Legend of "No. 13": Vladimir Mashkov presented to the audience the third version of the Moscow Art Theater hit

The legendary "No. 13", directed by Vladimir Mashkov based on the play by Ray Cooney back in 2001, returned to the stage. This is the most successful, high-grossing, fashionable and funny performance of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov's time of Oleg Tabakov. The director revived it 12 years ago. But last year, the Art Theater said goodbye to the hit. Now he can be seen with the artists of the Oleg Tabakov Theater troupe, which is headed by Vladimir Mashkov. Izvestia visited the pre-premiere screening and rated "THE ONE No. 13".

Lucky number

When Tabakov took over the Art Theater, he decided that only a hit could bring the audience back to the half-empty hall. Vladimir Mashkov was the master of such productions in his basement Snuffbox. It was impossible to get tickets for "Deathly Number", "Local Time High Point", "Bumbarash Passion".

With the Main stage of the Moscow Art Theater named after Chekhov's director also coped. He directed Ray Cooney's farce "No. 13" about the hapless assistant to the prime minister of the ruling party, Richard Willey, secretary Jane Worthington in love with him, his secretary George Pigden, the nun Piona and the corpse in the closet. They all gathered in the same room at the Westminster Hotel.

Instead of debating in the House of Commons, where the Prime Minister is counting on him, Willie is having fun in Apartment No. 13. He has no time to defend British traditional values. They will restrain the completely arrogant opposition without him. He also plans to evaluate a gift for Jane's secretary — sexy underwear. But things are not going the way he would like them to.

The success of No. 13 was phenomenal. A fashionable, rich crowd began to go to the Art Theater, queues appeared at the box office, and the accounting department rejoiced at the profits. Then the audience went not only to see what kind of comedy Vladimir Mashkov staged, they were attracted by the cast: Evgeny Mironov, Avangard Leontiev, Ksenia Lavrova-Glinka, Alexandra Skachkova, Igor Zolotovitsky, Marianna Schultz, Leonid Timtsunik, Sergey Belyaev. As Oleg Tabakov said, the modern history of the Art Theater began with "No. 13".

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New stars participated in the 2014 version of "No. 13D": Igor Vernik, Artyom Volobuyev, Irina Pegova, Kristina Babushkina, Paulina Andreeva, Stanislav Duzhnikov. At that time, at the premiere, all the audience received glasses for the 3D effect with color filters for the scenery created by Alexander Borovsky. The walls of the hotel room where the action was taking place were upholstered in red and green Scottish plaid. After 11 years, the performance no longer resembled the fireworks, and there were no meanings that the director had put into it. At some point, the director's name disappeared from the posters and programs of "No. 13D". It's difficult to subscribe to something other than what was originally intended.

Unconventional British values

Vladimir Mashkov decided to return Ray Cooney's play on the stage of Sovremennik, where Oleg Tabakov's Theater is currently playing its repertoire. The director invited Sergey Ugryumov, People's Artist of Russia, to play the main role. He is an aborigine "No. 13". 25 years ago, Ugryumov played an extortionist waiter named Jackpot. In the "No. 13D" version, he was secretary to George Pigden, and in the new version, he rose to the position of assistant to the Prime Minister Richard Willey.

The revival is timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of Oleg Tabakov's birth. As Vladimir Mashkov himself says, this is his hat-trick, the third time he scored a goal.

A quarter of a century later, the work has become even more relevant: the traditional values of the West are easy to imagine, and the absurd characters are easy to recognize.

— Everything written by the English playwright Ray Cooney is becoming more and more modern, — says Mashkov. — The performance requires a lot of energy, all services are involved in it, the artists play live, without the participation of artificial intelligence at all. All intelligence is natural.

There were many people in the pre-premiere screening room who had seen the previous version of "No. 13D", and even those who were lucky enough to attend the premiere at the Moscow Art Theater 25 years ago. The first audience of the third coming was already on the stage of Sovremennik, entering the theater along the red carpet. They were greeted by live music in the lobby.

Before the curtain opened, Vladimir Mashkov's voice warned: "The play demonstrates unconventional British values for us. Remember, some of them are punishable by the law of the Russian Federation. We wish you an unforgettable evening."

In the center of the plot, as before, is the assistant to the British Prime Minister Richard Willey, who retires to a hotel room with the young secretary (Diana Bulavina) of his political opponent. The evening stops being languid when the characters discover the lifeless body of a stranger (Alexander Limin). Attempts to resolve such an unexpected circumstance involve more and more random characters in the story: the hotel manager (Igor Petrov), the secretary's husband, a biker with a red mohawk, Ronnie (Alexander Fisenko), the nun—nurse of Pigden's mother, Piona (Milana Bru), the hotel waiter (Alexey Knyazev), and his wife Pamela, who learns about Willy's affair. (Sofia Beiman).

The political detective story instantly turns into a farce. The role of George Pigden is played by Oleg Tabakov's Theater star Vladislav Miller. This talented artist has already played more than one role, in which Evgeny Mironov shone before. But, according to him, the role in "THE ONE No. 13" was not easy for him. Before the premiere, he even needed medical help. Foniatr insisted on an IV for Miller so that he could go on stage and not lose his voice.

In the finale of previous versions of the play, not only the political beliefs of the characters collapsed, but also the hotel room. The lights that sparked the entire performance exploded, the window broke, and the chandelier fell. This time, the director took a more radical look at the British establishment. And he imagined what the future of such parliamentarians would be like if they couldn't sort out their own house. The Westminster Hotel collapsed, followed by Big Ben. London went under the water. And only an unmarked submarine is on its course. The audience greeted this finale with an ovation.

The premiere of the play will take place on January 17 and is timed to coincide with Russia's first Artist's Day, a professional holiday created by the initiative of Vladimir Mashkov.