Body investigation: Raskolnikov's trial is underway at the Gogol Theater
The premiere of Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment was presented on the Main Stage of the Gogol Theater. Director Anton Yakovlev created a play in the form of an investigation into the murder of an old pawnbroker and her sister. The suspect is Rodion Raskolnikov, the lawyer is Svidrigailov, and the investigator is Porfiry Petrovich. On February 28, Izvestia attended the premiere and became witnesses in the case.
Kind investigator
Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel is welcome material in any theater, but classics are not given to everyone. Anton Yakovlev, artistic director of the Gogol Theater, had been planning the production of Crime and Punishment for several years. Having delved into the literature and memories of the author, the director decided to offer the characters of the novel their own circumstances. Dostoevsky's characters become participants in an unusual investigative experiment designed specifically for Rodion Raskolnikov. The viewer seems to be immersed in a feverish dream of the main character, the place in which he is and the people around him seem so strange.
The epigraph to the play was a quote displayed on the screen: "For the third week, Rodion Romanovich was delirious with a severe fever in the prison infirmary… And he had various strange dreams..."
Actor Vasily Neverov as Rodion Raskolnikov in the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
The skeleton of an iron bed is in the foreground. Raskolnikov, performed by Vasily Neverov, looks through the bars with crazy eyes at the audience. He feels bad. He is tormented by ghosts. But when he wakes up, he finds himself at the crime scene. Alyona Ivanovna, an old pawnbroker, and her sister Lizaveta were killed here. The traces of the massacre are washed away by a cleaner (Anna Gulyarenko). There's a bloody rag on her big mop. There is a stenographer at the table (Yanina Tretyakova), who clicks on the keys of a typewriter, recording the interrogation protocol. And Rodion Romanovich is being interrogated by investigator Porfiry Petrovich (Dmitry Vysotsky).
Actor Andrey Finyagin as Svidrigailov in the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
He is cruel, specific, throws facts and does not let the suspect relax. In such a situation, only a lawyer can help. He appears in the person of Svidrigailov (Andrey Finyagin). Sleek, in a well-tailored bordeaux suit, the defender is in no hurry to delve into the essence of the matter. He slowly opens his briefcase and takes out a lunch box. Lunch is sacred. And this is while the participants in this dark story talk about their lives half-starved, how everyone sacrificed the most valuable thing they had for the sake of daily necessities. Sonya — sold her body. Her father, Semyon Zakharovich Marmeladov, drank everything out of desperation. Stepmother Katerina Ivanovna showed promise in her youth, graduated with honors from the provincial noble institute, but lost all prospects after marrying a dashing man for the first time.
The Many Faces of Dostoevsky
In the play, according to the director, everyone except Vasily Neverov and Andrey Finyagin play several roles. Honored Artist of Russia Anna Gulyarenko transforms into diametrically opposite characters. Sometimes she is a cleaner, then Raskolnikov's mother Pulcheria Alexandrovna, then the grandmother is a witness, and then Alyona Ivanovna, the victim of a crime. Costume designer Tamara Eshba turned the actress into a broken rock. This is not a pathetic old pawnbroker, whom everyone remembers from textbook illustrations and movie images. She's wearing a pearl necklace with a dozen strands, a black jacket, and short hair. She has red lipstick on her lips and the same red fashionable glasses. Looking at her, you'd believe that such a madam would outlive anyone.
Sonya Marmeladova walks around in her underwear. Her stepmother, Katerina Ivanovna, pushed her onto the panel in a moment of utter despair. And she repents, hugs and cries. But it can't be helped.
Actors Anna Gulyarenko as Pulcheria Alexandrovna, Vasily Neverov as Rodion Raskolnikov and Anastasia Epifanova as Dunya in the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
— To go and sell your body is also necessary to have a certain character," says Yanina Tretyakova, the performer of the role of Sonya. — I'm still trying to find the negative side of my character. She's not only a victim, she can also make gestures. For example, to deposit money. This is youthful maximalism, which she herself struggles with. The more passions, the more passion, pride. If she has nothing to fight against, then she is already a saint, but she is still a human being.
Actress Yanina Tretyakova as Sonya Marmeladova in the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
One of the scariest images in the play is created by Alyona Goncharova. She plays two roles. She appears in the form of the murdered sister of the pawnbroker Lizaveta. An investigation and interrogation are underway on stage, but the viewer is looking at a girl in a coat and hat sitting with her back to the audience. It is hidden by a headdress. She makes monosyllabic remarks that echo in the piercing silence. She's not doing anything, but her hand is shaking. And it is impossible not to pay attention to it. And then this unfortunate girl transforms into a horse from Rodion Raskolnikov's memoirs. This animal is a childhood trauma. Once, before the boy's eyes, a skinny mare was harnessed to a cart, on which several people were put. Testing the horse's strength, they began to drive it, and when it became exhausted and fell, it was hacked to death by drunken riders. It is impossible to look at how Alyona rushes around the stage, how she dies in front of a frightened Rodion, without tears.
According to Luzhin, Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov is "the most depraved and lost in vices." But it is he who does good deeds more than the rest of the heroes of Crime and Punishment. That's probably why the director assigned him the role of Raskolnikov's lawyer.
Actress Alyona Goncharova as a Horse in the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
— The choice of actors is a crucial condition for the performance,— Anton Yakovlev told Izvestia. — I've tried several people on Raskolnikov, but Vasya Neverov is the most accurate match in my version of Crime and Punishment. Yanina Tretyakova (Sonya) and Andrey Finyagin (Svidrigailov) are some of the best actors in the theater today. They are very strong and subtle artists. You should never recommend working with an eye on your predecessors. Dostoevsky was with them, but this is his first time with you. And the artists have to let everything pass through themselves and talk to the audience in today's language.
A bad good man
Anton Yakovlev did not recommend the artists to watch other versions of Crime and Punishment in order to cut off the desire to be like anyone else.
— Raskolnikov himself analyzes the events that happened to him or not, and if so, in what sequence, says Vasily Neverov, the performer of Raskolnikov's role. — This is a play about his inner reflection, self-eating and an attempt to get out of it. It's bad when a person gets disappointed, it can lead to fatal consequences. Crime and Punishment is one of the few works by Dostoevsky in which there is at least a little hope at the end.
Actors in a scene from the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
Dostoevsky introduces Rodion Romanovich as follows: a 23-year-old former law student, a beggar, handsome, tall, slender, with dark brown hair and dark eyes. He is a philosopher, proud, unsociable, selfless, capable of compassion. And Vasily Neverov says about his hero that Raskolnikov is also a very good man and, despite everything, fair.
— My friend's grandmother is a doctor, and she told me that if you read Dostoevsky, his characters experience such a wide range of emotions that it can cause cardiac arrest," Vasily Neverov confessed to Izvestia. — Fiction helps the reader to reflect and experience the maximum range of emotions, but it's all about us.
Actors in a scene from the play "Crime and Punishment" at the Moscow Drama Theater named after N. V. Gogol
The director is sure that Crime and Punishment is one of those major novels that you need to read, even if you don't like Dostoevsky. Because this work is a defining and key one in world literature. The novel stunningly shows the dual essence of human nature. He is like a mirror in which everyone can see their dark and bright sides.
The next premiere of the play will be on the Main Stage of the Gogol Theater on March 9.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
