Photos: Maxim Shatrov
“” Tell me, do we drink or don’t drink? ”“ We drink, of course, ”the performance begins with a booze in the hero’s house Gosha Kutsenko. The first act will take place in a semi-empty bachelor’s room, the second act on the other side of the wall - on the balcony, with the windows open and the door (witty scenography-shifter was invented by Alexei Kondratiev). The plot was redrawn by director Viktor Shamirov in the Russian way - so that the audience, especially the men, could easily recognize themselves and laugh carefree. Three former classmates meet to drink, chat about cars, women and poly Ike and remember the first love - the stunning Maya, who studied with them at the same institute in the late 1980s, Gosha Kutsenko plays the supposedly drunken bachelor Tolik, who between the bottles manages to teach at the university.His friends, Gene and Mark, are more successful and family for a long time: Gena-Yushkevich has an expensive suit, an automobile salon, Polina’s wife and two children, and businessman Mark-Maryanov, who loves to brag about designer clothes and a new car, just left the family: having suspected his wife of treason, he easily and cheerfully set off in all heavy. The main event takes place just before the intermission: the same Maya appears that everyone loved, and she took and left for London for 15 years. She has not changed at all ... only after a car accident, she moves in a wheelchair. Here, in fact, the performance begins, in which all the characters begin to tell each other the truth. As it turned out, not always pleasant. "
Excerpt from the review of the play "The Truth"
Irina Apeksimova, Gosha Kutsenko, Dmitry Maryanov and Konstantin Yushkevich played the truth in Dubai. For this, you should definitely thank the organizers of the next tour of the "Independent Theater Project" producer Elshan Mammadov - Stars Dome Group and Al Khalidiah Tourism.
To retell the entire performance is a thankless task. Citizens must go to the theater! And God himself commanded such performances in which the most famous contemporary Russian actors are engaged, familiar to us from numerous television series and from new films. Elshan Mammadov and his "Independent Theater Project" have already managed to please the Dubai audience with the comedy "Boeing Boeing", and judging by the plans for the 2009–2010 Emirate theater season, the matter will not stop there. But, back to the “Game of Truth" and talk with the star troupe. Moreover, not after the performance, as it usually happens, but even before it begins.
Good evening everyone. I don’t know if you have been to Dubai before, but how did our city seem to you?
Irina Apeksimova: We did not go on a city tour, so we have nothing to say about the city. We spent time after arrival at the hotel and swam in the sea. Water is amazing simply!
Dmitry Maryanov: Yes, water is something!
I.A .: The water is amazing, the hotel is wonderful. This is the very happiness when you get from the cold and slushy Moscow into the heat. Therefore, we have the most wonderful sensations.
You work a lot in theaters, enterprises, act in films. Most of the Russian-speaking viewers living in the Emirates know about your work on television series. How did Elshan Mammadov manage to bring you all together to participate in the play "Game of Truth"?
DM: And this is not our first joint project. The first was the play “Ladies Nights.” But they have not yet decided to bring it here ...
The organizers say that they have already decided, and we are looking forward to this performance in May next year ...
DM: Come on!
Konstantin Yushkevich: There is such a format, of course ...
DM: Yes, about teamwork. We still had a production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, played by the same composition, and now, “The Truth Game”. Therefore, this is not our first work. Everyone understands that the product is not bad, so we ourselves communicate well with each other. I hope…
Usually, each actor chooses for himself what is closer to him - a movie or a theater. Each of you where you like to work more?
Gosha Kutsenko: We are the stars of the past .... They called us that in one magazine.
K.Yu .: Yes, it was ...
It can not be! By the way, do you often have reasons for resentment against journalists?
DM: Yes, it does.
I.A .: Less often there are reasons to be glad and say: "Thank you very much."
And yet, a theater or a movie?
GK: Both that, and another. The main thing is the pleasure that you take from work, and how it happens is not important. Yes guys?
K.Yu .: Some of us have worked in repertoire theaters and know what it is when you are assigned to a role according to the principle of distribution. And here you do only what you want, and no one can force you to do something else.
It turns out that an entreprise is a certain level of freedom?
I.A .: I would say, a choice.
K.Yu .: Well, in any case, this version of the work in the Independent Theater Project or a performance that we ourselves composed provides the opportunity to do what you really want.
Each actor has to play diverse roles. Here you, Irina, have been working in the theater for a long time, playing the classics, and even tried yourself in Hollywood, and you, Gosh, have played a lot of super-heroes. Tell me, is it more difficult to play - comedic or dramatic role?
I.A .: It is more difficult to play in bad drama. When a bad script and a bad director. But when everything coincides - this, unfortunately, is very rare. When the stars converge in drama, in directing, and in the partner component. Then it’s happiness, and it doesn’t matter whether your role is dramatic or comedic.
the play "Game of Truth" stars converged?
I.A .: Yes, the stars came together here.
DM: They agreed right here, as it should ...
K.YU .: If you mean us, then yes - we agreed. That's for sure.
Of course you, who else ...
GK: Actually, we are all old friends. And therefore, we are happy to work in the same production and on the same stage.
Tell me, please, did the very concept of friendship persist in today's acting environment?
I.A .: What are you talking about, what friendship? We are sitting here and quietly hating each other (laughs).
DM: You see, none of us even looks into each other's eyes. No, well, a joke, of course.
Especially between a man and a woman you can talk about friendship, because there certainly no one will cross the path to each other. True, everything is normal with friendship.
I want to address the following question to Irina and Dmitry. How do you have enough time to participate in such television projects as Ice Age or Two Stars? What do these projects give you personally? Never wanted to invite your friends to participate in them?
I.A .: We tried to invite our friends, but they refuse. Here Gaucher, I suggested going with Dima to skate. They are just afraid, they are scared. Dima and I are fearless people, and these are cowards ...
DM: I’m still skating in the Ice Age.
K.Yu .: It’s true, he’s practically from the rink to us ... And I have a family.
GK: And I have problems with my legs ... (laughs)
DM: Yes, if you were to drive you like that on ice, I would have looked. When I first went ice skating for the first time the year before last, I thought that I could hang them back on the hook. But then, when the first season flew by, I realized that everything, I hit .... Now, without this, it’s somehow not interesting. I went to the Ice Age because of laziness. Because I realized that I could not drive myself into a gym or pool and I would find one hundred eighty-five thousand excuses and reasons not to do this. And there it’s a creative process, albeit difficult physically. Each issue is a mini-performance, a mini-premiere ...
Singing is not as dangerous as skating. Why not take part in the Two Stars project?
K.Yu .: God also did not give everyone the ability to sing. Here I gave Irina. Some performances ask me to sing only in comedy episodes.
DM: Yes, when Konstantin and I played at the Lenkom Theater (by the way, we worked there for 11 years), once there was such a moment when I had to sing some phrase in the play The Royal Games. In general, I sang, without falling into a single note, which caused an attack of homeric laughter from Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov, who said: "So continue to sing." After that, I went to vocal teachers all summer and learned this phrase by heart to sing it correctly, which upset Mark Zakharov completely. So now I try to dance in performances ...
K.Yu .: We sing in performances only when a comedic spot is necessary in it.
Dmitry, your film debut was "Above the Rainbow", where your hero sang very well, though in the voice of Vladimir Presnyakov Jr. ...
DM: That's always the case with me. Not only that, Dmitry Kharatyan also spoke for me there ....
I.A .: Here it is, how glory comes!
Question to all. How do you think, how good is the director of the Russian stage version of the play “Game of Truth” Viktor Shamirov managed to transfer the French play to the Soviet reality of the 1980s?
GK: The director was not particularly "soared" about this. He just gathered us, and we acted as we always do with French plays, which our producer Elshan Mammadov manages to buy, sit down and rewrite them. Therefore, the main plot move remained here - three guys and their girlfriend, who comes to visit them, everything else is completely rewritten by us from the first to the last replica.
K.Yu .: Even some plot twists.
DM: A new play has turned out, absolutely. Then you probably should have been indicated on the poster as co-authors ...
K.Yu .: In general, yes. There is nothing left of the original play except the number of characters and the situation. And the name of Philip Lelouche, as a playwright ...
GK: By the way, the French came to us, watched our production. Because in the French version this play went on every day, and its duration was one hour and ten minutes. Such a somewhat serial format in the theater. And in our country it was elevated to the rank of dramatic theatrical performance with two acts in a large hall for 1200 people. And they have similar plays designed for chamber halls, for 150-200 spectators. Moreover, Philip Lelyush initially demanded that not a single line be changed in his play, until he sat down in the hall and realized that our “Game of the Truth” is an absolute adaptation that he really liked. And since we use different dramatic moves, he was afraid for us when we had pauses during the action. How is that, a pause at the very beginning of the performance? And then, when the audience suddenly began to applaud, he realized that these pauses were justified and necessary. By the way, we used many of the "Mhat" moves. The Moscow Art Theater is a very serious school.
DM: But with the "Vakhtang" manifestations ...
GK: Well, yes, and then we broke the genre and reached even GITIS in order to make it easier for the viewer.
Do you often have to improvise during the performance?
GK: Yes, constantly.
DM: We are only doing this.
K.YU .: Remember how the mouse flew in? At first we did not understand what was happening. We see that the audience is not listening to us. We think maybe this is our text so annoying them? And then it turned out that this bat came to life when the spotlights were turned on, and flew around the hall ...
DM: I said then something like “who did not close the cage with the parrot,” because there was a cage in the decoration. Gosha then said: “Where is the duck?”, And they answered him: “The duck came to life and flew away.”
GK: In fact, we freely improvise, because the text is measured and verified by us, and we are not in a hurry to part with it, but if such situations arise, then we compose on the fly. For the mood. How many countries have you visited with this show?
DM: We had a big tour of Ukraine, we "played the truth," in my opinion, in eight major cities. In Latvia there were, in other countries.
Which hall is the most difficult to “rock” and what does it depend on?
GK: All the halls are swinging, just the quality of the swing is different. Someone is swinging "in full", while someone is so-so. In fact, the less we make contact with the audience during the performance, the better. First of all, our characters should have fun on stage, then the audience will not be bored.
DM: We recently played the play “Ladies Night” in St. Petersburg, so the hall was so “heavy”, barely reacting.
Then tell me, please, who is your viewer? Who goes to the play “Game of Truth”, “Ladies' Night”? Young people constantly sitting on social networks? Middle-aged people?
GK: We in the play "Game of Truth" deliberately circumvented the topic of social networks. When they wrote the script, they first wanted to hook on this topic, talk about the fact that our classmate heroes are writing off to each other, and then they moved away from it. Probably because the director and screenwriter of the play, Viktor Shamirov, is a follower of unexpected twists and likes to move away from standards. From everything that can be expected, he immediately withdraws.
We wrote the whole play based on this principle - at some point, the viewer thinks that all the events in it are predicted, and then suddenly everything becomes elusive again. This is where the most interesting lies, and if we follow stereotypes, then everything will be lost, and we will just have to amuse the audience and use some other tools.
We begin the first act with the fact that three men gather in the same kitchen and immediately touch on topics that you can’t get away from, and everyone expects this. And then Ira arrives, and everything changes. ... This intrigue, in my opinion, is interesting to spectators of various ages.
Irina, a question for you. Usually viewers rarely manage to see you in the image of a romantic heroine, more often you embody the images of strong women with a difficult fate or an unusual profession. How much do you like your character in this performance, surrounded by the love of three men at once?
I.A .: You know, I’m actually used to it when the love of three or four men surrounds me, and I’m very comfortable in it ... I’m joking, of course (laughs). It’s not about what roles they usually offer me. This performance is remarkable for its cast, so being with these young people on stage is very comfortable and pleasant for me. I spend time in this performance with great pleasure. I especially like the attitude to the work of our entire company.
Which theater or movie directors would you like to work with?
DM: I want to believe that in addition to what has already been achieved, much more will work out. I want to work with Viktor Shamirov ...
GK: With Mark Anatolyevich Zakharov.
DM: Kostya and I have already worked with Mark Anatolyevich in the theater, I want more. Especially in the movies. He had a lot of interesting films, but for some reason he recently stopped shooting. And the financial crisis is the reason! But he wanted to shoot, for sure.
How is the acting workshop in times of crisis?
K.Yu .: In the theater, the crisis is less noticeable than in the cinema ...
DM: This is true. Now for some reason, film producers, I don’t understand why, got together and suddenly decided that the artists earn a lot. They began to deal with bad manners and count other people's money. And at the same time, they began to cut "live" payments to those actors who have signed agreements and have not yet ended. It is unpleasant.
Do your roles that you play in movies and on stage affect your characters?
GK: My roles in general do not affect me. I think I have such a stable psyche that I don’t know what I have to play in order for this to affect me. I do not act on orders, and try to play what is closer to me. My principle is to get the most out of what I do. If in the cinema the actor can still be tempted by money, then in the theater the most important thing is the team and friends on the stage.
Because I start to feel wild discomfort if I do not like someone. I close myself. So I was brought up by the Moscow Art Theater School, I was clamped there very much in due time. And for me the most important thing is freedom. I love the state where the role succeeds and I feel like a free person. In these seconds I’m very proud of myself.
Gosh, please tell me, have you ever wanted to play a simple person, not a super-hero and not a hero-lover?
GK: Today I’ll play a simple, ordinary Soviet guy. The theater is the main platform where you can engage in constant experimentation, research. Unfortunately, the movie does not allow this. Cinema is a kind of stamp where, within the framework of your role, a certain set of playing qualities is required of you and where your 100% hits do not develop. And the theater, in fact, exists in order to shout out its "I", to open its gut.
You want to say that you are real in the theater?
GK: I am real in my songs. So, when we return to Dubai in May with the performance “Ladies Night”, I will bring with me a whole bag of my disks. And I’ll do the trade right at the entrance to the hall ... (laughs). No, of course the theater. It happened to me like that. Love brought me to the theater. I fell in love with the actress and began to look after her. Thanks to her, I got into the backstage, in this acting world, in these kitchens with eternal gatherings. I liked all this, and what all these people talked about was fundamentally different from what I did then, studying at the Institute of Radio Engineering. I wanted a free life, and I found it.
Here Irina, Konstantin and Dima worked in stationary academic theaters for many years, and only then went into "free swimming". At first, they didn’t take me to the theater at all for professional unsuitability. Therefore, I began to work in an enterprise. The guys came later. We met here and cannot enjoy the joint work for the eighth year. K.Yu .: And I was kicked out for unsuitability ...
G.K., D.M. and K.Yu. (together): And together we carry the proud banner of unsuitability! (laugh)
GK: By the way, the play "Game of Truth", in general, about the fact that we all come to this so-called unsuitability in our lives, we understand that the main thing is not you in the profession, and the profession is in you.
Irina, you once left the Moscow Art Theater, you had the opportunity to stay in Hollywood. Why did you choose to work in the entreprise?
I.A .: I could stay in Hollywood, and even lived in the USA for some time, flying back to Moscow every month to play at the Moscow Art Theater, I realized that nobody needs me in America. In Russia, in Moscow, I have a family, I have a profession, I have achieved something in my life. In Hollywood, I would have expected a dozen supporting roles and, as a rule, “bad Russians”, played by almost all of our actors who tried their hand there.
I left the theater before it was headed by Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov, and when he invited me back to the Moscow Art Theater, I already worked in another theater. And there I played Arkadyina in The Seagull. Well, played, played and left. I have already swallowed a free life, difficult, but beautiful in its own way. And it’s very difficult for me today to return to the stationary theater.
Konstantin, tell me, did you always want to be an actor?
K.Yu .: As a child, I did not want to be an artist, only when I watched “Kinopanorama” and some prizes were awarded there, I liked this profession. Immediately after school, I entered the theater institute, but it happened by itself. Maybe I'm kind of a fatalist, but so far I like everything. But here I, as a Gosha, I definitely did not want to be a radio electronics engineer.
Guys, each of you has some treasured role that you really want to play?
K.YU .: You know, the dream of "the role of Hamlet" has already become a common phrase, or something. Ask us here seated who would like to play Hamlet. We were recently at a director's forum, and they told us there: "Well, with this lineup, let Hamlet play." Well, what is it? Let us arrange the Hamlet Olympics who will play better. Everyone will perform with his own performance ...
DM: Yes, I also suggested making the Hamlet festival or the Seagull festival. Tell me, what else can be added to these plays, according to the Hamburg account? Now, let the jury sit and watch two hundred eighty thousand Hamlets ... This is already impossible. Every theater must have a Hamlet, A Seagull, Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya. Nothing wrong, of course, but the viewer needs something else. It is necessary that directors and producers rise and look for something new. That's how our Elshan Mammadov is. He is well done.
K.Yu .: In fact, I am not against the classics, but it is much more pleasant to work with a modern play. All spectators already know the classics by heart.
DM: And then, what many directors do - they take "Hamlet" and put it somehow wrong, and the audience, instead of enjoying the performance in the evening, sits and puzzles themselves. And then they come home and say: "This, in my opinion, is complete nonsense," and the director at that time says: "But they did not understand me."
GK: And there are also theaters whose directors complain that the viewer does not go to them. You see, the viewer is to blame for the fact that he is not interested in going to these theaters. And the question is asked, they say, how is it that we play, and they (the audience) do not go ...
There were only a few minutes left before the show. Tell me, when do you feel truly happy?
DM: Yes, at least this morning. Plunged into the sea, and happy. In the morning I opened my eyes - warm, sweetheart! Here it is - happiness.
K.Yu .: I am pleased to enjoy the little things.
GK: Happiness can be daily, and weekly, and monthly ... Everything depends on the person.
DM: Or, when you wake up on New Year's Eve, and under the Christmas tree lies exactly the gift that you were waiting for. And the next day you wake up again and think about why you are in such a good mood, and suddenly you remember, oh, yes, a gift yesterday ... And again, everything is fine with you.
I.A .: The happiest moments are those that are filled with the love and care of your friends and relatives.
Well, thanks to everyone for the conversation. On this optimistic note, we part to meet again in a few minutes. Only this time we will be in the auditorium, and you will be on the stage. Good luck. And see you soon.
