2023-06-30 00:02:57
The performance of Elizaveta Bondar (director of the musical and drama theater; collaborated with the Helikon Opera, the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater, etc.) appeared in the repertoire thanks to the experimental project of the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov “Artkhab”. This is a theatrical laboratory, the purpose of which is to search for new names in dramaturgy and directing. In the fall of 2022, sketches for future productions were shown. Spectators and experts voted for the most interesting works. Among them were Tahir and Zuhra.
The play by Zukhra Yanikova (poet, writer, playwright; author of the plays “Experiments with the Vigenère Cipher”, “Mukti”, etc.) “Takhir and Zukhra” in 2021 was included in the short list of the Lyubimovka Young Drama Festival. In April of this year, the Moscow Shalom Theater also presented a premiere on it.
Events unfold in the modern world. But at the heart of the old Uzbek fairy tale about lovers who are not destined to be together. Drama-epos – this is how the genre of both the play and the performance is designated. This combination allows you to expose the “root system” of history. To discern in today’s story is a timeless story. Although the genre proportions are unequal: there is much less epic here than dramatic. Here and there the wrinkles of tragedy show through. And there is enough humor here too, as well as melodramatic sentimentality.
/ In the Moscow Art Theater. Chekhov
The story is generally simple. And the performance is also deliberately simple. Tahir works at a construction site. He lives alone. In broken Russian, he enters into correspondence with various people. He is looking for where, with whom to find a sense of home, to get rid of his restlessness. He grew up without a father, and he and his mother were black sheep in a society where, without a husband, it’s not accepted, it’s a shame. But in their small family, the son and mother loved each other.
In adulthood, he does not get happy love. So fate dictates that they cannot be together with Zuhra, who is expecting a child from another. But somehow, in the fierce winds, he manages to remain human. His tiny raft, twisted of hopes, beats against the waves, against the steep banks. It is difficult, but, in spite of everything, the hero still does not drown. Actually, this is what the show is about. Frankly speaking, it would be more fair to call both the play and the performance simply “Tahir”, because in the center, in fact, it is not so much a (non-) couple of lovers as it is he himself.
The performance is performed in the chamber space of the New Stage. There are practically no objects here. And there is almost no light. Empty and dark. Smoke swirls in the dim beams of side light. Beautiful. But we must make a reservation: scenography is replaced by smoke and dusk very often, so that different productions become terribly similar to each other.
The heroes, uttering lines, bring phones to their faces and shine flashlights on themselves. The solution, of course, is ascetic and monotonous. But nevertheless, it works semantically – the theme of loneliness stands out. And besides, it allows you to admire the faces of the actors. Young beautiful faces of graceful fine molding. This helps and at least somewhat shakes the visual monotony.
However, no matter how beautiful their “ovals and shadows” and “series of magical changes” of cute faces are, it is undeniable that the emphasis is not on the visual plane, but on the sound one. You can feel the director’s ability to master the rhythm. Which is not surprising – Elizaveta Bondar was educated as a director of musical theater and worked a lot in this field, staging opera performances.
“Tahir and Zuhra”, of course, is not an opera. His inner and literal musicality here is also not as pronounced as it happens in some dramatic performances – for example, in the famous “Thunderstorm” by Andrei Moguchy (staged by the Tovstonogov Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg), works by Vladimir Pankov in the spirit of sound drama, etc. And after all, the intonational and rhythmic pattern in this case is what mainly forms the relief of the action.
The text mixes fantasy syntax with modern vocabulary. In the performance, lofty, as if epic-sounding monologues are replaced by conversations with a recognizable today’s intonation. That is, the director in his decision relies on the play. Zuhra often speaks as if in a mermaid – in a thin voice she hurriedly sings out the words. Some scenes are performed not quite like an operatic recitative, but approximately similar.
In some cases, the reason for the change is clear. For example, Takhir’s soul, reminiscing, pronounces one by one, and a completely different manner arises in live communication with real people. And sometimes it turns out only an intonation trick to keep the audience’s attention. For almost the entire hour of the stage action, this, by the way, succeeds, but towards the end, a boring viscosity nevertheless appears.
The performance speaks of love and kindness. Everything tragic and bitter, dark and terrible is overcome by light. There is little of it outside, but plenty of it inside. There is no pretension in the production, it is simple and modest. The director does not beat her into a sermon, does not stir her up to a desperate cry. But this is both the strength and the weakness of Tahir and Zuhra. The performance is charming in its deliberately ingenuous tone. But it’s a pity that this charm seems to be frozen. It does not fly anywhere, does not aim at the heart, does not disturb peace. I think it will be good if over time it grows wings.
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