Maria Kulikovskaya reviews: 41 ratings: 41 ratings: 14
When I went to this performance, I didn’t expect much, because I understood that graduates of the Raikin school were involved in it. I also understood that Yakov Lomkim is a master, but not a magician. However, I was very surprised by what I saw! Apparently, Yakov is a wizard after all. This performance is such a treat! Honestly, this is many times cooler than “Pokrovsky Gates”, both in terms of acting, and in terms of the overall impression, and in terms of the integrity of the production. Yes, yes, in integrity! Despite the fact that this is a collection of Chekhov's stories. They are so harmoniously connected, intertwined, that they create a single story. The impression is truly colossal! Mainly, of course, from the work of the director. Very beautiful, impressive, but soulful, like a classic, but sounds modern. In general, everything is as Yakov knows how to do: mix everything, shake it slightly and give an unusually cool result of 5+! I was much more surprised by the performance of some actresses - they deserve special applause! And in general, everyone was very successful in their roles, everything was in its place. But most importantly, this performance became a delight for my heart, which yearned for Yakov’s performance. Main value, the main thing is happiness, main paint this performance! How good he is! What a decoration each of his images is! Especially Shtral! Great! A acting director or an actor... No matter what Yakov calls himself, “a rose smells like a rose, whether you call it a rose or not” (c). Eh, more often!... The combination of these two creative sides of his personality is wonderful and precious! I really want to see this performance again, at least once, with the same cast!
Svetlana Orlova
Thank you very much for the play “Chekhov’s Women”! On May 29, the last showing of this wonderful performance took place in this half-year. The artists performing in this performance are artists with thousands of faces! They are not only highly professional, they are inimitable and unique! They can be funny and absurd, funny and touching, lyrical and tragic. There are no stars in it - and everyone is a star. The same actors participate in different “pieces” of the performance, demonstrating the most different sides of their talent. The performance amazes with its well-coordinated, polished ensemble performance, which, however, does not “extinguish” the acting individuality of any of its participants. While playing, the actors infect each other with their temperament, relaxedness, and the happiness of their very existence on stage. All artists confidently control their body and voice, using the means of expressiveness of the square theater, the traditions of clowning and buffoonery.
Creativity of A.P. Chekhov (and above all the early A.P. Chekhov) can most accurately (in my opinion) be interpreted artistic means precisely this theater: the theater of masks and carnival. A.P. Chekhov, as you know, created many stories about women whom he knew very well. Chekhov's women are also creative people who choose all the risks and dangers of a free existence (Nina Zarechnaya); and vulnerable, subtle souls who are defeated in the battle of life (Misyus, Sonya from “Uncle Vanya”, Marusya from “Belated Flowers”). But A.P. Chekhov wrote with great pleasure (and knowledge of the matter) about women who combine a variety of qualities: vivacity, sobriety, prudence, and at the same time fear, vulnerability, timidity, dependence are discernible in them... At the same time, they are no less interesting and no less desirous of happiness and love. Theater director Y. Lomkin, who created the play “Chekhov’s Women” with graduates of K. A. Raikin’s experimental acting course, was interested in this particular type.
The actors have an excellent command of all “colors”: they are capable of grotesque, irony, and piercing lyricism. Actress Anna Rytova is magnificent in the role of the “mysterious nature” (A. Chekhov’s story of the same name from 1883). The sharp, expressive, virtuosic portrayal of the role she created testifies to her bright, extraordinary talent. When building the image of her heroine, the actress uses eccentric, even farcical techniques. Her acting talent was created specifically for such a colorful, “spectacular”, “carnival” theater. But at the same time it is obvious that she is subject to deep dramatic roles: This actress doesn’t have a “ceiling”. Her partner, Bagrat Melkumyan, is memorable, instantly reacting to every remark of his interlocutor with a magnificent pantomime. The heroine of the story by A.P. Chekhov's "Which of the Three?" (1882) Nadya, performed by Veronica Gurdus, is both calculating and simple-minded, cunning and naive. It's interesting to watch how she leads her party, trying to keep her close to her and possible groom, and a lazy lover. In her one can discern both a carefree girl who can’t decide to part with her youth, and an emerging woman who is just beginning to comprehend the full drama of existence in this world. Really, it’s hard to call her cynical!
The story of A.P. is solved in a completely different key. Chekhov's "Summer Resident" (1884), which is "performed" by an "ensemble" of two people - Maria Kovalskaya and Zarina Mukhitdinova. Both actresses perform their roles beautifully (complex both plastically and psychologically) - with piercing lyricism and the finest nuances. A.P. pronounces the sad, largely hopeless text very accurately. Chekhova M. Kovalskaya. The actress’s gaze into the distance is memorable, as if trying to discern “through a magic crystal” her life, her future.
This is how the performance moves forward, maintaining a balance between lyricism and buffoonery. The actors demonstrate excellent mastery of the entire arsenal of acting tools inherent in the mask theater. They run, jump, tumble, do all sorts of tricks, acrobatic sketches...
There is no doubt that the creators of the play "Chekhov's Women" inherited a theatrical tradition dating back to the theater of masks dell'arte, the theater of farcical buffoonery and circus clownery, adopted and developed by Vsevolod Meyerhold, Evgeny Vakhtangov, Arkady and Konstantin Raikin. As befits the artists of this theater school, they can change masks indefinitely.
But the most interesting thing happens when the soul emerges from under the mask... Do you want to make sure? Go and watch the play "Chekhov's Women"!!!
Elena Nesterova reviews: 1 ratings: 1 rating: 1
I agree with all the positive and glowing reviews that were written above, but, as a journalist and critic, I would like to add a few words. Moving slightly away from the performance itself, I would like to share modern world theater on several positions - spiritual, consumer and pathetic-output. If you find other words in the Russian language to define categories - our soul, our reality and our dreams. Chekhov's Women certainly falls into the first category. This performance is a rare miracle!!! Surprise, admiration, laughter and time that slips through your fingers so quickly. A man, a fusion of two halves, multiplied by the talent of the actors and director Yakov Lomkin. Dear theater-goers, don’t miss this performance. Like pieces of a patchwork quilt, brightly and skillfully, the stories of A.P. Chekhov replace each other. With minimal decorations, the stage radiates incredible energy. The actors, immersed in their roles, give the viewer everything that their warm hearts hold.
Reading Chekhov at school, few can imagine how modern and sensual his words can sound in modern scene.
I can advise you, dear readers, to become spectators. And I'm sure you won't regret it.
And one more thing, perhaps the most important. After leaving the theater, a piece of the actors’ love and love for their audience will remain in your heart. And you will want to come back to say - Bravo! So stock up on flowers and kind attitude to the great world of theater in the form of the play “Chekhov’s Women”.
The play "Chekhov's Women" based on the stories of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ended the experimental advanced training course under the program "Actor's Skills" drama theater in the process of creating a performance" (director - Yakov Lomkin). To participate in the performance, he selected graduates from five streams of the faculty additional education. Among the guests of honor at the premiere was People's Artist Russia Roman Kartsev, who recently spoke to these students and managed to fall in love with them.
TO end of the 19th century century " feminine theme"has become one of the most relevant in Russian literature. In a letter to I.L. To Leontyev-Shcheglov on January 22, 1888, the writer ironically expresses his “credo”: “Without a woman, the story is like a machine without steam. I can’t live without women!!!” Chekhov created many stories about women - “ladies”, “wives”, “young ladies”, “institutes”, “mysterious natures”, “pink stockings” and, on the other hand, about girls looking for ways to a new life, while believed that “women should be described in such a way that the reader feels that you are wearing an unbuttoned vest and without a tie.” And already in early work Chekhov expresses his idea of the need to de-romanticize the image of a woman in literature, bringing it closer to the realities of everyday existence, in which everyday, family, love and social relationships that affect women develop.
Of the nine stories (“Temperaments”, “Which of the Three?”, “Wacky”, “Mysterious Nature”, “Woman without Prejudice”, “Mother-in-Lawyer”, “Summer Resident”, “Words, Words, Words”, “Like Me” entered into a legal marriage"), the director of the play Yakov Lomkin built a harmonious composition. Each story is solved in its own way: for example, “The Weasel,” in which the hostess performs a sophisticated psychological experiment on the maid, takes us to a Japanese living room, and the final story “About how I entered into a legal marriage” is reminiscent of a noisy Jewish place where mothers they know exactly what will make their adult children happy. Several character types (a curious old woman, an old maid who, however, turns out to be pregnant by the end, cheerful ratcheting girlfriends) move from story to story, as if from floor to floor of a huge house inhabited by absurd and funny people, creating the same strange and absurd unions, each of which, as we know, is unhappy in its own way. The numerous and colorful female extras make us recall the structure of an ancient theater with heroes and a chorus.
Teachers contributed their efforts to the creation of the performance High school performing arts. Renat Mamin (in a creative union with accompanist Olga Sidorova) worked on the plastic embodiment of stage images. Sergei Sotnikov honed the actors' stage speech. Professor Dmitry Trubochkin read a special course on the role of Chekhov in the development of theater and the fate of his works in domestic and world stage art. Maria Maksimova helped develop and implement stage images in makeup. In addition, students visited the house-museum of A.P. Chekhov in Moscow, as well as the State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve of A.P. Chekhov "Melikhovo".
The performance would not have been so elegant and impressive without the work of set designers Maria Khilenko, Anna Titova and Alla Gavrilova, lighting designers Margarita Sinyukova and Alexander Brikman, and sound engineer Elizaveta Lebedeva.
The final certification commission was headed by artistic director Higher School of Performing Arts Konstantin Raikin. He noted that the play has both professional problems and talented, lively people and expressed a desire for work on the play to continue.
Anton Pavlovich had about thirty women; experts call them “Antonovkas,” said literary critic and former director of the Melikhovo museum-estate Yuri Bychkov.
Chekhov treated women, to put it mildly, condescendingly. They courted him, wooed him, and he found a way to get away from them. His novels did not succeed each other, and some lasted 10–12 years with several women at the same time. Here, in Yuri Bychkov’s opinion, are the most significant.
LOVE-CREATIVITY
At the time of the meeting she was 15, he was 29
Young Lena brought the writer the manuscript of her own story. Chekhov was pleased and advised the girl to continue writing. Elena fell in love, but did not dare admit her feelings. At the age of 20, she realized that there was nothing to hope for, and married the St. Petersburg official Yust. “He smells of sulfur,” she later wrote to Anton Pavlovich. But in 1897, Elena came to Moscow to visit relatives, and love broke out between her and Chekhov. They fled to Yalta together, and soon separated forever.
"Lady with a Dog" (1899)
“Dmitry Dmitrich Gurov, who had lived in Yalta for two weeks... saw a young lady, short, blonde, wearing a beret, walk along the embankment; A white spitz was running after her...”
Yuri Bychkov: Over 12 years, Anton Pavlovich sent her 68 messages - more than any of his lovers. The originals are kept in the Lenin Library. I held them in my hands. The letters still emanate a subtle aroma of French perfume.
LOVE IS A GAME
She is 19, he is 28
She was a friend of Chekhov's sister. Young Lika really wanted to appear to the writer as a gifted person, so she either taught, then served as a Duma scribe, or tried to make an opera career... Although the girl did not have any special talents. But Chekhov noticed her. It was strange romance. It was as if they were playing with each other. “Let my head spin from your perfume and help me tighten the lasso that you have already thrown around my neck,” Chekhov wrote to her. And she responded: “You don’t suit Senka’s hat for me.” She wanted to be his wife, but became only a muse. Lika is considered the prototype of Nina Zarechnaya from The Seagull.
"The Seagull" (1895–1896)
Treplev: “She had a child. The child died. Trigorin fell out of love with her and returned to his former affections, as one would expect. However, he never left the old ones, and due to his lack of character, he somehow managed to do both here and there. As far as I could understand from what I know, Nina’s personal life was completely unsuccessful.”
Yuri Bychkov: Lika played a complex game with the writer, which hooked him. She never admitted her feelings and constantly ran away from Chekhov. But even in these relations there was something consumerist on his part. When the writer spent a long time in Melikhovo and became bored, he called Lika to his place. The young lady performed romances for Chekhov.
LOVE-WORSHIP
Nina KorshShe is 12 years old, he is 27
Nina is the daughter of the owner of the first private theater in Russia, Fyodor Adamovich Korsh (now the Theater of Nations in Moscow). She fell in love with Anton Pavlovich at the age of 12, during the production of the play “Ivanov” at her father’s theater. Nina grew up before Chekhov's eyes. Their love flared up in 1898, when Nina came to support the writer during the premiere of “The Seagull” at the Moscow Art Theater.
Yuri Bychkov: It is believed that Chekhov has no descendants. But that's not true. In 1900, Nina became pregnant by Anton Pavlovich and gave birth to a daughter, Tanya. Since Chekhov's relationship with Korsch unfolded in parallel with his affair with Knipper, Nina did not inform anyone except her parents about her situation. They raised their granddaughter. After the revolution, traces of Korsh were lost; later it became known that she lived with her daughter in Paris. Tanya, like her father, became a doctor.
LOVE-FAMILY
She is 30, he is 38
“He and she fell in love with each other, got married and were unhappy...” They say this is how Chekhov’s novel “About Love” should have begun. But the writer never created it. But the line remained in the drafts, and it reflects the essence of Chekhov’s relationship with the actress Olga Knipper. Chekhov met her in 1898 at a rehearsal of “The Seagull” in Moscow. Olga is his only official wife. They were expecting a child, but had a miscarriage. Relations between the spouses deteriorated, and Chekhov’s health too - tuberculosis progressed. “I received an anonymous letter that you were infatuated with someone in St. Petersburg, fell head over heels in love. “And I myself have long suspected it,” Chekhov wrote to Olga. - Well, well! So be it, but I still love you out of old habit.” But there are other lines in his notes: “A cheating wife is a big cold cutlet that you don’t want to touch, because someone else was already holding it in the hands.”
Yuri Bychkov: I think Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko contributed to this novel, used the writer, wanting to tie him to the Moscow Art Theater. I don't think Chekhov had big feelings to the actress. Mkhatovites mocked Anton Pavlovich! When he was already very ill, Nemirovich let Knipper go to her husband only 2 times a year for 3-4 days.
LOVE-SELF-GIVING
She is 32, he is 37
At the Chekhov Museum in Melikhovo, among the exhibits are the writer’s ties. Shortly before her death, artist Maria Drozdova presented them to the museum. She was close friend Chekhov's sisters and met the writer when he was developing an affair with Mizinova. Maria fell in love with Chekhov at first sight, but he did not pay attention to her. But she did not stop trying to start a relationship and achieved her goal. Yuri Bychkov: Unlike his other women, she understood that Anton Pavlovich could not belong to one, and she simply loved him, without asking for anything in return.
To mark the writer’s anniversary on January 30, Channel One will air documentary“Chekhov. Unpublished life." Its creators restored the writer’s letters, which were once spoiled by Anton Pavlovich’s sister Maria, crossing out piquant lines, and Soviet Czech scholars completed the work.
Also A.P. Chekhov was familiar with the writer T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik, artists A. A. Khotseva and M. T. Drozdova. N. M. Lintvareva, with whom the Chekhovs became friends back in Sumy, visited Melikhovo several times, and the “astronomist” O. P. Kundasova came and lived for a long time.
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