In March a branch of the State Academic Maly Theatre was officially opened in Kogalym. This rather extraordinary event became the subject of our talk with the managing director of the theatre Tamara Mikhaylova at the end of the theatre season.
In March a branch of the State Academic Maly Theatre was officially opened in Kogalym. This rather extraordinary event became the subject of our talk with the managing director of the theatre Tamara Mikhaylova at the end of the theatre season.
- Tamara Anatolyevna, in the spring the Maly Theatre opened a branch in Kogalym. Is it possible to draw preliminary results already?
- In March, at the grand opening, we showed Alexander Ostrovsky's comedy Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man featuring our star actors. In April, they played the first series of performances for children The Snow Queen and The Minor.
- So how will the branch operate?
- Initially, we planned to create a permanent company there, but now we have come to a conclusion that it will not be very honest with the citizens of Kogalym, because they are waiting for our artists. Therefore, we have decided to go there on a rotating scheme. All the artists, who work on our stages in Moscow, both our stars and the young artists, will travel to Kogalym. Maintaining the high level of the Maly Theatre is crucial to us.
- One Telegram channel quotes you, saying: “I do not know how we are going to operate that far way. This is such an unprofitable enterprise. " Is this your quote?
- No, this quote should not be trusted. These are not my words, but someone clearly wants to put these words in my mouth. How can I be called a managing director if I don’t know how our other stages will work? We know how it will work, we know what repertoire will be there. And one more important point, the artistic director of the Maly Theatre Yuri Solomin himself comes from Chita, and he pays special attention to the remote regions of our country and believes that the theatre should be accessible to everyone who was not born and does not live in Moscow. We are a state theatre and should work equally well both in Moscow and in any other city, which, in fact, we do. We never go on tours with concert versions of our performances. We play our performances exactly the same way we play them in Moscow – same actors, same set, same costumes. And we are proud of it.
- When are you opening a new theatre season in Kogalym?
- Our opening coincides with the City Day! And this was not part of our plans. The idea came up to our young actors during their first performances in March and April. They have prepared a special program for the City Day and will go there to take part in the festivities. And we are playing the first performances at the end of September.
- What kind of events, besides performances, are you planning to put on on the stage of the new branch?
- The plans include meetings with the artists, master classes, maybe even excursions. I know that Yuri Mefodievich Solomin wants to go to Kogalym with a creative program. In addition, we are now actively developing children's programs. In April, our young artists held master classes, attended the Spring Theatre festival, and met with the young actors. And I really hope that we continue to strengthen this partnership and cooperation.
- You managed to show your first performances not only in Kogalym, but also in Surgut. Are you planning to send productions on tour to other cities of Ugra?
- In fact, I believe that it is our responsibility to show performances in the entire Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area, because initially this branch was conceived as a base for sending touring productions all across Western Siberia. We are currently discussing tours in Nizhnevartovsk and Khanty-Mansiysk.
- Are dates and names already known?
- There are several performances that are already confirmed. Firstly, The Snow Queen remains on a permanent basis in Kogalym, and we will show it in other cities as well, since we believe that this magical children's fairy tale is a good way to begin acquaintance of our future audience with the theatre. We’ll bring Wolves and Sheep and Money To Burn by Alexander Ostrovsky. But we are not planning to repeat the same performances - we will try to bring new ones regularly.
- Tamara Anatolyevna, recently Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky visited the Maly Theatre in Kogalym. Is he satisfied with what he saw?
- I did not hear anything from him personally, but I saw an interview where Vladimir Rostislavovich gave the highest ratings to our building and its technical equipment, - he believes that this is a very good enterprise.
- During this visit, he presented the President of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov with the badge of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation 'For Contribution to Russian Culture'.
- The theatre was built on the initiative of Vagit Alekperov, all work was funded by LUKOIL. At a certain stage, he even went to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, with a proposal to open a branch of the Maly Theatre, realizing that the academic theatre will open up new opportunities to people living outside our capitals. It is a completely different level of culture and the Maly Theatre represents the school that has been created centuries ago. It would be great if his initiative could be supported by our other leading businessmen, who could promote real art in the regions that are quite far from the cultural centers of the country.
Oil and Gas Information Agency,June 27, 2019