Views from the screen: Vladimir Mashkov released the play "Not on the list"
Vladimir Mashkov released the premiere at the Oleg Tabakov Theater. On June 9, the first audience saw the play "Not on the list." The production based on the novel by Boris Vasiliev was preceded by a film version of the same name.: Sergey Korotaev's film was released on May 1. During the month of rental, the billion-dollar film collected 641 million rubles and headed the monthly box office. The cast of the film's credits is duplicated on the playbill. Mashkov, just like in the movies, plays a foreman in the play. And the main role was played by Vladislav Miller. Izvestia visited the performance and talked with its creators.
Almost according to Yefremov
While both buildings at the Oleg Tabakov Theater are under reconstruction, the troupe produces its premieres on the stage of Sovremennik, which is also directed by Vladimir Mashkov. Boris Vasiliev's novel "Not on the list" has long been wanted to direct, as well as to make a film in which all the actors of the Oleg Tabakov Theater and students of the Tabakov School will take part.
There has already been a similar precedent in the history of Sovremennik. Oleg Nikolaevich Efremov, artistic director and founder of the theater, directed his actors in the film "The Bridge is under Construction", which was released in 1965. In this historical film, you can see the young Oleg Tabakov, Tatiana Lavrov, Oleg Dahl, Evgeny Evstigneev, Galina Volchek, Vladimir Zamansky, Nina Doroshina, Mikhail Kazakov and many more legends of Russian cinema and the stage. And Lyudmila Krylova, Viktor Tulchinsky and Elena Millioti still serve at Sovremennik, where the Tabakerki troupe is currently playing its shows.
There are different existences on set and on stage. In a movie, a very detailed emotional experience is required from an artist in close-up. A turn of the head or a glance at someone is already a mise-en-scene. You can whisper, and the camera will record it. And in the theater, the artist must speak his lines so that he can be heard in the last row of the gallery. Therefore, it took time to switch from filming the film "Not on the list" to the play of the same name. Another difficulty faced by the directors is how to fit 300 days from the life of the defender of the Brest Fortress, Lieutenant Pluzhnikov, into 1.5 hours of performance.
— The whole secret lies in the correctly chosen algorithm of action with the text, — says playwright Oleg Antonov, who wrote the dramatization. — We didn't invent anything on our own. We tried to read it carefully, and by playing Boris Vasiliev, we are trying to unravel his text, modernize it in terms of our emotions, and not introduce any innovations. And this is probably the strength of our production.
Sovremennik in ruins
Producer Mashkov entrusted the film to director Sergey Korotaev, and he undertook to direct it himself in the theater. The play begins with the final scene of the film, which is shown on a special screen. Gray-haired, blind, emaciated Lieutenant Pluzhnikov, played by Vladislav Miller, tells the fascists: "The fortress has not fallen. The fortress bled to death. And I, I am her last straw..." The metronome counts down the last seconds of the hero's life. The lights go out, and on the stage is the very defender of the Brest fortress, young, handsome, ready to serve the Motherland Kolya Pluzhnikov. He could remain at the school as a training platoon commander, with the prospect of entering the Frunze Academy in three years. But he refuses the general's offer. Because he believes that every commander must first serve in the military. And he asks to send him to any part and to any position. He is sent to the West, as a platoon commander in the Brest fortress. The events of the war drama begin on June 21, 1941...
It's like the artists are coming on stage right from the screen. Full immersion effect. He enhances the feeling of "trench truth", conveying not only the physical, but also the psychological suffering of people caught in the midst of the war.
The artist of the play, Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Borovsky, created the ruins of the Brest Fortress in the theater. Depending on the plot, they change their purpose. These are the paving stones of the city square, the military unit, the basements, the very bricks for which the defenders of the Brest Fortress shed their blood.
The directors used an emotional montage: battle and mass scenes from the movie "Not listed" are shown on a screen that hangs on the backdrop of the stage. It is clear that no one will be surprised by this today, Bogomolov has it in every performance. But here it looks modern, spectacular, bright. In the foreground, the actors relive the emotions of their characters.
In order not to lose the nerve of the performance, each mise-en-scene is timed in seconds. If editing comes to the rescue in the cinema, then in the theater the psycho-emotional state of the actors must be reconfigured from scene to scene in an instant. Vladimir Mashkov also faced a difficult task. He is both the director in the production and plays the foreman Stepan Matveevich. Mashkov literally had to split up. At the premiere, Vladimir Lvovich watched the performance from the sidelines, and at the right moment he went on stage. As the People's Artist says, consciousness is divided at that moment. And it helps him to quickly change the state of the team.
Ten days half-starved in the forest
All generations of the Tabakov Theater troupe are involved in the performance: Vitaly Egorov, Sergey Ugryumov, Yana Sexte, Igor Petrov, Alexander Kuzmin, Pavel Chernyshev, Pavel Shevando, Alexey Usoltsev, Ivan Zolotukhin, Nikita Ufimtsev, Artur Kasimov. The main female role, Pluzhnikov's beloved girlfriend Mirra, was played in the film and in the play by Alyona Morilova, a fourth-year student at Tabakov's School. For the young actress, "Not on the list" is a lucky ticket.
The artists have been living in this material for a year now. All of them have completed military training. The recruits were sent to the Kaluga forests for ten days to survive. If someone had filmed it, it could have been a survival show. The artists had no contact with the outside world. They learned how to shoot different weapons.
— The most difficult task that Vladimir Lvovich has set for us, — Vladislav Miller shared. — We lived according to the military regulations of 1938. They drank water from a stream. The locals from the nearest village brought us mushrooms because we only had breadcrumbs with us. We slept in a tent, in uniform with weapons. And one day at 4 a.m. we were attacked by "fascists". We showed our skills, which were taught to us in ten days. We joined the battle like our grandfathers.
Despite the severity and limitations, all the artists are grateful for such an experiment. In their work on the play, they set a goal to put the squeeze on what, maybe, someone did not succeed in the cinema. And they are inspired by the stories of their ancestors. For example, Vladislav Miller's grandfather, just like his hero Pluzhnikov, took a language at the front. The character from Vasiliev's story has a real prototype — Major Gavrilov, who defended the Brest Fortress for a month. He stood there to the death. So much so that when the enemies saw the very Russian soldier who defended the Brest Fortress to the last bullet, they saluted him. But the hero did not see this: he went blind.
The finale of the play makes the audience cry. Lieutenant Pluzhnikov rises to the top of the scenery from the flame of Eternal Flame. Following him, all the defenders of the Brest Fortress ascend to the ruins.
— This story echoes the events that are taking place here and now, — says Vladimir Mashkov. — The same young guys are defending our homeland. They show the highest heroism, fighting for our land. This pain and responsibility is always with us.
The next performance will take place symbolically on June 22. All tickets are sold out.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
