Organized by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Turkmenistan in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, guest performances by the Nikolay Skorik Russian Theater in Ashgabat have been a notable success. The theater company of talented actors presented two productions at the Alp Arslan National Drama Theater - Summer-cottage Pleasure’ and The Russian Vaudeville’.
Ashgabat theatrical enthusiasts, who are already familiar with the young troupe, enthusiastically welcomed the experimental theater’s new works.The Nikolay Skorik Theater was established in 2015 in cooperation with the Department of Theatrical Art and Stage Direction at the Moscow State Institute of Culture.
Among the troupe’s teachers are Nikita Vysotsky, Irina Miroshnichenko, Irina Apeksimova, Sergey Veksler, Alena Khovanskaya, Tatiana Rozova, and others.
The company’s Ashgabat-2019 tour opened with Nikolay Skorik’s production of Summer-cottage Pleasure’.It is presented in the minimalist sets with an only bench on stage.
Costumes also express minimalism: the actors are dressed in black and white.It is a rather original and quite unexpected approach to address the theme of summer-cottage life.
But Skorik has his personal view, highlighting that the summer cottage dwellers are a special kind of people distinguished by their “uniform”.In Nikolay Skorin’s adaptation even the female characters look alike - they are the same age, with similar physiques, and without elaborate hairstyles - summer visitors, in a word.
- Nikolay Lavrentievich, why are the actors dressed in black and white?
- We do not seek to capture the spirit and atmosphere of Chekhov’s times in the costumes and sets.On the contrary, we offer the audience an opportunity to enjoy Summer-cottage Pleasure’ in a modern-day life setting.
In the characters’ black and white outfits, we see a kind of allegory of a book page that also has two colors: black and white.We aim to create the illusion that spectators leaf through the pages of Chekhov’s book, while drawing their attention to the key moments.
This is what we love most about the stories by Anton Pavlovich.
- I believe you have achieved the desired effect. The performance has left me with an impression that I flicked through a book by Chekhov keeping in mind memorable phrases from the stories rather than their titles: "I love you, Nadya!", “You may ask why I am not married”, “I'm ready to go to spite her!” etc.
- Have you noticed we do not mention names of the characters and performers? Several young couples and three actors of same age perform in the production. We made this move to entirely focus the audience’s attention on Anton Pavlovich’s subtle humor. He is the main character in our production.
After performances, spectators keep on asking us from what Chekhov’s stories we have recreated some scenes with the intention of rereading them.And we get the feeling that we are not only innovators but also educators.
By the way, the educational mission is one of the aspects of our work.Do you remember a biographical reference series, The Life Stories of Remarkable People’?
- Yes, I do. This is my favorite publication.
- Using The Life Stories of Remarkable People’ as a source, we have staged performances based on the life of Dostoevsky, Vysotsky (we gave it in Ashgabat last year), Tsvetaeva, as well as a production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Life of Monsieur de Molière’.
This time, we present a production of The Russian Vaudeville’ by Nekrasov, directed by Tatiana Rozova.She will tell you herself about it.
-Yes, yes, this is the play by Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov, the well-known poet, who started his literary career with vaudevilles, not by another writer with the same last name as many think, Tatiana Rozova begins the conversation.
Most viewers are surprised to learn that Nekrasov wrote vaudevilles.Having been offered the opportunity to explore Russian vaudeville as a theater genre, I have learned that it is the immersion in the spiritual realm where love, ingenuity and kindness can prevail over sinister intentions.
By the way, it is the third time The Russian Vaudeville’ has been performed only.It takes time to capture all the nuances and to bring the production to perfection.
It consists of two plays - The Actor’ and The Painting by Buanarotti’.As the genre demands, they are playful and comic with dances, absurd falls, elements of comedy of situations and a proposal of marriage.
Our decision to dress the actors in the fashion of 19th century was greeted ambiguously, since it appeared to contradict the theater’s avant-garde concept.We were even accused of play-acting.
But we had our own way and I think it was not in vain.Our aim is to show real Russian vaudeville with kaftans, dressing gowns, and peaked caps, etc.
However, we have remained true to minimalisms in the sets, having left only chairs on stage.
The two performances received a warm welcome from Ashgabat theater lovers, and we are truly grateful to them. We are mesmerized by your country’s uniquely beautiful capital and hospitable people and will cherish the memories of the visit to Turkmenistan for a long time.