On Wednesday evening, November 8, a meeting ended at the STD, at which Alexander Kalyagin, artistic directors and directors of the capital's theaters (including Alexei Borodin, Oleg Tabakov, Mark Zakharov, Kama Ginkas, Maria Revyakina, Evgeny Pisarev) called for a revision of the laws governing creative processes. In the near future, a working group will be created in the STD, and the results of its work will be presented at the next meeting of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation.

The reason for such serious actions was, according to Kalyagin, "the campaign to discredit the cultural sphere, carefully thought out, and which is being carried out in several directions." He detailed his position in a separate speech. The Theatrical quotes this speech in full:

– I think there is no need to explain why it became necessary to get together today and hold an emergency extended meeting of the Union Secretariat.

We are indeed in an emergency situation that worries all of us, but, nevertheless, I want to urge everyone not to turn our meeting into a political rally.

Quite a lot of high-profile statements have already been made in the press, and we must try to avoid hysterical attacks, we will not be likened to some media.

Less emotions, let's focus on a constructive and serious conversation.

On the other hand, we need to find the most correct and balanced ways to declare our position to society.

Which, in my opinion, is obvious. A campaign to discredit the cultural sphere has been launched, carefully thought out, and which is being carried out on several fronts. And this is not only the Serebrennikov Case, which we have all been following for several months now. You know all the vicissitudes of this case and all the defendants - we tried to defend each of them, acted with personal guarantees, but to no avail. Sofya Apfelbaum, the former head of the Department for the Support of Art and Folk Art, has now been charged. And this arrest qualitatively changed the situation. Why? I think that when the legitimacy of the actions of an official acting on behalf and on behalf of the Government is called into question, then private history takes on a different scale and requires systemic and political generalizations. And our task is to conduct a serious analysis of the legislation governing the support of art and the control oversight of this very support. Where are the contradictions? Where is the inconsistency happening? Why is there always a risk of going beyond the law?

But I repeat, the case of the "Seventh Studio" is only one part of the exposing campaign of theater workers. In parallel with high-profile reports and the courtroom, many articles with screaming headlines, a study by Transparency International on conflicts of interest in theaters appears in the information field. And again, theater managers are represented by scammers who sign their own fees, and who are ready by any means to snatch a "big piece" for themselves. And before that, the incomes of the heads of Moscow theaters were analyzed cunningly, with caustic comments, in order to demonstrate how well the theatrical figures live, unlike everyone else. Who is this campaign for? For the people? For political elites? And why now on the eve of the elections in the country? Do they want to throw us out of the public life of the country? Someone is diligently trying to isolate cultural figures and deprive the President of their support. It is also known that the “Platform Case” was thrown into the public space and is unfolding immediately before the elections, although it was started back in 2015. Naturally, the current situation cannot but cause STD concern.

And the second thing that scares me personally is no less. This is a frank, public demonstration of disrespect for the individual, a demonstration of strength, a derogatory attitude towards a person. Not for a criminal! Sofya Apfelbaum is not yet a criminal, her guilt has not been proven, and a young woman with children is sitting in a cage. It's impossible to look at it. She did not commit a terrible crime, did not kill anyone, and it has not even been proven that there were financial violations in her activities. Her reputation has been damaged, what a reputation, her life has been dealt such a blow from which it will be difficult to recover. Who will be responsible for this?

I'm not talking about the fact that the opinion of well-known cultural figures, their guarantees are simply not heard, I have the feeling that they were thrown into the trash, like unnecessary papers. But if these authorities and their guarantees are so insignificant, then how can these same people act effectively and be perceived by citizens as confidants of the President?

We understand that the current legislative norms are of little use for regulating creative processes, and we need to come up with a proposal to the President on revising the existing regulatory mechanisms, as well as with a proposal to start preparing a new law “On Culture” and involving representatives of the theater community in its preparation.

My proposal is to create a special working group of the STD or an expert-analytical center of the STD, which would deal with all these issues, and this proposal should be made at the next meeting of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation.

Alexander Kalyagin so brilliantly played the unemployed Babs Baberley in the Soviet eccentric comedy, who reincarnated as the millionaire Donna Rosa d'Alvadorets, that one might think that the artist himself, by analogy with Charlie's aunt, the widow of Don Pedro, was also born in Brazil, where "in the forests lots and lots of wild monkeys." However, real life is far from the screen, and therefore the birthplace of the future master of cinema and theater was not Rio de Janeiro, but the town of Malmyzh, located in the Kirov region at the confluence of two rivers: Zasora and Moksha, flowing into the Shoshma River, which in its the queue flows into Vyatka.

Role in the TV movie "Hello, I'm your aunt!" brought Alexander Kalyagin crazy popularity. For the first time in Soviet cinema, a male actor played a female role, and the title one, after which he instantly became a national idol. But in this extravagant image, he could have been captured at all, and one of the then already famous artists, such as: Vladimir Etush, Evgeny Leonov or Oleg Tabakov ... However, director Viktor Titov relied on an actor little known to the general public. And this choice turned out to be unmistakable. “My aunt Charlie was born from the memories of the women who raised me - mothers, women, she included the features of girls and women with whom I was in love or just glimpsed ... Memory betrayed a pose, gesture, manner of holding a fan, shooting eyes, flirt, raise a leg, clap cilia ... ”, Kalyagin recalled in an interview.

Kalyagin's parents, contrary to popular belief, were not actors, they were teachers. Father, Alexander Georgievich Kalyagin - was the dean of the Faculty of History of the Pedagogical College; mother, Yulia Mironovna Zaideman, taught French, but in addition to this foreign language, she spoke four more. She gave birth to a son at the age of 40. A year after the birth of Sasha, his father died, and his mother moved with her son to Moscow to live with her relatives.
Kalyagin said: “I was brought up mainly by women: mother, aunts ...” Thus, he grew up in a real “woman’s kingdom”, surrounded by numerous mother aunts who raised him in love, tenderness, indulged all whims and wanted to raise a share - a boy playing the violin. However, the hopes of seeing Sasha as a good violinist were not destined to come true - the boy broke the instrument and threw the wreckage behind the cabinet.

Alexander Kalyagin is three years old. Photo: kalyagin.ru

He dreamed of becoming an artist since childhood. Mother encouraged this desire, as well as any desires of her son. So that Sasha could fully perform in front of the audience in a communal apartment in Maly Kharitonevsky Lane, Yulia Mironovna gave her son a mini-theater - she ordered a wooden stage with backstage from the carpenter and sewed a curtain. So from the age of five, the boy began to prepare himself for creative accomplishments. “I ran up to the dressing table and sculpted various images with might and main,” Kalyagin recalled.

Alexander Kalyagin is a seventh grade student. Photo: kalyagin.ru

Alexander had two idols - Charlie Chaplin and Arkady Raikin, and he tried to imitate them. Since contact with Sir Charlie was impossible by definition, the 13-year-old boy decided to send a letter to the unsurpassed Soviet artist. In which he told Arkady Isaakovich about his cherished desire to become an actor and absolute unwillingness to study at school, which was confirmed by a huge number of grammatical errors that filled this message. Surprisingly, the answer from the master of Estrada was received. It spoke about the importance of work for a person. “Sasha, I believe in work. What is labor? Work is the basis of everything for me ... "Many years later, in 1978, on the TV program" Theater Meetings "Alexander read this letter to his idol, which touched him very much.

The schoolboy Kalyagin did not like the study so much that after the 8th grade he firmly decided to leave the secondary school. And he entered the Moscow Medical School, which he successfully graduated as an obstetrician. After that, he worked as a paramedic on an ambulance for two years. But since the dream of acting young Kalyagin did not leave, he went to a theater university for a second education, and, to his own surprise, on the first attempt he was accepted into the "Pike" - the Shchukin Theater School.

From where, from the second year, he was almost expelled for incompetence. Teachers could not determine the role for a plump student. “I was already half bald, short, dense. And around me - a handsome man on a handsome man. Of course, there were complexes, I was shy ... ”, the future famous artist later said. Chekhov became his salvation, or rather, the staging for the evening of independent works of one of the writer’s early stories “Although the meeting took place, but ...”, written under the pseudonym Antosh Chekhonte. Freshman Lyuba Koreneva agreed to play along with him. This production was recognized by the rector Boris Zakhava as the best on the course. And the student Alexander Kalyagin has a status - a star. Moreover, for many decades to come - it is no coincidence that Anatoly Efros called him a "reference" actor.

Moscow art theatre. "Tartuffe" Alexander Kalyagin with Yuri Bogatyrev, 1981. Photo: kalyagin.ru

Kalyagin's acting career began at the Taganka Theater. However, the independent nature of the young artist entered the perpendicular with the sharp temper of the artistic director of the theater Yuri Lyubimov. Once there was a serious creative conflict between them, and Kalyagin was forced to leave the troupe. And start working in a new team - the Yermolova Theater, from where Oleg Efremov later dragged Alexander, first to Sovremennik, and then to the Moscow Art Theater, which became Kalyagin's home for more than a quarter of a century. In this theater, he played his best roles in such performances as: "The Seagull", "We, the Undersigned", "The Living Corpse", "Old New Year", "Tartuffe ..."

Moscow art theatre. "The Seagull" Alexander Kalyagin with Anastasia Vertinskaya, 1980. Photo: kalyagin.ru

The first time Alexander married while studying at the institute - a beautiful student Tatyana Korunova. Arriving from Sverdlovsk, the girl has already managed to study for two years at the University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Kalyagin was smitten on the spot with his first passionate love, which, fortunately, turned out to be mutual. However, the young people did not advertise their relationship, they “romance” in secret from everyone and even got married secretly in their second year. They just went to the registry office and signed ... Both served at the Taganka Theater, but after Alexander left the troupe, his wife also wrote a letter of resignation ...

Alexander Kalyagin with his first wife Tatyana Korunova and daughter Xenia. Photo: kalyagin.ru

Tatyana died very early from cancer. Their daughter Ksyusha and Alexander were four years old at that time.

After the death of his wife, his mother began to help raise the girl Kalyagin, but a year later the same incurable illness interrupted her life. And then, with all the household chores associated with raising a daughter, a single father coped on his own: he cooked, washed, cleaned, took the child to kindergarten, then school, picked him up from there, helped in preparing lessons ... There was no thought to bring a new wife into the house, he did not want to injure the psyche of a daughter who adored her mother.

But the meeting in 1976 on the set of Nikita Mikhalkov's film "An Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano" with the sweet and good-natured Zhenya Glushenko (later she starred in the films "First Married", "In Love of His Own Wish", "A Few Days in the Life of Oblomov"), changed the situation radically. “I thought: such a woman could become a loving wife to me and a good mother to Ksyusha,” Kalyagin once said about his “Zheniura”. True, he decided to invite the girl he liked on a date only a year later - he suggested that the young actress go to the theater together.

A few months later, the daughter of Alexander Alexandrovich offered "Aunt Zhenya" to move to live with her and dad. There were no objections from adults, and thus in 1978 the Kalyagin-Glushenko married couple was formed. And two years later, the number of family members increased - Evgenia Konstantinovna gave birth to a son, Denis ...

The artists lived together for almost three decades, but on the eve of the pearl wedding, their union broke up. It was rumored that the reason was the numerous rumors about the master's adultery ...

Alexander Kalyagin with his wife Evgeny Glushenko and Children - Ksenia and Denis

When Kalyagin's daughter (her father calls her Ksanyulka) graduated from school with an in-depth study of the French language, she asked her father if she should enter a theater university. Hearing the intonation of doubt in the question, he was indignant: “Only over my corpse! The theater needs to rave! .. "

Currently, Ksenia lives in America, works as a programmer. “She has already become a real American,” says Kalyagin. Now her son is 16 years old, and when the boy was seven, grandfather once said about his grandson: “His name is Matthew, Matvey. I think he is a genius. He gives out such amazing things ... He will go far, unless he loses his gift ... "

Alexander Kalyagin and grandson Matvey. Photo: kalyagin.ru

And the son of Alexander Alexandrovich Denis graduated from a prestigious private school in Philadelphia. “Our guy was too homely, he lived on everything ready, without any worries. It was necessary to urgently tear him away from us ... - Kalyagin explained his and his wife's decision to send the heir to study in the USA. - I think they did the right thing: we get continuous sheets of praise and diplomas ... He, unlike his daughter, is a pronounced humanist, an artistic nature. Maybe he will become a writer... Upon returning to Russia, Denis chose the profession of a journalist.

Anniversary Conversation

Alexander Kalyagin: “I often break the rules. I am not always present where necessary, I do not always say what is expected.

- Alexander Alexandrovich, the anniversary season, what is it for you: a beautiful phrase, a reason for a holiday or some kind of milestone?

– Every theater has its own birthday. Usually the history of the theater is from the first performance played in public. Exactly twenty years ago we showed the audience the play "Uncle Vanya", the life of our theater began with Chekhov. And no matter how ironic the numbers are, this is a round date, and the 20th season is really an anniversary, regardless of whether such a phrase sounds beautiful or not.

But the milestones of the theater are determined by performances. And they don't have to be successful at all. It happens that you can’t get tickets, and the performance remains in the repertoire for a long time, and you clearly understand that it does not determine the further development of the theater.

"Milestones of the theater determine performances"

We already played something on Novy Arbat, but the beginning of a new stage was the production of The Swarthy Lady of the Sonnets by Bernard Shaw, which determined the life of the theater already in its theater house. Then there were performances of Don Quixote and King Ubyu, which also became milestones for the theatre. A little later Shylock. After each of these performances, the theater makes a leap forward, new scales arise, a different artistic thinking.

- With the production of a play with an extraordinary title “Wow place for feeding dogs”, you started the anniversary season. Do you consider this performance a milestone for the theatre?

– I consider every performance by Robert Sturua to be very important for the theatre, none of them has become, as theater people say, a passing show. Sturua is a great director. We have just been on tour in Georgia, where we showed two performances: "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare and "Wow Dog Feeding Place" by Tariq Nui. Both performances were, I'm not afraid of the word, triumphant. Probably, Sturua's return to his homeland, to his theater, from which he was expelled, could not be different. But even considering this circumstance, no one expected such a reception from the audience, among whom not all of them can be called Sturua's friends. And the performance “Wow, a place for feeding dogs” was especially successful. They said it was the new Sturua.

Robert took a play, as you say, with an extraordinary title, by an unknown French author. We opened the name of Tarik Nui not only to Russia, but also to the world, before that his plays were not shown in theaters. It has air, it has a space that can be filled with its own content. Usually Sturua's performances are densely populated, and here there are only three people. But this action, played out by only three heroes in the "place for feeding dogs", acquires the features of a universal catastrophe, although the audience laughs. In this performance, as always with Sturua, filled with philosophical reflections on the world, nevertheless, there is a lot of humor and irony. And this is also the property of the director Sturua - all his performances are filled with theatrical irony.

The performance "Wow place for feeding dogs" was made by Sturua in the status of the main director of the theater. In total, there are four of his performances in our repertoire, with Shylock running for 12 years, Krapp's Last Recording for 10 years, and The Tempest for only two years.

- You have been working in the luxurious theater on Turgenevskaya Square for only 8 years, and before that you huddled in a tiny room. What gives and what takes up a lot of space?

- It's not that we "huddled", in fact, the room was not so tiny. The problem was that it wasn't theatrical. Now we have received our own theater, which was built in accordance with my ideal ideas about the theater. Our stage has absolutely ideal dimensions, that is, it is made according to classical parameters.

I jokingly call myself a co-author of those famous and wonderful architects who created the theater project. But the fact that I wanted to participate in everything, pestering everyone with my fantasies, my demands, is the absolute truth. The builders probably hated me then, I spent a lot of time at the construction site, interfered with everyone. I wanted our theater not to be standard, faceless, similar to hundreds of others located in different cities of the world. Everyone knows that “the theater begins with a hanger”, and I would say that it begins even on the outskirts of the theater building, which should delight before you enter it. And when you crossed the threshold of the theater, you should immediately find yourself in the world of theatrical play, which can be traced in everything. Our theater is conceived as a game for adults. Each box has a name: there is Shakespeare's, there are simple wooden benches. It is for connoisseurs of the theater, for those who are so absorbed in the performance that they do not care what to sit on. There is a Falstaff box, and for the most naive spectators there is a Mitrofanushka box. The box of Tartuffe, as I say with a laugh, must be given to theater critics. The central box is called Godot. For the most distinguished guests. You can't wait for their visit. And if they suddenly do us the honor, we tried not to think that they were in charge here - and shifted the box a little from the center. And in our theater there are different chairs, everyone chooses a comfortable one for themselves. This whole game was started by me, and I am happy when I hear from the audience that we have a very beautiful theater.

But I must say that I was immensely happy even when the theater received premises on Novy Arbat. Before that, they wandered for three years, but I don’t even want to talk about their ordeals. I walked kilometers of carpet paths in different departments, wrote a ton of paper, humiliated myself, asked, and eventually begged. For us then to move into the former conference hall of some ministry on Novy Arbat was a huge success. In a high-rise building, we occupied the second floor, we did not have a separate entrance, spectators and theater employees entered the same door. There were no normal dressing rooms, storage rooms, etc. But this is not the main thing. The most difficult thing was that the stage of the conference room was not adapted for theatrical performances. Of course, everything that was possible to change, we have changed. But every time a new director appeared in the theater, he was horrified - the stage had no depth, it was very difficult to build the stage space here. The artists who had to come up with the design of the performance felt even worse. Nevertheless, truly great masters worked for us: David Borovsky, Eduard Kochergin, Georgy Aleksi-Meskhishvili, Emil Kapelyush. Robert Sturua, Dmitry Bertman, Grigory Dityatkovsky, Alexander Morfov, Oscaras Korshunovas have already staged on Novy Arbat...

- Why are there so many different directors, what is it: a search, a principled position to give the floor to different masters?

“The director should be not just, relatively speaking, a high professional, but also his own”

- I am convinced that each new artistic "inoculation" is useful for the theater, the troupe, it invigorates, activates the vital activity of the theatrical organism. Although it must be understood that not every "infusion of new blood" can be useful - if there is no coincidence of artistic principles, then rejection occurs. After all, over the years the theater has formed its own direction, its own style, and therefore the director must be not only, relatively speaking, a high professional, but also his own. Finding directors is a difficult process, just like finding plays. And these two processes are interconnected, I call it: it is right to “marry” the director to the play, and the actors must also be involved in this love story.

- Do you yourself like to act as a director or is it a necessity, or better - to act?

- When I just started building my theater, I spoke unambiguously: "I do not have the ambitions of the main director." And indeed during this time I myself staged not so many performances. I had productions based on Chekhov, Molière, three contemporary plays. Now I am again taking on a modern author, we have already begun working on a play. I have spoken about this more than once - the theater cannot exist without a modern play. And that's why I try to make sure that not only the classics are present in the repertoire. Although it is on the classics that artists are brought up.

- There is a common opinion that in Russia there are too many actors who then simply have nowhere to go. Do you agree?

– There really is a place to go - so many provincial theaters need artists. But no one wants to leave Moscow or St. Petersburg! Everyone wants to work in the capitals, and it is clear why - there are more opportunities here, including filming. Now there is a huge stream of series, new faces are needed all the time. And if you get into one series, another will follow, and this is money, you will be recognized on the streets, and you think that you have already become an artist. But, unfortunately, in the series, as a rule, they use the once found type, and the artists, in fact, replicate the same clichés, so, alas, they do not grow professionally. And I am convinced of this every time when, after exhausting filming, our artists return to the theater, devastated and tired.

– What is happening in the regions, how do theaters survive there? There is an interesting example of children's puppet theaters: the main educational institutions and festivals are held in the regions, and not in the capitals. What about other specialties?

– In the regions, theaters generally have a difficult life, although if the governor loves the theater, if the local authorities patronize the artists, then the theaters develop normally. Indeed, there are a lot of festivals going on now, which, to some extent, are trying to fill this gap that has arisen due to the lack of tours. Festival life in Russia today is very diverse, and almost all festivals are held under the auspices of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia. We send our specialists, theater critics there, they bring reports. These reports are analyzed, and therefore the life of provincial theaters is well known to us. Our theatrical union is in constant contact with all theatrical Russia. We know about almost all problems and try to solve them. There was not a single theatrical conflict that would have been resolved without the intervention of the STD RF.

- Alexander Alexandrovich, you have said a lot that the most important thing for you is the stage, and social activity is not at all your favorite thing. But in 1996, in your own words, out of passion, whether it worked out or not, they became the chairman of the STD. Since then, you sign open letters, join a party, become a confidant of a politician. Has something changed in you or are these the necessary rules of the game?

- I said and continue to say: I love to play more than anything in the world. I am an actor first and foremost. As a child, I dreamed of my own theater, now I have it. It is such a happiness to know that after you there will be an amazing theater that audiences will come to for many, many years.

I am sure that, despite the fact that I have been heading the union for so many years, I did not become an official. By the way, I often break the rules of the game. I am not always present where necessary, I do not always say what is expected. I try to be honest. And the fact that he became a confidant of the President of Russia is not because he has changed, but perhaps because, on the contrary, he has remained an artist who is able to catch falsehood, not even with his mind, but purely intuitively retained the ability to trust people. I believe in Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, we met several times, and each time he did what he promised. I won’t tell now, but he helps the theater community a lot, believe me.

And being the artistic director of the theater and, moreover, heading the theatrical union, I cannot but participate in political and public life. All the time I have to fight both with laws that hinder the development of theatrical art, and with the fact that art is funded on a residual basis, etc. And I myself try to enter into a dialogue with the authorities, I write letters to governors when something needs to be defended in provinces. I meet with the first persons of the state when they allow me. I think this is a normal dialogue.

- Now there are so many events that it is impossible not to ask about them, especially in connection with the events around the Theater. Gogol. What is happening with theaters in Moscow, you are being transferred to fixed-term contracts, how will the leaders live now, accustomed to practically unlimited power within the theater?

- Let me not talk about the Theater. Gogol, everything has already been discussed. He also spoke about fixed-term contracts. I think they are needed. Theater managers will only be in favor, but I don’t know that they had unlimited power. Maybe someone had, but the theater needs a dictatorship, as Tovstonogov said, a voluntary dictatorship is needed. When artists believe in their leader and are ready to unite around him and follow him. Is it bad?

- The Department of Culture says that rotation and rotation is necessary, and now this applies to management, but it should also apply to actors. What is your prediction, what will it result in?

- If rotation is for the sake of rotation, then it is not needed. Why change the head of the theater when he has an excellent troupe, a well-balanced repertoire, young directors are involved, and the theater is still working to a full house? For what? To mark in your plan - rotation done? Silly! Make room for a younger one? But one must be sure that this young one will lead the theater better. It seems to me that no one has been involved in personnel policy for many years, and therefore serious problems have arisen. And today the Moscow Department of Culture is trying to change the situation. Yes, it must be changed, but very carefully.

- What do you think, is it possible to solve the problems of theaters without fundamentally changing anything, and if changed, then what?

"I love playing more than anything"

– I am convinced that the theater, like a living organism, is itself constantly changing with the times. The theater is sensitive to all changes, changes in society. Now everyone is talking about the need to reform the theater, but everyone has their own idea of ​​how this should be done. Someone with enviable persistence continues to insist on the reduction of theaters, someone demands to close all "theaters with columns", and someone is trying to convince everyone that there should be only project theaters, and all repertory ones must be destroyed. I am sure that any irreconcilable position is always flawed.

I think we need to deal with other issues. The first and most important is the theater school. Who are we educating today? Why are there so few personalities on stage? Why is it so hard to find leading directors? In fact, if the older generation of artistic directors leaves, then I'm not sure that there will be a replacement for them all at once. How to cross the generation gap, how to restore continuity in the theater, how to return the theater to the place it has always occupied in Russia? These are the main questions we need to answer.

September 9, 2001
Live on Ekho Moskvy radio station Alexander Kalyagin, chief director of the Et Cetera theater.
The broadcast is hosted by Ksenia Larina.

K. LARINA 11.10 in Moscow. This is our theatrical hour and we will meet with Alexander Kalyagin, the chief director of the theater "Et Cetera" and talk with him over the next 40 minutes. Yes, yes, yes, you want more. (Laughter). Oh, San Sanych made round eyes, he was surprised at how much time, well, time will fly by quickly. I am glad to welcome Alexander Kalyagin, our neighbor in the stairwell, to our studio. Hello, San Sanych, we go to each other in slippers and dressing gowns, now for salt, now for matches.
A. KALYAGIN They will think God knows what!
K. LARINA (Laughs). On the first floor, work is in full swing, as usual, for some reason Alexander Kalyagin will not calm down, he is constantly remodeling the main entrance, I can’t understand what doesn’t suit him. Here and there, why are you doing this, tell me?
A. KALYAGIN A good question, it is very topical, if he hears the Moscow authorities, more topical. The fact is that, Ksenichka, we have to reconstruct and build.
K. LARINA Here?
A. KALYAGIN Yes, the construction of the theater building. And while we are forced, as they say, to be neighbors, we want to somehow more or less equip our entrance and exit, that's all, nothing more. Because all the merchants who are on Novy Arbat, on Kalinin Avenue, are running in. Everyone bakes, they go under our shed, build their huts, trade, and so on. Well, I already told them that Christ expelled them from the temple, so I wanted to be simpler, so I'm pretty cool with them, they, some of my friends have already become, some are in conflict. Well, in short, we really need to equip it so that the audience who came to our theater saw at least aesthetically pleasing
K. LARINA Theatrical, front.
A. KALYAGIN Theater entrance. I am not embarrassed by the neighborhood, I have seen such in the West, when there are several institutions in the same room, including the theater. Moreover, we have a very large theater room, 400 seats after all.
K. LARINA Nice hall, very cozy, I like to visit you there. Will you rebuild the same premises or will you build a separate building?
A. KALYAGIN No, the same room, there will be a small stage on top, and a separate entrance from the side of Arbatsky Lane.
K. LARINA Understandable.
A. KALYAGIN From this isthmus.
K. LARINA Well, now let's talk about creativity.
A. KALYAGIN Yes, let's go.
K. LARINA What are you rehearsing and when are you going to show it?
A. KALYAGIN We opened very quietly, modestly, in a working way.
K. LARINA Without attracting attention.
A. KALYAGIN Without attracting attention, because, well, in general, we are supposed to invite the press and the city authorities or the committee on culture there Everyone knows that we have opened, but the main thing is to start working, especially since we have two premieres that should be released Literally here is hope, to November month. Two premieres, this is "King Ubu", by the French author Alfred Jary, will be staged for the first time in our country. It is put by a very talented person, Alexander Morfov, who declared himself a long time ago both in Moscow and St. Petersburg
K. LARINA He's already staged at your place, hasn't he?
A. KALYAGIN Yes, he staged Don Quixote with us. And Dmitry Bertman, the next premiere will be My Fair Lady.
K. LARINA Your artists?
A. KALYAGIN With the orchestra, our artists, all sing with the orchestra of the Ministry of Defense, jazz. And so on, it's an expensive, I would say expensive production, from what we're going to see, I hope.
K. LARINA You yourself, as an actor, in what performance are you engaged?
A. KALYAGIN "King Ubyu".
K. LARINA What kind of thing? Tell me a little about her, if possible.
A. KALYAGIN You know, can I not tell you, Ksenia? I never, during filming
K. LARINA Well, I'm not asking about the performance, but about the play.
A. KALYAGIN May I not speak either? Because I explain why. This play is quite complex, it is the beginning of French symbolism. This is a play that, at one time, was staged in Paris and was spat upon, scolded, and so on and so forth. Now it's become a classic, well, it always does. Now it has become a classic and this is a harbinger, or something, of the Brechtian trend in theatrical art.
A. KALYAGIN Alexander Sanych, are you satisfied with yourself in the theater, like the actor Kalyagin?
A. KALYAGIN You know, I have no time to think. I'll tell you honestly, I have no time to think about these issues, because I have to be a director, work is work, and also the chairman of the union.
K. LARINA General Secretary, I usually say this, this is how I represent you.
A. KALYAGIN Still stop and think even at night, such thoughts are good
K. LARINA That is, the time of doubt is over, right?
A. KALYAGIN No, there are always doubts, but am I satisfied with myself or that, you know, I need to work. I don’t know what I want to prove, I don’t have to prove anything, but I want to do something else, again, mind you, I say: I want to do something. I do not want any specific promises, specific names of authors or productions. I still want to do something, as long as there are forces, as long as there are opportunities, as long as the memory holds the text, well, and so on. Well, no more. I am rather modest about these arguments. I don't care about what I do on stage.
K. LARINA Well, of course, you are in an enviable position, since you have the opportunity and the right to choose for yourself a job that is interesting to you and what is not very interesting, unlike most of your fellow workers.
A. KALYAGIN You know, well, we had such a situation in the Moscow Art Theater, when I became the leading actor, Efremov also offered me to choose. And Anatoly Vasilyevich Efros also talked to me whether I should or should not, whether I agree or disagree, but, of course, I was then all the same, how to say it, “under direction”, so, of course, I listened more. Now, oddly enough, there are a lot of offers, a lot of offers just to play, and to bet on me, and entreprises, here and there. But, in my opinion, I have passed the age when, in my youth, I played everything that is written.
K. LARINA But Shylock, did you want to play him, or was it Sturua's suggestion?
A. KALYAGIN No, it was Robert Sturua's proposal. In general, therefore, I am spoiled, so to speak, with gifts from directors, I have already said this. Therefore, I already think about something specific: I want to play
K. LARINA But Kozakov Mikhal Mikhalych was just dreaming, it was his dream to play Shylock.
A. KALYAGIN Well, but this is my fate, and this is the line of my fate, it has already been tested. What I think about comes either much later than the idea itself, and not the next day or year, or does not come at all. Therefore, everything that I did in the theater and cinema is all due to the fact that I did not think, I threw myself into the pool, went to the proposals with an open eye, with an open soul, and that's it, nothing more.
K. LARINA You know, yesterday I watched Slave of Love on NTV+. And for the umpteenth time, watching these Mikhalkov films with your participation, “The Unfinished Play“ Of course, I remember, first of all, it always seems to me that before everything was thinner, smarter, more interesting, if we talk about cinema, in this case . Why? It would seem that the mid-70s, the most disgusting time, the most sour, stagnant time. How were such things born? This level of conversation with the viewer?
A. KALYAGIN It largely depends, of course, on the personalities who suddenly united, or something illuminated them, of course. This is on the one hand, on the other hand, of course, in spite of that time, we still all implicitly understood that we cannot drown without, naturally, holding on to material wealth. Because everyone lived almost the same way, you know. An actor receives 2 rubles more, or 2 rubles less, it practically did not play a role. Now the difference is in everything: in the psychological equipment of the acting workshop, directing, playwrights, it is very striking. In general, somehow now, recently, especially after watching some performances, over the past 2 years I have had such an idea, perhaps not very pleasant for me: we began to become bourgeois in the theater and cinema. I emphasize, bourgeoisie in a bad sense. It doesn't mean the price of the ticket, or the price of the performance. I spent, there, a million dollars, or the ticket costs, there, 100 dollars. No, that's not the point, you can spend $100, you can spend a lot of money. But we accustom the viewer, and criticism also contributes to this, and we ourselves, the viewer, we accustom to a quick perception of art. Now you say it's unthinkable to release a film like "Slave of Love" because the viewer already exists at such a pace, and is so used to flashing, to everything, to everything, just flashing, that it's time to digest, time to pause, I'm not saying, there for a minute, but at least a 20-second, 10-second pause, when a person thinks, he does not have. Even on vacation, he always wants this kind of drug addiction, you know, it’s not enough all the time, all the time. We went along the “good” Western path, and lost a lot in this process, and came to what I’m saying. Now to consider the process of the performance, this can only be a theater lover.
K. LARINA Professional viewer.
A. KALYAGIN Or a critic who will consider Nyakroshus for a long time, will follow his thought for a long time, and what he wanted to say behind it. But, in principle, this is one or two people at the theater, one or two. I don't even see them in the movies.
K. LARINA Sokurov.
A. KALYAGIN Well, look how his films are doing here at the box office. This is only for the small hall, we are sitting in a small room, here we can gather 10-20 people. In principle, this is impossible, and we, unfortunately, contributed to this. And such art, not because I want to say tomorrow we will stage slowly, tediously
K. LARINA Slowly and sadly.
A. KALYAGIN No, just, unfortunately, I got into this rhythm, and, unfortunately, I am in this wheel. But I realize that this is bad and I will try my best to somehow resist it. Although... let's suppose, I hope, there will be a wonderful production by Dmitry Bertman, we have long wanted to stage "My Fair Lady", but this does not mean that this is the general path of the theater, a musical, for me, in particular, a musical or some kind of show, although I understand that the theater must master everything. I'm talking about the human mind, the mind of the audience, the viewer is already languishing, if, with a good acting, with talented directing, they try to do it, or force him, or hint so that he thinks, he already begins to languish, he cannot bear it, wants to get up, something is itching for him, and he leaves.
K. LARINA And what about those who still want to think? Abandon the theater altogether?
A. KALYAGIN To sit and watch and absorb, and not pay attention to the clatter of feet leaving the hall, to the cinema or in the theater room.
K. LARINA So, do you think that time is the main culprit of this bourgeoisization?
A. KALYAGIN No, it seems to me, we ourselves, we ourselves. Blaming time is useless. We ourselves, our unbreakable decade, when we were chasing some chimeras and ethers, imitation, and so on and so forth. We ourselves, of course, we ourselves. I am largely convinced that what we do, we do with our own hands. Because there is always the right to choose, there are always several roads, even according to the Russian folk tale, three ways, you go right, you go left, you go straight. But we choose, for some reason, to quickly enter a community that, as it were, can help us. In fact, we are losing, I'm not talking about a specific, there, Russian way, no, God forbid, I'm not preaching this, I'm talking about the loss of human consciousness, after all, our culture is the highest, and nothing can be done. The fact that I saw, for example, the premiere of Zholdak's "The Seagull", once again shows that this is possible.
K. LARINA And this is also possible.
A. KALYAGIN And this is also possible. Basically, it's impossible, it shouldn't be. Not because it should be banned, but because the people who watch, because the people who agree to it, he is a talented person, but I don't care, because it's nonsense from beginning to end. But that probably means the people who go for it, in this case, our brother, the actor who goes for it, he thinks it's possible, and that's where the danger is for me. And the viewers who come to this, they also believe that this is possible.
K. LARINA Let me remind you that our guest today is Alexander Kalyagin, actor, head of the Et Cetera theater, general secretary of the Union of Theater Workers.
A. KALYAGIN Well, what do you mean, I have a lot of enemies, by the way, listen, they can even kill you.
K. LARINA Well, what are you talking about!
A. KALYAGIN Chairman of the Union.
K. LARINA A modest chairman. You said about Zholdak's "The Seagull" that it does not give the impression of what you need. Well, tell me, let's remember the theatrical Olympics, a wonderful theatrical holiday, but what struck me there, I already talked about it. It seemed to me that there is such a tendency, in principle, in the European theater, to refuse the services of an artist as a person, that is, to fill the whole thing with all sorts of sounds, pyrotechnics, make-up, costumes, brightness, some kind of metaphors, and the actor
A. KALYAGIN Well, it’s almost done in the cinema, thanks to these computer ones, well, really, people just stuck De Niro’s face, and that’s it, and you can make a film, and this drawn, edited one will not have such crazy fees, I don’t know how to say De Niro. But, this is not the point, but the fact is that, Ksenia, on the one hand, you are right, on the other hand, of course, that is, there is such a trend, of course. But I still have a strange feeling that humanity is still returning to its needs, elementary needs. Anyway, you will eat what you need with a fork, what you need with a spoon, and this is already programmed by nature. All the same, you want to hear normal human speech, you still want the actor to breathe and speak alive, and you would definitely want to see his living eyes. Therefore, it seems to me that these fluctuations are normal, but I don’t see such a dangerous trend, I see the danger only in the fact that I, for example, like Zholdak, a talented person, I named only because when I read a review of performance by Zholdak Bartoshevich, I even applauded, because it really is. In fact, this is disgusting in relation even to Chekhov. Sleeping on it is like taking you to a museum, where Peter I was, his study, his bed. And a person breaks this chain, goes to this bed and lies down in boots, and in general does everything there that Just a minute, this is historical, we have preserved for many years for posterity to see. But apparently this is possible. I'm talking about whether to ban or not to ban is not about this conversation, I'm saying that this arises only because there are prerequisites for this, prerequisites for such bourgeoisization, quickly, such chewing gum, quickly, quickly "Dirol" in your mouth, quickly, some kind of amber formed in your mouth, sweets were sucked out, menthol was sucked out and you spit it out, and quickly another chewing gum into your mouth. It's stupid to chew it all day, it's boring. I think that we are all to blame ourselves, everyone had a hand in this, but, in the end, the theater is the theater, it's still a living art, anyway you want to see non-drawn pictures
K. LARINA A real person
A. KALYAGIN - here, an American director, but real ones.
K. LARINA In this case, how to survive in such conditions? I do not quite understand. You yourself say that we are to blame for this, you yourself are following this path, bourgeoisification, as you put it. Someone has to resist this in some way?
A. KALYAGIN No, but I'm trying. I! It's funny to say!
K. LARINA Not alone, yes.
A. KALYAGIN I do not go out to the barricade and do not say that I am trying, but I am trying to at least realize that this is a dangerous path. I'm still resisting this internally. These are observations, well, here, the Olympiad has passed, there is a festival there, the Golden Mask, I come to other festivals in different cities, I watch the performances of my colleagues in Moscow. And I see that in principle this trend exists. The odd thing is that I was in New York right now and I was watching The Seagull.
K. LARINA Again.
A. KALYAGIN Yes, The Seagull, and Meryl Streep plays Arkadina, and German Klanin plays Trigorin and Natalie Portman plays Nina Zarechnaya there was a complete impression that the director had studied the Russian productions of Chekhov's plays very well. And there are such pauses, and there is such a leisurely game, and Trigorin's leisurely monologue about his fate. And Arkadina, Meryl Streep, she plays fantastically, it seemed to me that I ended up at the Moscow Art Theater, that he studied the Seagull, which Efremov staged, well watched Nikita Mikhalkov's Mechanical Piano, in general, he studied Chekhov's material well. A crowded auditorium, free of charge, 1.5 months. The stars set a condition: free to play. I understand, it can be said cynically that they have such fees that they can afford
K. LARINA Why for free?
A. KALYAGIN A for free. For a month and a half we played in Central Park, in Manhattan, we played this Seagull. People lined up, I took a photo of this line, people lined up, it's a kilometer-long line, with couches. They came at 10 pm, the police kicked them out of Central Park, until 6 am they were forced to be near Central Park, on the sidewalks. Then they again entered Central Park, with all their luggage, with their mattresses, with their food, and in the evening of the next day and a half they stood, and in the evening of the next day, they may or may not hit. Moreover, tickets at the box office from the ticket book were torn like this: you are standing in line with me, you will not necessarily sit next to me. You may get the 20th row, the first row for me. It's not like the window, please give me the first one. The queue, free admission, and therefore tickets can get you anything. But it's gorgeous, gorgeous. There are a lot of people, I am pleased that they are watching Chekhov leisurely.
K. LARINA Even they are capable of it? Even Americans?
A. KALYAGIN Even they. Because there is, of course, the Broadway version of art, and it is also good, and also has its own audience. And there is this, how many young, how many elderly people stand for days to get to this performance, sedately, measuredly. I'm not saying, "Oh, how everything worked out!" there, in the setting itself.
K. LARINA But do they play for real?
A. KALYAGIN Yes, Meryl Streep plays great. Really everything: scenery, tables, cupboard, plates, food, a wicker chair that creaks, Goldman plays Shamraev Good!
K. LARINA Well, let's go back to Russia.
A. KALYAGIN Come on.
K. LARINA What, censorship is not needed? Some artistic councils, as it was before, somehow, to assess the level, in this case, the theater. What is possible, what is not.
A. KALYAGIN No. Censorship can be in this sense for us the word censorship, we have goosebumps. No, censorship is not needed, but some kind of legislation that, until what time can we, well, roughly speaking, undress an actor, or the desecration of some of our values, there should be legislation here, but, you know, this is a normal phenomenon. America has been following this path for a long time, and has long spat on everyone. It's the same in France. There is an art of porn, there is a great art - please, do not mix with others. If you want to go there, they have their own legislation, if you want to go to the theater, they have their own legislative norms.
K. LARINA We just have everything mixed up.
A. KALYAGIN We have everything mixed up.
K. LARINA Unfortunately, because, returning to pathetic words about the role of art in human life, I still think that it educates, educates taste.
A. KALYAGIN Of course.
K. LARINA Yes? After all, who forms it for us, really, what we see, the world around us, is a TV, this is a radio, this is a book, this is a theater or cinema. This is how it turns out
A. KALYAGIN That's right.
K. LARINA What, let you go, Alexander Sanych? I'm letting go.
A. KALYAGIN It's time.
K. LARINA I release Alexander Kalyagin. Now, I'll see what our listeners, your viewers, wrote good. Quickly answer a couple of questions. They ask your theater about new actors, did anyone come this season, new, young?
A. KALYAGIN Yes, they came from Shchepkinsky, from the studio school, they came, good actors. Anyway, we have a small troupe, 23 people.
K. LARINA “Alexander, do not despair, people who think and think have already stopped attending the shows and performances that you told us about,” Kirill writes to us. That's it.
A. KALYAGIN No, I do not despair, you have to attend the show, but to each his own.
K. LARINA Ruzanna Borodina writes to you: “Dear beloved actor, I am so glad to hear your voice, I beg you, stop doing administrative work! I saw you for the first time when you were reading Diary of a Madman in Yermolova's theater. Please, play more!
A. KALYAGIN Well, come, if you've seen it so long ago, well, come and see what I've been doing in the last years of my life (laughs).
K. LARINA Well, okay, stop it. Now, one last question: “How do you hire a director for productions, how do you get directors?” listeners ask.
A. KALYAGIN This is very difficult, Ksenia, you yourself know what a difficult, tedious process it is to select a director who would suit both your taste and the theater, and so on.
K. LARINA Well, that's it, I'm letting go, I already feel there is no time.
A. KALYAGIN Thank you very much!
K. LARINA Thank you.
A. KALYAGIN Thanks to the audience, thanks to the listeners.
K. LARINA Thank you, this is Alexander Kalyagin, good luck to you!