2023-09-21 23:03:55
The new chief director of Alexandrinsky about dialogue with Russian classics and why people need theater today
Chief director of the Alexandrinsky Theater Nikita Kobelev / Evgeniy Razumny / Vedomosti
During the 2023–2024 season. The Alexandrinsky Theatre, one of the oldest in Russia, is headed by a new chief director. This was Nikita Kobelev, who staged the play “The Creature” in Alexandrinka in 2021, based on the novel “The Little Demon” by Fyodor Sologub. In 2022, this production was awarded the “Theater Star” award in the “Best Performance” category. Small form.”
A graduate of the GITIS directing department (Oleg Kudryashov’s workshop), he was previously a full-time director at the Moscow Academic Theater. Vl. Mayakovsky, in the same place – assistant artistic director. Kobelev’s productions are now being staged in addition to Mayakovka at the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov, Theater of Nations, Praktika Theater, etc.
The new, 268th season of the Alexandrinka will be held under the sign of two anniversaries: the 150th anniversary of Vsevolod Meyerhold and the 20th anniversary of the artistic direction of the theater by Valery Fokin. Among the upcoming premieres is “Meyer” by Kirill Lyukevich based on the novel by Sergei Kempo, a play based on the memories of the Alexandrinians about the siege of Leningrad, a production based on the correspondence of Catherine II and Voltaire. For the New Stage, named after Meyerhold, a “Meyerhold Studies” program is planned: three festivals, an exhibition in augmented reality, performances, lectures, etc.
In January 2024, the premiere of Kobelev’s play based on Leo Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection” is expected. The director spoke about the new production, Meyerhold’s theater formula and whether Alexandrinka needs reforms in an interview with Vedomosti.
“It can be compared to love at first sight”
– You are welcoming the new theater season for the first time as the chief director of the Alexandrinsky Theater. What will your job be now?
– The chief director must first of all stage performances in the theater on a regular basis. As a rule, we are talking about one production per year. A separate difficulty is that, along with his productions, the chief director must daily deal with intra-theater processes – creative and administrative. We all know that there is a lot to do in any theater and this so-called routine requires a huge amount of effort and time. But it is no less important than the performances, because a comfortable “life” behind the scenes ensures a normal, stable flow of life throughout the theater.
– What, in your opinion, do you, as the director-in-chief, need to preserve and develop in the theater, and what requires reform?
– The chief director at the Alexandrinsky Theater, in my opinion, this is not about reforms at all. The theater is in very good condition and does not need any reforms. This is a story about unity with the theater, conformity with it, moving in the same direction with it. Based on the results of our first joint performance, “The Creature,” it became clear that the theater had a very precise hit on each other. This can be compared to love at first sight. The direction in which the theater is moving is very close to me – it is tradition and innovation in one bundle. This is the Meyerhold formula, which is followed by the artistic director of the theater Valery Fokin. I value tradition, but experimentation and modern language are also very important to me. So this special creative position of the theater completely resonates with me. I especially want to become useful to the troupe, because I am interested in working with artists, I want to reveal their potential even more and provide them with good roles and works. At the most, I hope that I can bring fresh breath to the theater with my performances.
– What is this special creative position of the Alexandrinsky Theater, besides the combination of tradition and innovation?
– Alexandrinka is a theater in which the most important task is to maintain a high artistic level. The quality of the performances is paramount. There is no focus on entertaining performances, as in many other theaters. Over the years of work under the leadership of Valery Fokin, the theater has developed its own special path and its own special audience.
People go to Alexandrinka specifically for the unusual, modern, and interesting. And due to the fact that the theater constantly works with new directors who are invited by the artistic director. The theater troupe is in good creative shape: the artists are accustomed to high-class directing, to the need to constantly work with new approaches and different theatrical languages.
– Was it easy to agree to this position? Was it scary?
– It was very responsible, because you need to justify the trust shown. But I agreed with joy. Firstly, because the Alexandrinsky Theater is one of the best drama theaters in Russia with a long history and a very interesting modern present, where you really want to work. Secondly, because we found a common language with the theater during the production of “The Beast”. It seems to me that the work on this performance went well, and there is hope that everything will continue to be just as successful and harmonious. It was scary, of course, too, because such a serious decision requires a complete restructuring of my life. And changes such as moving to another city are always difficult. Although it seems that there is nothing significant about moving from Moscow to St. Petersburg, in fact, life in a new city is always life from scratch.
“It’s important for me to write my own director’s story”
– What performances of yours will appear this year at Alexandrinka?
– The premiere of the play “Resurrection” based on the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy is planned for January 2024.
– How did the idea of staging “Resurrection” come about? Or was it offered to you?
“I’ve been wanting to stage this piece for a long time.” When discussing my new production, I suggested several titles, but the choice of the artistic director of the theater fell on “Resurrection.” Valery Vladimirovich said that Tolstoy is our author, in tune with the Alexandrinsky Theater. The work is complex, there is a lot in the novel that is fundamentally important and at the same time a lot that is relevant. A whole panorama of Russian life, with a large number of characters. I love working with such large-scale works.
– Will you move the action to modern times?
– I don’t want to talk in detail about the performance yet, its concept is still in the process of formation. But, of course, this will be a look at the work from today. We are not planning to illustrate the novel, but will present our vision of this story – somewhat unexpected, I think. I am sure that we will have some kind of aesthetic connection with “The Creature,” because Valery Semenovsky’s play is written based on the novel “The Little Demon” by Fyodor Sologub. Both “The Petty Demon” and “Resurrection” are novels written around the same time, at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, and contain a premonition of the break of eras.
– Do you plan to perform in other theaters this season?
– So far, there are no other plans for this season other than “Resurrection.” After being appointed to the position of chief director of the Alexandrinsky Theater, I canceled everything, since I would be busy working in this theater.
But very recently, several of my new performances appeared in different cities. The premiere of “Summer Residents” just took place at the Novosibirsk “Old House” theater. The author of the stage version is Dmitry Bogoslavsky. This is a story based on Gorky’s play of the same name. The action has been moved to the present day, the composition and structure of the play have been changed, and some dialogues have been rewritten, but all these changes are inspired by a serious study of Gorky’s play and are made in order to look at the collisions of “Dachnikov” from today.
In April of this year, an important performance for me, “Frogs,” was released at the branch of the Alexandrinsky Theater – the Pskov Drama Theater named after. Pushkin. An epic drama based on the play by Chinese author and Nobel laureate Mo Yan. A big four hour job. It can be seen at the Baltic House festival in St. Petersburg in October. In this performance, the first act is realistic, the second is average, transitional, and in the third, everything is destroyed. Documentary is blurred and replaced by stage fantasies. It’s interesting when there is a story, you connect to it, and then it collapses and becomes generalized. “Dachniki” has a similar twist.
In the summer at the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov hosted the premiere of my play “Botanical Giselle” based on the prose of Eduard Kochergin.
– You often turn to works that are rarely staged or have never been staged at all. “Frogs”, “Botanical Giselle” is no exception. “Dachniki” and “Resurrection” are classic texts, but you also do not leave them in their original form. Everything is being reworked; in fact, new plays are being written based on them. Why is that?
– I’m interested in telling new stories, staging texts that have a short production history, and opening these works to the viewer. And even when I work with classical literature, it is important for me to write my own director’s story. Decompose the text into atoms and then reassemble it, preserving its spirit. I need to enter into a dialogue with the author. In my opinion, theater needs a clash of energies, but it is important not to approach this thoughtlessly: this is painstaking work with the original source, and all decisions are fed by its currents.
– How do you usually choose an author or a work for production?
– In different ways, depending on the theater and the specific situation. Sometimes artistic directors of theaters offer to stage specific works, sometimes they are filled in, sometimes the director brings the work. I have a list of titles that I am ready to propose for productions. This list is constantly changing because I myself am changing and the world is changing too. I feel what is necessary and important today and what is not. For example, it coincided that many of the works from classical literature that I have worked with recently (“The Little Demon” by Sologub, “Summer Residents” by Gorky) and will continue to work with are texts from the early twentieth century. I didn’t think like that on purpose, but, probably, it’s not for nothing that they resonate with me. For me, the main thing is to hear the time, it determines the choice above all.
“Theater for me is about living energies”
– You mentioned Meyerhold. This is an important figure for the Alexandrinsky Theater (and not only for it) and for Valery Fokin himself. He openly declares this. Do you, as a director, have any personal ideals that you focus on?
– I study everything closely, I am constantly searching, watching plays and films, studying art from all sides. But I don’t yet have such an exact, defined figure that I look up to. I managed to try a lot, work in different theaters, different directions. And I think I’m gradually starting to understand what’s mine and what’s not. It seems to me that it is impossible to adopt anything from someone in its pure form, to transfer the techniques of another director from one performance to another. Only dead will come out. And theater for me is about living energies.
– In any case, every director takes something from his master. As far as we know, you studied with Oleg Kudryashov at GITIS. What did you get from it? What’s the main lesson?
– Attention to the artist. When I applied, I thought that directing was all about inventions, visual moves, images, and that an artist somehow exists on his own. It turned out that the actor is perhaps the most important thing and the ability to work with him is key in directing. And also, of course, the ability to parse text. These are the two fundamental aspects of the profession on which directing skills are built, two basic skills. It is important to master them, and then look for your own language.
– You staged a lot at the Moscow Theater. Mayakovsky. Your performances are still taking place there. The artistic director at that time was Mindaugas Karbauskis. What flowed into you professionally during that period?
– Everything is the same, just even deeper. The way Mindaugas works is close to me: subtlety, delicacy, complex simplicity, deep poetic language. I don’t always go in the same direction, we are different, but this is a kind of tuning fork for me. Mindaugas stands on the same points – artist, analysis. And also stage minimalism, when there is nothing superfluous, for me this is important and interesting.
– How would you characterize the state of the theater industry today?
– Now the theater is faced with the task of maintaining its artistic level. People are looking for an opportunity in the theater to hear something important, the main thing about themselves and about the time in which we all live.
#feel #important #today