Theatrical Moscow

THEATRICAL MOSCOW Moscow's PRESENTl THEATRICAL SEASON is distinguished not only by a whole crop of new premieres; a considerable place in it is held as well by guest performances of theaters from other Soviet cities and countries abroad. The two new theater buildings in the Kremlin offer their stages for this purpose. The first-the Kremlin Theatreregularly features performances by the provincial Soviet theaters. Last year it held a contest for their best productions. Some, like Rasul Gamzatov's romantic Goryanka (Daghestan Theatre), or Yuli Chepurin 's publicistic Masters of Life (Yaroslavl Drama Theatre), could easily have graced the stage of any Moscow playhouse. The second theater is the new Kremlin Palace of Congresses with its vast auditorium and stage. The Palace was built not only for congregations of state, but also for the presentation of concerts, operas, and ballets of the Bolshoi Theatre. The Bolshoi's productions of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and Borodin's "Prince Igor" were revised to suit the larger dimensions of the Palace's stage. This season has so far been eventful in the world of music. The Tchaikovsky Contest held last April and May once again stressed the meaning of music for Moscow. Our best symphony orchestras played new works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturyan, and a number of other celebrated composers; and Svyatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, and Mstislav Rostropovich gave recitals. There were also some very fine chamber concerts and other solo performances. Foreign artists have frequently been appearing in Moscow and are invariably given a warm and intelligent reception. Among the highlights of the season were the performances of Eduardo de Filippo's theater, the company of the French Theatre National headed by Vilar, and the renowned French mime, Marcel Marceau. Eduardo de Filippo's profound humanism and brilliant individuality , SUpPOrted by his splendid company and inspired plays, were highly appreciated by his Soviet audiences. No less popular with them was Marcel Marceau who, besides performing, met many theatrical figures and told them about his artistic methods and principles. The repertoire brought this time by Vilar's theater (Le Sage's 1 Professor Markov is describing the 1962-1963 season. 187 188 MODERN DRAMA September Turcaret and Balzac's Un Homme d'Affaires) was less impressive than the Don Juan (Moliere) and Mary Tudor (Hugo) of his former tour several years ago, even though he himself has shed none of his talent and versatility as an actor and stage director. Moscow showed a heightened interest in the recent performances of the New York City Ballet and the Ivan Vazov National Theatre of Bulgaria, whose repertoire consisted in the main of Bulgarian classical plays. But, of course, the above events, interesting and happy as they were, proved merely sidelights of Moscow's theatrical life. The More Significant and Typical Soviet Productions This season's plays show that our theaters have been attempting to grasp life in all its manifestations and express it in every possible genre and form. They deal with questions of philosophy, politics, and morals, problems of ethical and esthetic education. It was decided, for instance, to adapt Alexander Tvardovsky's very popular long poem, "Vasily Tyorkin," for the stage. The story of an ordinary Russian soldier who had been through the war and lost none of his love for the people and his frontline buddies is a highly national epic of Soviet times. Having appeared during the war, the chapters of this poem spread like wildfire throughout the front lines and rear areas of the Russian fighting zone, bolstering the people's faith in ultimate victory. The Soviet theater has produced many stage versions of classics and modern fiction. And no matter how much the pros and cons of staging novels by Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Mikhail Sholokhov , Konstantin Fedin, or Leonid Leonov are discussed, and the results of such attempts are criticized, the theaters persist in translating the beautiful poetry and imagery of well-loved stories to the stage. There is nothing surprising about that. But in the case of Tvardovsky 's poem, the theaters came across a special difficulty. "Vasily Tyorkin " has no well-defined developing conflict, and its versified form necessitates preserving the text intact throughout...