To visit Volkov: what to see in Yaroslavl theaters
According to opinion polls, about 15% of Russian tourists plan their trips around their native country, purposefully focusing on a cultural trip. Fortunately, there are plenty to choose from — there are more than 750 professional theaters in Russia. Theatrical tourism is not just another visit to a play, but a whole action that allows you to get new impressions, get to know unfamiliar actors and directors, and even more deeply, emotionally, and more vividly understand and feel the character of a particular city and its inhabitants. And ancient Yaroslavl, the capital of the Golden Ring, is one of the most significant and attractive destinations in this regard. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
A city on the Volga
The half-million-strong city has a historical part included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, a picturesque Volga embankment, a well-developed infrastructure and convenient transport links to Moscow and other cities, especially the north-east of the country. And, of course, there is a diverse cultural life here. As for theaters, there are several of them, including Educational ones, because the Firs Shishigin local Theater Institute is a forge of creative personnel for the whole of Russia.
View of the Russian State Academic Drama Theater named after Fedora Volkova
Last weekend's theatrical run included two large-scale evening premieres and a daytime one-man show. Plus a mandatory walk to Strelka, the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosli, a visit to ancient temples and an exhibition of Italian paintings from the collection of Princes Yusupov at the Museum of Foreign Art.
The Academic Theater named after Fyodor Volkov is the pride of the city. It was founded earlier than all the metropolitan ones — in 1750. The locals prefer to call him solemnly: The First Russian. Such pathos must be matched by both form and content. The current building, built according to an excellent design by architect Nikolai Spirin, was opened in 1911. Since last year, this valuable cultural heritage site has been in the scaffolding. In accordance with the state program for the Development of Culture, large—scale work is underway - for half a billion rubles and is scheduled until February 2028. It provides for the replacement of the roof and the restoration of the facade, including the foundation, foundation and masonry, landscaping of the surrounding area. The theater will be open all the time.
The "Storm" and the onslaught
The main premiere of the current season has been prepared for a long time and was played for the first time just the other day — at the end of March, on Theater Day. Shakespeare's The Tempest, staged, or rather put together, by the main director Alexander Sozonov together with artists Anvar Gumarov, Natalia Druzhkova, Dmitry Martov and Gennady Hummedov, could well decorate the leading metropolitan scenes. It is interesting both in concept and in implementation.
The surprises begin already when reading the program: the wizard Prospero is transformed... The sorceress, who is vividly played by Natalia Asankina, and his (or rather, her) servant, the spirit of the air Ariel, is played by nine young plastic actresses. For a play that is essentially a philosophical and allegorical tale with elves, witches and other magical creatures, such a drastic and extravagant decision is fully justified. The director explained the idea as follows: "Female wisdom is able to dissolve male aggression, give meaning, give life."
The Tempest was made — with its shipwreck, the witchy island and even the transfer of the action for some time in our days - fascinatingly beautiful, poetic, technological and large—scale. Multimedia chips are combined with impressive decorations made in the macrame technique. The stage dynamics are based on contrasts: chamber dialogues are replaced by spectacular mass scenes.
It is worth saying that this is not the first appeal of the legendary theater to one of Shakespeare's later plays — in 2012, "The Tempest" was already raging on the stage of Volkovsky in the version of the Polish director Henryk Baranovsky. And it will be interesting for theater-goers with experience to compare it with a new reading. By the way, Alexander Sozonov's previous production, "How Steel was Tempered" based on the novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky, will be shown in Moscow in mid—April, as it is nominated for the Golden Mask National Award. We wish you success!
The Volkovites also have a Chamber Stage, where they managed to watch the one—man show "Everything is no Coincidence" with the participation of the artistic director of the theater, People's Artist of Russia Valery Kirillov. A story about time, about himself and about his native theater that does not let you get bored for a minute, the favorite of the Yaroslavl audience plays easily and with pleasure, presenting his creative path in a series of short stories — from his first performances on the can (the mother of the future artist was a milkmaid, and as a boy he gave concerts on a village farm) to the moment when Kirillov He was entrusted to lead the legendary theater after the death of his predecessor, Sergei Puskepalis, who was known throughout the country...
A visit to the performances of the First Russian should be combined with a tour of the theater and its backstage. Visit the stage and the dressing rooms, see costumes, props and exhibitions in the lobby. And besides, there are two more attractions: from 2023 in Yaroslavl there is a "Theatrical trolleybus" — a joint project of the Volkovtsy and Yargorelectrotrans — and a walking route through the city center, during which you can listen to the audio play "Wolves. The voice."
Festival life
A visit to the drama theater can be timed to coincide with festivals. Since 2000, the international Volkov Theater Festival has been held here every autumn, and since 2009, in the spring, the All—Russian youth show "The Future of Theatrical Russia", where performances of graduating drama schools are shown.
In addition to Volkovsky, Yaroslavl has a puppet theater, a Chamber Theater, and a Young Audience Theater named after playwright Viktor Rozov, with whose assistance it was founded in 1984. The last premiere of the Youth Theater was Gogol's "The Inspector General". Director Igor Kumitsky involved almost the entire troupe, without excluding even very minor characters from the list of actors, who are usually eliminated during the production. 120 suits were sewn!
In general, the traditional version of the immortal comedy will be puzzled by the author's unintended chorus of gypsies, who, together with the sick, will perform in front of Khlestakov at a meal in a charitable institution, and by its almost detective ending (we won't spoiler, but let's hint: the real auditor, according to the director, will be one of his own!) If this performance will most likely not seem like a masterpiece to a sophisticated theater-goer, then the theater building, which was only recently opened after major repairs, will leave a pleasant impression.
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