Uncle's dream. Vakhtangov Theater

In relationships between people, tenderness and lies are worth a thousand truths.

Graham Green

I love this state: living another life. Because you are thinking about yourself. In the bustle of the metropolis, no one will stop you, will not say: “I absolutely do not understand why I lived this life ...” And we need to say this now - to us, young people, so that this does not happen to us later.

I love when in front of me is a talented person whom God has kissed on the top of his head. Because you understand the immensity of God's love for all things.

I love it when the hall holds its loved ones, its unique ones, under the spotlights with a long standing ovation. And the hall subsides, and the great artist in silence takes another step towards his viewer: "Thank you ... We can now for you - all over again."

I love it when the audience does not rush to the wardrobe, does not turn their backs on the stage while the curtain is open, pulling out bags and running away as if the last train in the world is about to fail, and they will definitely not make it on time for the coveted flight. No, the audience applauds standing, knowing the price and time, and talent, and tonight. And the actors also stand on stage for a long time.

I love all this very much.

Because these are the Vakhtangovites.

The special spirit and special world of the Vakhtangov Theatre. In another theater it may or may not be. But this is always there.

Actor talent. They say the ability to play is like living. They say the ability to go in a way that no one else has gone through. They say it's a new look at a hackneyed topic. Or talent is the perfection of a craft: to play a tragedy in front of dry eyes, when the audience sheds bitter tears. Do you know what talent is? What is fire? What is snow?

I saw in the theater how an elderly respectable man wiped away his tears from the tragedy of Cyrano-Domogarov, but they did not obey and rolled endlessly down his cheeks. Or how a young girl, twisting her fingers, looked at Danny Oleg Menshikov with huge eyes-stars. I don't know what talent is. But I am sure of one thing: the measure of an actor's talent is the face and soul of the viewer. Konstantin Raikin is a thousand times right when he says that the theater makes even the worst person, even for a couple of hours, kinder and cleaner. Because any person, if he is not a complete bastard, for these couple of hours sympathizes with good and hates evil. And even if - even if - it only gets better for a couple of hours. “And then later, then ... God will reduce the light under the frying pan a little.”

I watched Uncle's Dream, a comedy by the unsurpassed Fyodor Mikhailovich, at the Vakhtangov Theatre. And everything is so clear and understandable: the ridiculously stupid old prince, the greedy mother, the honest pure-hearted Zina with her unhappy love, a pack of shrill aunts of various stripes, stupid and cruel, a village husband who was pulled out for one day in the city to complete the picture - fool-fool - a kind of society of the nineteenth century. The plot is not worth the pen of our great classic. So, take a little walk. Everything is funny, everything is funny. Really funny. Ridiculous. Bad ones. We are not like that. Not about us.

How bright she is, Maria Aronova ... Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva, "the first lady in Mordasovo." What a hot charm! Vortex. Don't look away.

God, she's like my mom! Also loves, also suffers, more than me, come what may. Says the same words to me. And the look is always sweet, loving the same. “We argue with you ... but who is closer ...” These are the mothers. Here we are - such prickly, dissatisfied. We always have tragedies on a global scale, everything is always on the very edge, the limit of suffering, inner honesty, oh, I almost forgot - the truth! “This is honest, mama, noble, but this is baseness and meanness! ..” And mama looks like that, yes! with such huge eyes - and everything about this pain, and the truth, and the dream knows ... Oh, how difficult it is for them to get through to us. We negotiate, fight again, and cry again. Moms are exactly like her. Her character here may be different, and the dream is unique, extinguished from her youth, but suddenly! - distant Spain, castanets, seigneurs will flare up with thin piercing colors and calling flamenco. The whole gift of imagination - Spain! And another inescapable symbol of the enemy is the accursed Shakespeare, who sticks his nose into what he does not understand and poisons the life of her beloved Zina. To throw out all Shakespeare's nonsense from the daughter's head, it would become easier - for everyone ... With crow feathers in a high hairstyle, stormy, bright, lush, cheerful. What a beauty Maria Alexandrovna! Funny, noisy. With the warmth of mother's eyes.

He says: “I don’t need anything myself!” Why, indeed, it is not necessary - she, such. Dostoevsky did not write about the greed of a mother.

The hall almost rises to the exit of Vladimir Etush. So what is talent? This is the soul of the viewer. From the enthusiastic peals of laughter over the ridiculous old eccentric, stupid, stupid, confused prince in the world, whether it was in a dream ... “it was in reality, but I dreamed all this ...”. From stormy joy, the viewer quietly falls silent, because like this to kiss his hand: “I would become your friend and nurse ...”, surround him with simple, human, grateful love. So touch his shoulder with a hot forehead. And there is no line here - these are the heroes or the actors themselves, there is one whole world story of loneliness, tenderness and such a possible human - if not always happiness, then peace and harmony.

Ticket price:

Parterre row 1-6: 5500-4500 rubles.
Parterre row 12-18: 2000-2700 rubles.
Parterre row 7-11: 4500-3500 rubles.
Amphitheater, dress circle: 1500-2000 rubles.

Reservation and delivery of the ticket are included in its price.
The availability of tickets and their exact cost can be clarified by phone numbers from the website.

The production of "Uncle's Dream" has been going on with a full house at the Vakhtangov Theater for several years now. Director Vladimir Ivanov, with his work on the play, once again confirmed that the classics are always relevant.

The play "Uncle's Dream" was first published in 1859. Comedy, comedy, images of the main characters, the sharpness of their replicas - the work has all the necessary set of characteristics for staging on the theatrical stage. "Uncle's Dream" is inscribed in the repertoire of most leading theaters.

The plot of the play tells about the daily life of Maria Moskaleva. Through the image of this woman, the viewer perceives the traditions and life of all the inhabitants of the provincial town of Mordasov. Here, intrigues, gossip and vulgar antics are perceived as heroism, they replace the true values ​​of life. The influence of such an environment is detrimental to people. Human values ​​are overshadowed by a passion for luxury, wealth.

Much in the image of Moskaleva, who can “execute or pardon”, order or convince, is close to her contemporaries and their outlook on life. The production on the stage of the Vakhtangov Theater is a new reading of the classics, revealing to the audience the still unknown Dostoevsky. Bright make-up, a magnificent play of the cast captivate the audience from the very first minutes of the performance.

The duration of the performance is 3 hours 25 minutes.

Actors and performers:

Prince K.
yet God knows what kind of old man, but meanwhile, looking at him, the thought involuntarily comes that he is dilapidated, or, rather, worn out -
Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva
of course, the first lady in Mordasov
Afanasy Matveevich
husband of Marya Alexandrovna, in critical cases, somehow gets lost and looks like a ram who has seen a new gate
Zinaida Afanasievna
the only daughter of Marya Alexandrovna and Afanasy Matveevich, no doubt a beauty, excellently brought up, but she is twenty-three years old, and she is still not married -
Pavel Alexandrovich Mozglyakov
young, not bad-looking, dandy, one and a half hundred unmortgaged souls, Petersburg. Not all houses are in my head - Oleg Makarov
Nastasya Petrovna Zyablova
a widow living in Marya Alexandrovna's house as a distant relative. She would really like to get married again -,
Sofia Petrovna Farpukhina
certainly the most eccentric lady in Mordasov. Obsessed with the fact that she is a colonel -,
Anna Nikolaevna Antipova
prosecutor. The sworn enemy of Marya Alexandrovna, although in appearance her sincere friend and follower is Marina Esipenko,
Natalya Dmitrievna Paskudina
nicknamed "the tub". For three weeks now, she has been Anna Nikolaevna's most sincere friend,
Ceremonial choir of Mordasov ladies
Felisata Mikhailovna
big laughter, rather cunning, of course - gossip, Natalya Moleva
Luiza Karlovna
German by birth, but Russian by mind and heart -

The anecdote, developed by Dostoevsky into a picture of provincial customs, has a subtitle in the performance - "The complete and wonderful story of the rise, glory and solemn fall of Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva and her entire house in Mordasovo."

The production became a benefit performance for Vladimir Etush (Prince K) and Maria Aronova (Moskalev).

From the numerous characteristics given by Dostoevsky, director V. Ivanov chooses for Prince K. such: "a mummy dressed as a young man."

Moskaleva unfolds the battle for the heart (and capital) of Prince K., not hesitating to sacrifice the youth of her daughter Zina, who is unbearably disgusted by this intrigue.

Mozglyakov, who is in love with Zina, only aggravates her suffering due to his stupidity.

Actors and performers:

Prince K.
not yet God knows what kind of old man, but meanwhile, looking at him, the thought involuntarily comes that he is dilapidated or, rather, worn out - Vladimir Etush

Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva
of course, the first lady in Mordasov is Maria Aronova

Afanasy Matveevich
husband of Marya Alexandrovna, in critical cases, somehow gets lost and looks like a ram who saw a new gate - Andrey Zaretsky

Zinaida Afanasievna
the only daughter of Marya Alexandrovna and Afanasy Matveyevich, undoubtedly a beauty, excellently brought up, but she is twenty-three years old, and she is still not married - Anna Dubrovskaya

Pavel Alexandrovich Mozglyakov
young, not bad-looking, dandy, one and a half hundred unmortgaged souls, Petersburg. Not all houses are in my head - Oleg Makarov

Nastasya Petrovna Zyablova
a widow living in Marya Alexandrovna's house as a distant relative. She would really like to get married again - Elena Ivochkina, Lidia Konstantinova

Sofia Petrovna Farpukhina
certainly the most eccentric lady in Mordasov. Obsessed with Being a Colonel - Elena Sotnikova, Olga Tumaikina

Anna Nikolaevna Antipova
prosecutor. The sworn enemy of Marya Alexandrovna, although in appearance her sincere friend and follower is Nonna Grishaeva

Natalya Dmitrievna Paskudina
nicknamed "the tub". For three weeks now, she has been Anna Nikolaevna's most sincere friend - Irina Dymchenko

Ceremonial choir of Mordasov ladies

Felisata Mikhailovna
big laughter, rather cunning, of course - gossip - Vera Novikova, Natalya Moleva

Luiza Karlovna
German by origin, but Russian by mind and heart - Irina Kalistratova

Praskovya Ilyinichna
has an offended physiognomy, wipes watery eyes and blows his nose - Inna Alabina

Katerina Petrovna
has luxurious forms that resemble the best times of mankind - Elena Melnikova

Akulina Panfilovna
a strange girl, almost completely crazy - Yulia Yanovskaya

Sonya
daughter of Natalya Dmitrievna Paskudina, fifteen years old, and still in a short dress, only to the knees - Anastasia Vedenskaya

Masha
an orphan, also in a short dress, only above the knees - Ekaterina Shchankina, Larisa Baranova

Pakhomych
old valet and favorite of the prince - Anatoly Menshchikov

Grishka
devoted servant of Afanasy Matveyevich - Pavel Safonov, Evgeny Kosyrev

Musicians
Iya Mustafina, Ekaterina Nezhnova, Olga Zhevlakova, Natalia Morozova, Evgeny Poltorakov
Stage director Vladimir Ivanov
Scenography and costumes Yuri Galperin
Lighting designer Vladimir Amelin
Make-up artists Olga Kalyavina, Ivan Sokolov
Choreography Tatiana Borisova
Musical arrangement Tatiana Agayeva

This performance has been on the Vakhtangov stage for more than fifteen years. He appeared in the theater's repertoire even before Rimas Tuminas came to the post of artistic director. Then the famous team was going through a not the best period in its history, and "Uncle's Dream", staged for the popular favorite Vladimir Etush, and even with Maria Aronova in addition, again provided the Vakhtangov crowd with full halls.

There is not a single play in the legacy of Fyodor Dostoevsky, but dramatizations based on his prose works are always in demand by the theater. "Uncle's Dream" is usually staged as a benefit performance - venerable actors like to celebrate anniversaries with the role of Prince K. In the Vakhtangov Theater, Vladimir Etush plays the Prince - a wonderful, intelligent character actor, whose fame, of course, is backed up by film roles. He is not afraid to appear before the public as an old man, his Prince is really weak and in terms of plasticity resembles a puppet with poorly lubricated hinges. But at the same time, the chivalrous spirit is alive in the hero Etush, he is able to sincerely admire a woman.

In the case of this "Uncle's Dream", not only the role of Prince K. became beneficial, but also the party of Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva, a provincial trendsetter. The decisive lady was played by Maria Aronova - she played brightly, tasty, sweepingly. “The role once played by two of the greatest Soviet actresses, Faina Ranevskaya and Maria Babanova, obviously received a worthy chapter in her stage history in the person of Aronova,” critic Roman Dolzhansky wrote in a review.

The heroine Aronova decided to get the old rich Prince K as her husband to her daughter Zina. She persuades the girl to marry the old man, to wait out how long he will be released so that he does not need anything for the rest of his life. Moskaleva creates all the conditions for the elderly guest to get carried away by the young Zinochka, and he, not without the “help” of relaxing drinks, makes an offer. True, the next day he can no longer remember it ... And his nephew (at least he calls himself that) Mozglyakov, who himself wants to marry Zinochka, convinces the Prince that he saw the moment of the proposal in a dream. Zina confesses to the Prince: indeed, she tried to charm him - at the instigation of her mother. The prince is touched by her honesty, but the experience is too strong for him - he dies in his hotel room. The hopes of the ambitious Marya Alexandrovna collapsed...

Already the first reviewers noted the extraordinary attention of the director to the extras, which is here called "the solemn choir of Mordas ladies." It is the members of this "choir" who create the recognizable and comical atmosphere of a provincial society. The everyday life of these ladies is boring and monotonous, the more flowery their fantasies about a distant bright life, full of beauty and romance... The authors of the play even visualized some "strokes" of their dreams - with unobtrusive humor and sympathy for the simple-hearted provincial fashionistas. Artist Yuri Galperin created an original functional construction on the stage, which allows you to transfer the action from the rooms to the street and back.