of Shakespeare or Dostoevsky. The spectator, who comes to see Ostrovsky's plays at the Maly Theatre, draws conclusions himself - without the directors’ pointing finger in the form of rethinking the classics. The director's vision should be broadly congruent with those issues raised by the authors in their works.
Let’s take any classical work - they have already brought up all possible perennial questions - love and deception, and business, if you wish. Therefore, it is quite incorrect to divide the theatre community into either being «modern» or «traditional» (old) theatre. What does the old theatre mean? On the Main Stage we are playing Lermontov, Gorky, Ostrovsky now, in a classical manner - and all tickets are sold out.
As far as I’m concerned, the modern theatre, first and foremost, is a new drama. At the time of my youth there were Rozov, Arbuzov, Shukshin, and no one believed that these playwrights should be staged only by the modern theatre. And there were their performances at the Maly Theatre as well. There was no problem at that time, but today, apparently, someone needed to make one.
Stanislavsky did not hide that he learned a lot from the artists of the Maly Theatre, as well as from other prominent figures of the stage. However,back then all innovators of the theatre world had respect for the Russian theatre.
Even with the arrival of Meyerhold and Tairov, there were no tense antagonistic relations. On the contrary, in the time of trouble, many leading actors found shelter and work within the walls of the Maly Theatre.
Now we are witnessing separation of the theatrical "family". Many of people think that everything is possible at the modern theatre, event the explicit language. But for me it is no longer a theatre, but an utter rowdiness. The classical writers never wrote anything of the kind. Although Pushkin from time to time used some rather piquant words and phrases, but he was the real master of the language. He used a lot of marks of omission, thus giving the readers some hints. I teach my students that the ellipsis indicates a character's unspoken thoughts or words. And you have to present this thought in an artistic manner instead of inserting a few letters instead of dots.
On World Theatre Day, I call all my fellow theatre professionals to solidarity and mutual respect. After all, one of theatre’s main goals, no matter how trivial it may sound, is to educate. In Asia, Africa, America or Russia – everywhere around the world there is a theatre, and one of its main purposes is to provide an uplifting experience.
I congratulate all playgoers and theatre professionals on our common holiday. Without any single doubt, we will have a contemporary theatre in Russia, and a classical one. And let's maintain our common cause, enlightening people, pointing out the vices and healing people’s souls. Congratulations, friends!
«Izvestia» newspaper, March 27, 2017
Партнеры
Информационная поддержка
