In fact, these three milestones mark the most significant periods in the life of the theater, born of the revolution. Since 1920 he has occupied the building of the former Suvorin Theater on the Fontanka. Before the revolution, the St. Petersburg Maly Theater was located here, in which the troupe of the Literary and Artistic Society worked at the turn of the century. Since the main shareholder, unspoken artistic director, and also its ideologist was the publisher of the newspaper "New Time" A.S. Suvorin, Petersburgers called the theater Suvorin. From time to time, the life of the theater, not rich in artistic events, was illuminated by creative discoveries. So, for the first premiere of the theater was staged by E. Karpov The power of darkness LN Tolstoy, with P. Strepetova as Matryona. The performances with the participation of P. Orlenev, an actor who created a new role of "neurasthenic", became the same major phenomenon. M. Chekhov studied at the school at the theater, accepted after training at the Suvorin Theater and successfully worked in it until entering the Moscow Art Theater in 1912. After the death of K.Yu. G.A. Tovstonogov was appointed T.N. Chkheidze.
THEATER BORN BY THE REVOLUTION
Actually, the real history of the BDT begins after the October Revolution. The new theater opened on February 15, 1919 with a performance Don Carlos F. Schiller in the Great Hall of the Conservatory. The first theater of Soviet dramatic art was conceived as a theater of heroic repertoire, large-scale images, "great tears and great laughter" (Blok). Born of a heroic era, he had to convey its special greatness. It was to be a theater of "heroic tragedy, romantic drama and high comedy". The main ideological inspirer of the new theater was M. Gorky. In the early years, mainly classical plays were staged, in which tyrannical, freedom-loving motives were emphasized. Major actors N.F. Monakhov, V.V. Maksimov entered the troupe, Yu.M. Yuryev, the main romantic premiere of the Alexandrinsky stage, moved from the Petrograd State Drama Theater (Akdram) for several years. The main director was A.M. Lavrentiev, who staged the following productions: Don Carlos (1919), Othello And King Lear W. Shakespeare (1920). Performances were also staged by N.V. Petrov ( twelfth Night Shakespeare, 1921; Ruy Blas V. Hugo, 1921), B.M. Sushkevich ( Rogues Schiller, 1919), A.M. Benois ( Servant of two masters C. Goldoni and Reluctant healer Moliere, 1921), R.V. Boleslavsky ( Ragged Cloak S. Benelli, 1919). Artists A.N. Benois, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, V.A. Shchuko and composers B.V. Asafiev, Yu.A. Shaporin, in close contact with the directors, strove to adhere to the traditions of stage romanticism. In the early 1920s, German Expressionist dramas appeared in the repertoire of the BDT, which were embodied by K.P. Khokhlov in an urban spirit, in a constructivist design - Gas G. Kaiser (1922, artist Yu.P. Annenkov), Virgin forest E. Toller (1924, artist N.P. Akimov). Aesthetically, these performances adjoined the performance Machine Riot A.N. Tolstoy (reworking of the play by K. Chapek R.U.R.., 1924, artist Annenkov).
Of great importance for the fate of the theater was the involvement of the poet A.A. Blok to the post of chairman of the Directorate of the BDT.
But along with the heroic-romantic productions of Schiller, Shakespeare, as well as experimental works, the theater focused on box office performances, often staged "lightweight" historical melodramas. One of them - The conspiracy of the empress A.M. Tolstoy and P.E. Shchegolev (1925, director Lavrentiev, artist Shchuko) - enjoyed a resounding success.
THEATER IS APPROACHING TO MODERNITY
The most serious performances of that period are associated with the work of K.K. Tversky, who usually worked with the artist M.Z. Levin; among them, the productions of plays by modern authors became important - rebellion(1925) and Fault B.A. Lavreneva (1927), Man with a briefcase A.M. Faiko (1928), City of winds V.M. Kirshon (1929), My friend N.F. Pogodina (1932). From the mid-1920s, Soviet plays began to define the BDT's repertoire. Following the time, the theater for the first time tried to bring Romance closer to reality, to combine heroic pathos with a specific living environment. Strong acting personalities were formed in the theater troupe: O. G. Kaziko, V. T. Kibardina, A. I. Larikov, V. P. Polizeymako, K. V. Skorobogatov, V. Ya.
In the year of production fault, K.S. Stanislavsky during the Leningrad tour of the Moscow Art Theater wrote on a portrait donated by the BDT: “Your theater is one of those few that know that the revolution in art is not only in external form, but in its inner essence ...”.
For many actors, participation in Gorky's plays was a turning point. Gorky's plays had significant success Egor Bulychev and others(1932, directors K.K. Tverskoy and V.V. Lutse) and Dostigaev and other(1933, directed by Luce). The name of Gorky was given to the theater not by chance. Departure from the Gorky laws of dramaturgy, which always presupposed clarity of thought, clarity of ideological position, brightness of characters, irreconcilable conflict and special theatricality, almost every time led the theater to failure.
G. A. TOVSTONOGOV COMES TO THE THEATER
After the departure of Tversky, a difficult time came in the theater. Artistic directors often changed: 1934 - V.F. Fedorov, 1936-1937 - A.D. Dikiy, 1939-1940 - B.A. Babochkin, 1940-1944 - L.S. Rudnik. In an atmosphere of aesthetic unpretentiousness, multidirectional searches, only a few performances have become notable events in theatrical art: Philistines Gorky (1937, directed by Wild); summer residents Gorky (1939) and Tsar Potap A.A. Kopkova (1940 - both directed by Babochkin); King Lear Shakespeare (1941, directed by G.M. Kozintsev). In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, the theater worked in Kirov, in 1943 it returned to Leningrad and continued to work under the blockade, serving the troops of the Leningrad Front and hospitals.
The creative crisis of the BTC, which emerged as early as the mid-1930s, worsened in the post-war years. Artistic directors stayed in the theater only for a short time: 1946-1950 - N.S. Rashevskaya, 1951-1952 - I.S. Efremov, 1952-1954 - O.G. Kaziko, 1954-1955 - K.P. Khokhlov. The introduction into the repertoire of numerous thematically relevant, but handicraft, and sometimes frankly false plays, led to a decrease in the artistic level of performances, acting skills, and the loss of the audience. In 1956, G.A. Tovstonogov, who had 25 years of fruitful work experience in various theaters (Tbilisi, Moscow, Leningrad), became the chief director of the theater. His arrival coincided with the "thaw" - the revival of the country's public life after the XX Congress of the CPSU. In a short time, Tovstonogov brought the theater out of the crisis, turned the dysfunctional troupe into a close-knit team capable of successfully solving the most difficult creative tasks. Decisive in the theatrical policy of the chief director was the renewal of the troupe and the choice of repertoire. To restore the viewer's trust, Tovstonogov begins with unpretentious, but lively and recognizable plays ( Sixth floor A.Geri, When does the acacia bloom? N. Vinnikova). Talented young people are actively involved in these productions, which soon became the basis of the renewed team (K. Lavrov, L. Makarova, T. Doronina, Z. Sharko). They brought to the stage the living breath of truth, open lyrical hearts, genuinely sincere voices of our time. Liberated by the spiritual atmosphere of their time, the young actors, together with the director, approved a new hero - outwardly not at all heroic, but close to everyone in the hall, glowing with inner beauty and talent of humanity. Staging works of modern dramaturgy - five evenings(1959, in the center of which is an unusually delicate duet of E. Kopelyan and Z. Sharko), My older sister(1961 with the brilliant T. Doronina and E. Lebedev) A. M. Volodin, and Irkutsk history A. N. Arbuzova (1960) - went in parallel with the careful work on Russian classics, in which the director heard, first of all, the nerve of today. Performances Idiot according to F.M. Dostoevsky (1957 and 1966), Barbarians Gorky (1959), Woe from Wit A.S. Griboedov (1962), Three sisters A.P. Chekhov (1965), Philistines Gorky (1966, State Prize of the USSR, 1970) became major events in the spiritual life of society and determined the leading position of the BDT in the domestic stage art. Of particular interest was the form of “performance-novel” that developed in the BDT, which is characterized by the thoroughness and subtlety of the psychological analysis of the behavior of the characters, the enlargement of the images, close attention to the inner life of all the characters.
Barbarians A.M. Gorky turned out to be the first performance that turned the recently heterogeneous troupe of the BDT into a powerful and rich sounding ensemble, where the director prepared and ensured the great acting victories of P. Luspekaev-Cherkun, V. Strzhelchik-Tsyganov, V. Polizeymako-Redozubov, O. Kaziko-Bogaevskaya, Z. Sharko-Katya, T. Doronina- Nadezhda, E. Lebedev-Monakhov, her husband.
An event in the theatrical life of the country was the production idiot with I. Smoktunovsky in the title role. A performance in which the director's innovative style was especially clearly manifested: elusive in its diversity on the one hand, and outward discreetness on the other. The director creates through the actor, together with the actor, and reveals their individuality often unexpectedly for them (O. Basilashvili, V. Strzhelchik, O. Borisov).
No idea exists for Tovstonogov outside the artist. But the director does not "die in the actor." Critic K. Rudnitsky wrote: "... the director comes to life in the actors, the art of each of the artists reveals one of the many facets of the art of the director himself ...". Therefore, the main work in the theater is working with the author and artist. The main result of the work is the creation of an ensemble of the highest culture, which can solve the most complex creative tasks, achieve stylistic integrity in any performance.
Contact with the audience in BDT performances is always heightened. But there were performances where this condition became paramount. This is how the show was staged. Woe from Wit(1964) with the tragic and at the same time eccentric Chatsky-S. Yursky, who was looking for associates in the hall, addressing the audience, with lively youthful spontaneity, hoping for understanding.
Each performance of Tovstonogov has its own way of communicating with the audience, whether horse history(1975) with E. Lebedev as Kholstomer, Chekhov, Gorky or Gogol ( Auditor, 1972), where the director poses the toughest questions to his characters, and therefore to the audience. At the same time, the novelty of reading arises from the depth of the read text, those layers of it that have not yet been seen and studied.
The revolutionary themes of performances are read and comprehended in a new way The death of the squadron A. Korneichuk, An optimistic tragedy V. Vishnevsky, staged repeatedly, at different times, as well as Rereading M. Shatrova (1980), where a simple person who finds himself in the face of History is examined intently, without false pathos.
The characteristic slow development of Tovstonogov's "performance-novels" ( Barbarians And Philistines; Upturned virgin soil according to M.A. Sholokhov, 1964, etc.) gradually brought actors and spectators to stormy, “explosive”, climaxes.
In the 1970s, the director continued his theatrical searches, staging an epic novel in the field of great prose. Quiet Don with O. Borisov in the role of Grigory - the central figure of the performance, eclipsing all other persons who have lost their scale in this system. The epic performance considered Gregory as a tragic hero who has no personal guilt before the fate of History. The "novel" productions of the director have always been accompanied by such a quality as polyphony.
But the BDT was not alien to a cheerful, mischievous comedy. Viewers of the 1970s will long remember the festive, light-winged Khanuma A. Tsagareli (1972), staged with special lyricism, grace and brilliant acting work by L. Makarova, V. Strzhelchik, N. Trofimov. The experience of a special "Vakhtangov" reading, with his open play in the theater, was successfully mastered by the director in Wolves and sheep A.N.Ostrovsky (1980), the opera-farce by A.N.Kolker sounded like a sharp tragicomic grotesque Death of Tarelkin according to A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin (1982), which revealed the great potential of BDT actors in the field of open theatricality (acting works by E. Lebedev, V. Kovel, S. Kryuchkova, etc.). The comedy skills of the artists were honed both on the material of a modern play ( energetic people according to V. Shukshin, 1974), and in staging Pickwick Club according to Ch. Dickens, 1978).
In the troupe, in addition to the already mentioned artists, E.A. Popova, M.A. Prizvan-Sokolova, O.V. Volkova, L.I. Malevannaya, Yu.A. Demich, A.Yu. Tolubeev, S.N. .Kryuchkov. In 1983, the BDT troupe was replenished with another unique master of the stage - A.B. Freindlikh, who played and continues to play the most diverse roles - from three women who are opposite in comedy This passionate lover(N.Simon, 1983) to the tragic images of Lady Macbeth and Nastya ( At the bottom A.M. Gorky, 1987), etc.
THEATER NAMED AFTER G.A.TOVSTONOGOV
After the death of G.A. Tovstonogov in 1989, K.Yu. Lavrov became the artistic director of the BDT. In 1993, the theater was rightfully named after its former chief director, who became a whole theatrical era, not only for his theater, but also for his country.
A valuable contribution to the life of this theater was made by the productions of director T. Chkheidze, which largely coincided with Tovstonogov's requirements for the performance. The depth and scale of T. Chkheidze's director's intention were embodied by him through a carefully selected ensemble of actors. The most interesting of his performances: Deceit and love F. Schiller (1990), Macbeth At . Shakespeare, (1995), Antigone J. Anuya (1996), Boris Godunov A. Pushkin (1998).
In the modern BDT, many performances by G.A. Tovstonogov continue to go on, which are not just preserved, but live a full-blooded life.
In 2007, after the death of K. Lavrov, Temur Chkheidze was appointed artistic director, who had worked with the BDT since 1991, and in 2004 agreed to become the chief director. In February 2013, Chkheidze resigned and stepped down as artistic director.
Ekaterina Yudina
Well-known film critic, artistic director of the Russian programs of the Moscow International Film Festival Irina Pavlova is a theater critic by education. It so happened that she had an early opportunity to observe the life of the famous theater from the inside. Irina Pavlova shared with Lenta.ru her memories of Georgy Tovstonogov, the actors and performances of the BDT.
Photo: Sergey Vdovin / Interpress / Global Look
: I got into the BDT at the age of 14 and lived a huge chunk of my life with this theater. Tovstonogov undoubtedly reigned there. And the point was not even in the power that he had in the theater, but in how much any of his words meant for everyone who worked in the BDT. In the theater they talked about Gog all the time. Even from fleeting conversations it was clear that he was a king and a god. Arbiter. That the distribution of roles in the new performance is either an execution or promotion to the rank of general.
Lenta.ru: Have you ever heard people complain about him? Many actors later admitted that they were offended by him - they did not give roles for a long time.
Sometimes, he didn't. But I don't think there was any malicious intent. He simply proceeded from considerations of industrial necessity. Well, for example, he was looking for Prince Myshkin, although there were options - the actor was rehearsing and, probably, would have played the premiere. But Tovstonogov saw the film "Soldiers" with the unknown Innokenty Smoktunovsky and shouted: "Here he is!" Overnight Smoktunovsky became a star. And what happened to the actor who rehearsed Prince Myshkin? He was asleep. Gone.
With Oleg Basilashvili it turned out differently. He came to the BDT from the theater. Lenin Komsomol, together with his then wife Tatyana Doronina. She already came to the BDT in the rank of a rising theater star - after "The Factory Girl" in the same St. Petersburg Lenkom, she was immediately invited to the main female role in the play "Barbarians", and he had until 1965, before the role of Andrei Prozorov in " Three sisters”, there were only modest episodes on the stage of the BDT. But after Chekhov's premiere, Basilashvili "woke up famous."
Tovstonogov summoned Oleg Borisov from Kyiv. He had such a sign: if the troupe lacks some kind of paint, look in the Kiev Russian theater, and you will find your actor there - Kirill Lavrov came from the Kiev theater to the BDT, from there Tovstonogov "discharged" Pavel Luspekaev, and then Valery came from there Ivchenko.
Remember Oleg Borisov in the cinema before the BDT? Baltic Sky, Chasing Two Hares. The role of "character actor" brought him success, and, perhaps, if he had stayed in Kyiv then, he would have been an outstanding comedian ... And he was taken to the BDT as a tragic actor! And so Tovstonogov “marinated” him. Although Borisov brilliantly played Ganya Ivolgin in The Idiot! But after it - nothing, only inputs. The actor was about to leave the theater, and he had already written a statement.
Georgy Tovstonogov shakes hands with Oleg Borisov at the premiere of King Henry IV (1969). In the photo from left to right: Vladislav Strzhelchik, Oleg Borisov, Efim Kopelyan, Georgy Tovstonogov
At this time, Tovstonogov was preparing the play "Henry IV", the main role was rehearsed by a good, intelligent, intelligent actor who did not succeed at all. Tovstonogov removed him from the role of Prince Harry, and appointed the young Oleg Borisov to the role. And everything immediately fell into place. When this caustic, impudent guy with an unpleasant fractional chuckle appeared in the performance, and all his partners in the performance began to live differently. After all, actors are like matches in a box: one caught fire - and they all flared up.
However, despite the "tyranny", membership in Tovstonogov's troupe was valued. The director himself called his regime "a voluntary dictatorship."
When Georgy Alexandrovich came to work at the BDT, he was given carte blanche: he could fire anyone, regardless of rank and regalia. Many have been fired. But two "troublemakers" remained in the theater, both - People's Artists. They wrote carts for him in the regional committee. He was informed of this immediately. What would ninety-nine directors out of a hundred do in this situation? Both would be kicked out. What did Tovstonogov do? He gave the elderly actress two luxurious roles, and staged an almost benefit performance for the scammer actor. A real director cherishes a good actor, even if that actor commits unseemly acts. And if the actor is mistaken, if he is accustomed, with all his orders and medals, to feel like a master in the theater, then he just needs to explain who is the boss in the house. Why break up with him? Where will you find it then? And the slanderous actor played Aesop with Tovstonogov. And then, according to the memoirs of Dina Morisovna Schwartz, the savior, in Goga's office he sank to his knees and asked for forgiveness. How did Georgy Alexandrovich behave? "What are you speaking about?! I don’t know anything… What are you asking for forgiveness for?” He knew everything. But he did not even consider it possible to discuss it, let alone accept an apology - and even more so. This is how his "tyranny" developed.
They left him. Some very good artists left. They, of course, did not disappear, nothing bad happened to them. But none of them in the theater had more such accomplishments as with Tovstonogov. And they went to good theaters to good directors. Doronin, Yursky, Tenyakova ... It is enough to compare what these actors had and what became in order to understand what the Tovstonogov "dictatorship" rested on. The actor sees his private and does not see the whole. The only exception to this rule, perhaps, was Oleg Borisov. But his theatrical fate, despite the brilliant work of Efremov, Dodin, Kheifetz, did not turn out the way it could.
They say that he did not “fraternize” with the actors, he communicated as if through a glass wall. And he was friends with Kopelyan and Luspekaev. What was the friendship like?
It wasn't a wall. Distance. He talked with Kopelyan, considered him one of the smartest people in Leningrad (which was pure truth). Evgeny Lebedev was his relative. He simply loved Luspekaev, saw his fantastic talent. The Tovstonogovs' house was rather closed, impenetrable. Even if they went to Natella Alexandrovna, it was the other half. So there were not many people entering his house. And there was no one in his head.
Has your attitude towards Tovstonogov changed over time?
From the outside, not everything is always visible to a person. And often not everything is visible from the inside. Sometimes it seemed to me that something indecent, even disgusting, was happening! Well, for example, director Mark Rozovsky was rehearsing the play "Kholstomer" on the small stage of the BDT. The play based on Tolstoy's short story was written by him, very bright, original. Evgeny Alekseevich Lebedev, who was rehearsing the main role, muttered like a maniac: “These will be the new “Petty Bourgeois”!”
And Tovstonogov's Petty Bourgeois was not just a great performance, but a programmatic one. A performance from the category that makes a reputation not only for the director, but for the theater as a whole. Georgy Alexandrovich came and looked. And he said: "Well, take it to the big stage." They began to rehearse on the big stage, and it turned out that the performance was falling apart on the big stage. Georgy Alexandrovich makes several key amendments, changes the emphasis, and instead of an avant-garde performance, a tragedy was suddenly born before our very eyes.
Scene from the play "Petty Bourgeois" (1968) From left to right: Vladimir Recepter - Pyotr, Kirill Lavrov - Nil, Lyudmila Sapozhnikova - Fields, Nikolai Trofimov - Perchikhin
Photo: Maxim Blokhin / Newsreel TASS
In general, Tovstonogov was already listed as the director on the poster. Horse Story was the hit of the season. Rozovsky, of course, was not delighted with what had happened ... And many young critics (including myself) considered this whole story unseemly. But Rozovsky then himself staged this performance in another theater. And then everything became clear to everyone. And me too. And I stopped exclaiming: “What a shame - stealing the performance!”
In general, Tovstonogov was at that time the main director of the country, whether someone likes it or not. Despite the fact that Efros, Lyubimov, and Efremov worked with him at the same time.
Tovstonogov on the stage of the BDT created not just a unique artistic world, full of incredible directorial insights, paradoxical solutions. He created a fantastic world of feelings, he raised a galaxy of great actors. After all, even those who left him experienced his influence all their lives, the influence of this amazing personality, endowed with some kind of inhuman intuition.
Is it just the actors?
How are actors created? Great actors are made by great performances. Not fashionable, not spectacular - great. He pulled out something incredibly important from any play, and the actors were the conductors of this important. Handsome Vladislav Strzhelchik (before Tovstonogov was listed as a “frock-coat actor”) played for him the ancient old man Gregory Solomon in Arthur Miller’s “The Price” so that the audience at each performance sobbed along with the hero ... And Svetlana Kryuchkova - Aksinya literally choking with love in "Quiet Don" ...
I have not seen the play "Five Evenings" with Sharko, Kopelyan, Lavrov and Makarova. I only heard an incomplete audio recording. But how was it all supposed to be on stage, live, if the heart literally stops from the old sound recording?
Tovstonogov came to the BDT, and the first thing he did (unlike most other directors) was to stage a commercial performance. "The Sixth Floor" based on the play by Géry. The common public fell on him like a wave. The performance is multi-figured, it occupied two-thirds of the troupe. Unknown artists suddenly became famous. After that, he makes the play "Señor Mario writes a comedy" by Aldo Nicolai. Nobody really knew this name. But the very fact that an Italian play was staged in our country led to the fact that everyone was thrown into the theater like catechumens. It was impossible to drive anyone into the theater, to the performances of which quite recently, before the arrival of Tovstonogov. He worked with the city. He not only made performances, he also seduced. He was a seducer! And suddenly - performances one after another: about Prince Myshkin, about the Bessemenov family. About a frivolous woman living on the second floor, to whom the entire Bessemenov family aspires, and to whom a loving and misunderstood father is insanely jealous. Everyone wants to go there, to her, where they dance and sing, and not where it's stuffy and dad teaches all the time. And they don’t feel sorry for this dad, but dad is wonderful ... The same thing happened with the Barbarians. The performance turned out to be about the fact that everyone wants to be loved, but they themselves do not know how to love ... And his "The Fox and the Grapes" with the Policemako in the title role - it was some amazing hymn to freedom! Aesop's final phrase "Where is your abyss for free people ?!" always accompanied by an ovation, just a roar of the hall!
I don't know if Tovstonogov squeezed a slave out of himself drop by drop, as Chekhov put it. But the fact that he was squeezing the slave, the cattle, the goon out of his viewers, out of society is completely obvious to me. I experienced it myself. You came to his theater as anyone, and left as a person longing for an ideal. It was there that I understood, like nowhere else, that culture is a taboo system. That there are things that cannot be done, and that's all. And if you want something that is unbearable - act like Tolstoy's father Sergius - cut your finger. Very, you know, distracts from unworthy desires!
The generation that grew up on Tovstonogov's performances squandered these taboos. For many years they squandered, ruffled, got rid of these taboos for their own convenience - but, fortunately, they never got rid of them completely. Because it was driven into people with nails forged by director Georgy Alexandrovich Tovstonogov at the Leningrad Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater.
Have you ever been to BDT? No? Unfortunately, I also did not have a chance to attend live performances of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov. No matter how you say "halva" - it will not become sweeter in your mouth, but you should say "Khanuma!" This performance has rightfully become the hallmark of the theatre, which is celebrating its 93rd anniversary today.
It's amazing what great actors this theater has gathered on its stage at different times: Georgy Tovstonogov, Kirill Lavrov, Yefim Kopelyan, Oleg Borisov,Pavel Luspekaev, Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Svetlana Kryuchkova,Nina Usatova, Olga Volkova…
Fortunately, we can remember them from their roles in movies and TV shows.
I will not talk about the actors in detail, I just want you to remember them today, at least some of them ....
Boris Babochkin - is not perceived as an actor, but as a living legend, a hero of the civil war and a favorite character of the Soviet cinema of the 1930s Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. For us, he remained the hero of one role.
Lyudmila Makarova- recently celebrated her 90th anniversary on the stage of the theater, she still plays on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater and, although she had a huge number of roles, she is forever for us Home Hanuma our country. How many times has this show been on TV? I don't know, but all things are postponed when I hear "It's a sin to be alone.... It's a sin to be single...!"
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Lyudmila Makarova yesterday, today and always |
Yefim Kopelyan- even if you haven't watched "The Elusive Avengers", "Eternal Call" or "Straw Hat", the whole country knows the voice of "Seventeen Moments of Spring". After the release of this film, the artist jokingly began to call himself "Efim Zakadrovich". The actor came to the BDT before Tovstonogov and worked in the theater until the end of his days together with his wife, Lyudmila Makarova.
Evgeny Lebedev- his first role on the stage of the BDT - Mademoiselle Kuku in the play "Nameless Star". Yes that there "mamzel"! This actor brilliantly played "enemies" (how I hated his Romashov in "Two Captains" as a child!) and heroes (the films "Train of Mercy" and "Blockade"), a touching drunkard ("Energetic People") and even ... a horse ! Kholstomer - one of his best roles in the play "History of the Horse" by L. Tolstoy.
Scene "with a glass" from the play "Energetic People"
Recently, the BDT hosted an evening in memory of the actor in honor of his 95th birthday, and in 2000 the Evgeny Lebedev Prize was established - a bronze figure of the actor in the role of Kholstomer ...
Nina Usatova- a real Russian Woman: confident, strong, resolute and so kind, homely, comfortable. She is good in any role: from a village aunt (the film "The Island") to a landowner in love (A. Ostrovsky's play "Blizh!") and from the aunt from Next, and to the mother in the film "Pop". A truly popular actress: on the day of her 60th birthday, she received an amazing gift - to make a shot from the cannon of the Naryshkin bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
"Tureen or Boiling Passions"
When talking about this theater, how can one not remember her, the actress, without whom it is simply unthinkable for the audience! Her father Bruno Freindlich played on the BDT stage, and listing the roles of Alisa Brunovna herself is meaningless, they are all known and loved by us immensely!
Alisa Freindlich- the queen of the stage, the queen of the cinema, the queen always and in everything.
Tour of the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov in any city always ends with a full house, great masters have played and are playing on his stage. I would like to sincerely congratulate the theater troupe on their birthday and wish not only creative success, but also new actors worthy of this stage.
What performances of this theater would you like to see again? What roles of BDT actors did you like?
In the autumn of 1918, the Bolshoi Drama Theater was founded in Petrograd on the initiative of the writer Maxim Gorky, the poet Alexander Blok and the Moscow Art Theater actress Maria Andreeva. The theater's repertoire policy was determined by its first artistic director, Alexander Blok: "The Bolshoi Drama Theater is, by design, a theater of high drama: high tragedy and high comedy." The special aesthetics and style of the BDT were formed under the influence of the architect Vladimir Shchuko and artists from the association "World of Art": Alexander Benois, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev - the first set designers of the theater.
On February 15, 1919, the premiere took place: the tragedy of F. Schiller "Don Carlos" was directed by Andrei Lavrentiev. Among the directors of the BDT of the following years: Meyerhold's student Konstantin Tverskoy, Nemirovich-Danchenko's student Nikolai Petrov, world art artist Alexander Benois, the famous Chapaev from the film of the same name - actor Boris Babochkin. From 1932 to 1992, the BDT bore the name of its founder, Maxim Gorky.
In 1956, Georgy Tovstonogov was appointed chief director and artistic director of the theatre. Under him, the BDT became the author's director's theater, known throughout the world, the best drama stage in the USSR. Tatyana Doronina and Sergei Yursky, Innokenty Smoktunovsky and Zinaida Sharko, Evgeny Lebedev and Valentina Kovel, Oleg Basilashvili and Svetlana Kryuchkova, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Pavel Luspekaev, Oleg Borisov, Nikolai Trofimov, Efim Kopelyan, Kirill Lavrov and many other wonderful actors played in the performances of Tovstonogov . In those years, the theater toured a lot.
In a situation of confrontation between two political systems, the Iron Curtain regime, the BDT was a cultural link between East and West. After the death of Tovstonogov in 1989, the People's Artist of the USSR Kirill Lavrov took over the artistic direction, after him - the director Temur Chkheidze. Since 1992, the theater began to bear the name of Georgy Aleksandrovich Tovstonogov.
In 2013, director Andrey Moguchiy, one of the leaders of the theatrical avant-garde, became the artistic director of the BDT. Under the leadership of the Mighty, BDT regained recognition from the public and critics, and became one of the main theatrical newsmakers in the country.
In December 2015, the theater was awarded by the experts of the Russian Association of Theater Critics "For building a new artistic strategy for the Bolshoi Drama Theatre". The creative credo of the BDT is an open dialogue on topics relevant to modern society.
Each performance, each project of the new BDT addresses the problems of a person of his time. The productions of the Bolshoi Drama Theater involve artists of all generations of the troupe - from very young actors of the trainee group to leading stage masters, such as People's Artist of the USSR Alisa Freindlikh, People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine Valery Ivchenko, People's Artists of Russia Svetlana Kryuchkova, Irutė Vengalite, Marina Ignatova, Elena Popova, People's Artists of Russia Gennady Bogachev, Valery Degtyar, Honored Artists of Russia Anatoly Petrov, Vasily Reutov, Andrey Sharkov, Honored Artist of Russia Maria Lavrova and others. Every season, BDT performances become laureates of the main theatrical awards of the country, including the national theater award "Golden Mask".
Since 2013, in the BDT named after G.A. Tovstonogov, there is a large-scale educational program "The Age of Enlightenment". These are lectures, concerts, exhibitions, round tables devoted to topical creative issues, meetings with people who create a modern theater, as well as excursions around the museum and backstage of the theater, author's programs dedicated to the history of the BDT. An important direction of the "Era of Enlightenment" is the "BDT Pedagogical Laboratory" - directors, actors, theater critics and teachers teach teachers of secondary schools and kindergartens in St. Petersburg to introduce modern theatrical language and stage techniques into the school educational program.
In 2015, the Bolshoi Theater became the first Russian repertoire drama theater to permanently include the inclusive performance The Language of Birds, created jointly with the Center for Creativity, Education and Social Habilitation for Adults with Autism Anton Is Right Here. Along with professional actors, this performance is played by people with autism spectrum disorder.
At the Bolshoi Drama Theater named after G.A. Tovstonogov three scenes. The main stage (750 seats) and the Small Stage (120 seats) are located in a historic building at 65, Fontanka Embankment, built in 1878 by architect Ludwig Fontana, commissioned by Count Anton Apraksin.
The second stage of the BDT (300 seats) is located on the square of the Old Theater, 13, in the building of the Kamennoostrovsky Theater, the oldest surviving wooden theater in Russia, built by the architect Smaragd Shustov by order of Emperor Nicholas I in 1827. Each season, at least 5 premieres and more than 350 performances are released at these three venues.
Which was one of the first founded after the October Revolution. In different years, famous directors and actors served and serve there. The BDT is considered one of the most beautiful theaters in the world.
The history of the birth of the theater
Bolshoy Drama Theatre. Tovstonogov was opened on February 15, 1919. Due to the lack of their own building, the troupe gave performances at the Conservatory. The room was not heated, it was very cold, but every evening the halls were full.
The idea to organize a theater belongs to M. Gorky. He was supported by the commissioner of theaters and spectacles. The artist A. Benois also belongs to the founders.
The Artistic Council, which was headed by M. Gorky, decided to invite A. Lavrentiev and N. Arbatov to the positions of directors. Actor N. Monakhov was appointed as a troupe and was engaged in the selection of artists. A. Gauk and Y. Shaporin became the musical directors of the theater. The troupe was assembled from outstanding artists who were leading actors in other theaters, and among them was Yury Yuryev, a movie star.
The BDT received its own building in 1920 and to this day does not change its location.
To Tovstonogov
Since the spring of 1919, A. Blok was the chairman of the theater's artistic council. Bolshoy Drama Theatre. Tovstonogov in the first years of its existence showed performances that corresponded to the plan of its creators, who wanted to see a revolutionary program in it - the repertoire was of a heroic and social nature. Performances based on the works of F. Schiller, V. Hugo, W. Shakespeare were staged, since Soviet dramaturgy had not yet received its development. In many ways, the face of the theater was determined by its artists. The famous actress N. Lejeune, who played in the theater at that time, claimed that props were not used on the stage, things were real: the furniture was borrowed from wealthy houses. Even the costumes were authentic. In 1925, the play "The Conspiracy of the Empress" was staged. The role of Vyrubova was played by N. Lejeune, and in the performance she wore a dress that really belonged to her heroine, who existed in reality. Great importance was attached to music, B. Asafiev, Yu. Shaporin, I. Vyshnegradsky collaborated with the theater.
From 1921 to 1923, great changes took place in the theater. Those who stood at its origins: M. Gorky and M. Andreeva - left Russia. A. Blok died. Some actors returned to the theaters where they served before being invited to the BDT. The chief director A. Lavrentiev left the post in 1921, but returned two years later and held this position until 1929. The artist A. Benois left the theater. In their place came other people who brought something new, expanded the repertoire with plays by domestic and foreign playwrights of that era.
From 1929 to 1935, K. Tverskoy, a student of V. Meyerhold, was the main director. Since then, the number of new productions based on the classics has declined. And for the entire period of leadership of K. Tversky, two new classical plays were staged. Preference was given to the works of contemporary authors: Yu. Olesha, N. Pogodin, A. Faiko, L. Slavin.
In 1932, the theater was named after one of its founders, it became known as "the name of Gorky". Then the repertoire included some of the writer's works.
Theater in 1935-1955
There was a time when the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov experienced a creative crisis. This period lasted 20 years - from 1935 to 1955. This time can be called a crisis of directing, as talented directors appeared and announced themselves with interesting productions, but did not stay long and left the theater (not always of their own free will). K. Tverskoy was expelled from the city in 1935, and was soon shot. A. Dikiy served in the theater for only a year, then he was arrested. All the directors who came after him stayed on average for 1-2 years. Due to the frequent change of leaders, the atmosphere in the team deteriorated, the quality of the productions decreased, the BDT lost popularity, there were sometimes fewer spectators than the actors on stage, the financial situation worsened, and there was a threat of closure.
In the era of Tovstonogov
In 1956, G. Tovstonogov was invited to the post of chief director of the BDT, who was given great powers. He began his service in the position by firing many actors. The new leader tried to attract the audience, for this reason comedies appeared in the repertoire. Already at the beginning of 1957, the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov returned to its former popularity, and performances began to take place with full houses. After 6 years of work, G. Tovstonogov won the fame of a talented and successful director. The theater went on tour in many countries of the world and gained popularity abroad. Georgy Alexandrovich served as the chief director of the BDT for three decades.
Late 20th - early 21st century
After G. Tovstonogov died, he was replaced by K. Lavrov, who was not a director, and therefore the theater was in constant search for directors. Lavrov gathered a staff that worked on a permanent basis. However, he often invited directors from other theaters to cooperate. In 1992, the BDT received its modern name. In 2004, he found the chief director, T. Chkheidze, who held this position until 2013.
Theater today
In March 2013, A. Moguchy became the artistic director of the BDT. From 2011 to 2014, the Fontanka Theater building was closed for restoration. On September 26, the renovated Bolshoi Drama Theater named after A.I. Tovstonogov. The photo below is an image of the BDT auditorium.
The theater has three venues: there are two halls in the building on the Fontanka Embankment, and one in the Kamennoostrovsky Theatre.
Famous actors of the theater and its repertoire
Over the years, such actors as T. Doronina, P. Luspekaev, O. Basilashvili, I. Smoktunovsky, A. Freindlikh, N. Usatova and others, glorified and continue to glorify the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov.
His repertoire is very wide and includes classical and contemporary plays.
How to get there
In the very center of the city, on the Fontanka Embankment, in house number 65, there is the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Tovstonogov. The address of its second stage is the Krestovsky Ostrov metro station, Old Theater Square, building 13.
