The Sovremennik Theater was founded in Moscow in the 1950s. The head of the theater at the source is Oleg Efremov. Although at that time the theater was only a group of artists united in an effort to achieve a common goal. Namely - to declare oneself, about his work and to protest against the formalism, which recently stood at the head of art. The initial difficulties in the functioning of the theater association gave rise to its ascetic style. The art collective did not have a permanent venue for performances; they wandered from theater to theater. So far, in 1964, Sovremennik did not receive the title of state theater, and 10 years later the troupe did not settle in a mansion on Chistoprudny Boulevard. Now Sovremennik is located there. At the time the theater was justified, its leader was Galina Volchek, she still manages the theater.
Features of the Sovremennik Theater
Over the 50-year history of its existence, the theater has become well known not only to Muscovites, but also to residents of foreign countries. The program of performances is based on the academic traditions of the Moscow Art Theater, the application of the Stanislavsky method (which is so foreign to formalism) and the production of domestic plays. Today, on the stage of Sovremennik, one can see plays by Russian authors (A. Chekhov, A. Volodin) and foreign ones, such as William Gibson, Bernard Shaw, Simon Stevens.
The success of theater visitors is justified by the fact that the Sovremennik collective seeks to show the truth in art, and does so in a language that is understandable to modern people.
Love Story Between Enemies
Of the current productions, we advise you to opt for a performance based on the work by Nobel Prize Laureate Bashevis-Singer “Enemies. Love story". For the first time, the production was done in Israel, and the number was recently put on the stage of the Moscow theater. But the leadership has already received a lot of positive reviews about the play “Enemies. Love Story ”in“ Contemporary ”.
Summary of the novel
The story tells of the fate of the Jews who miraculously survived during the fascist occupation. Events unfold in America after the war. The main character of the play is Hermann Broder. The military chaos that prevailed during the events of the novel in Poland deprived Herman of his wife and children. He was saved from death for a long time by the servant of Jadwig.
Broder married her out of gratitude. At the same time, he has an affair with Maria, his compatriot, who is soon pregnant. Naturally, Masha demands that Herman marry her. In this already difficult situation, he suddenly finds out that his wife Tamara, whom he considered dead, is alive! What the hero will do in this situation, you can find out by visiting the performance in the theater.
How did the idea of staging come about?
The idea of staging a play based on the novel by Isaac Bashevis-Singer came up with the theater manager Galina Volchek immediately after reading the work “Enemies. Love Story”. The confused, but life story did not leave her thoughts. And it was he who inspired her to decide to include the play in the repertoire of Sovremennik. Galina Volchek shared that she was impressed by the expressiveness of the main female roles and the character of the protagonist, and immediately suggested which actors of the troupe could easily cope with them. She in her review of the play “Enemies. A Love Story ”in Sovremennik said that the opportunity to create images of the heroes of history on stage has become an invaluable experience for their artists in their careers.
Search for a director
Coming back a little, it is worth noting that for a long time the work on the production was “frozen”. Since a director was required to work on a work, it would be able to convey the atmosphere of history, while preserving all the nuances of the original plot. Such a director was Eugene Arie. Galina Volchek, having met with him during a foreign tour, offered to take part in the work on the play.
Arye in a review of the play “Enemies. A Love Story ”in Sovremennik noted that he was pleased to accept the offer to work on the play. He emphasized that the theme of war and its destructive consequences runs through the whole history of mankind with a red thread. The desire to reveal such a serious topic in creativity requires responsibility. Eugene Arie is pleased with the results of the theater team under his leadership and hopes that the production will not leave the audience indifferent.
Features of the work on the production
The art team of the theater clearly outlined the key points of the plot so that the viewer could feel the atmosphere of post-war America reigning on the stage. He presented the viewer with his own view of the novel. A lot of effort in creating images of heroes was made by stenographer and dresser Semyon Shepherd. Composer Avi Benjamin supplemented the atmosphere with appropriate music, and lighting designer Damir Ismagilov introduced lighting in such a way that each stage of the production looks like paintings from the Renaissance. Over the choreography “Enemies. Love Story ”worked by Nikolai Androsov.
The production, as we have already noted, was carried out by Eugene Arie, along with assistants Olga Sultanova and Oleg Plaksin.
The contribution of theater actors to work
Now we note the work of the acting troupe. In creating the production, special attention was paid to the cast. Only masters of their craft were involved in the work.
The role of Hermann Broder went to actor Sergei Yushkevich. At first glance, the image of a confused man in a relationship with girls is quite simple. Only if you do not take into account that the confusion occurs during the difficult war period, and the man has the number from the concentration camp on his hands. These circumstances, of course, complicated the task of actor Sergei Yushkevich.
He was not the only one tasked with playing such an ambiguous character. The same can be said about the character of actress Alena Babenko. The image of the sympathetic maid Jadwiga is of particular interest. How will she behave in a situation when she was only given hope for happiness and is immediately taken away from her? How will the two characters interact? Actress Alena Babenko in order to fully experience the character of her heroine, who hails from Poland, even went to her homeland.
The next character is perhaps the deepest in terms of experience. In the production of “Enemies. Love Story ”Eugene Simonov was invited to play the missing wife of the protagonist. She fell to create the image of a man who, after suffering, refuses to perceive himself alive.
On the contrary, in the drama Enemies. Love Story ”Chulpan Khamatova was to convey the image of a character eager to live and give life, despite the horrors of wartime.
How did the audience like the performance?
The performance incorporated all the creative passion and intensity with which its creators worked. The performance causes the contemplator genuine emotions, captivates him with the plot and atmosphere. The heroes of the play, with hope in their hearts, seek the meaning of the existence that the war deprived them of. They are buried in memories and dreams of a better life. The hero, seeking shelter from his fears, finds him in the face of a female image: the image of devotion (Jadwiga), the image of passion (Masha) and the image of his mother (Tamara). The social topics touched upon in the production gain a new reading, exciting the viewer's consciousness.
The theater and just a connoisseur of art is obliged to visit this theater and personally verify the strength of the creative energy that comes to the viewer during the production. Visitors claim in reviews of the play “Enemies: A Love Story” in Sovremennik that the joint work of a director, director, decorator, and actors will make you plunge into a completely different world. You will feel yourself in the place of the heroes and survive all the sorrows and joys with them.