At the age of 25, Yevgeny Vakhtangov was already teaching at the Stanislavsky theater studio, and two years later he staged his first performance. He used the latest directorial techniques, experimented with scenery and made the audience participants in the stage action. Vakhtangov invented a new direction in the theater - fantastic realism, and Stanislavsky called the innovative director "the first fruit of our renewed art."
“Create for yourself. Enjoy for yourself"
Evgeny Vakhtangov was born in Vladikavkaz. His father was a tobacco manufacturer and hoped that his son would continue his business. However, even as a child, Yevgeny Vakhtangov became interested in theater and decided to devote his whole life to it. In his gymnasium years, he already played in amateur productions: "Marriage" by Nikolai Gogol, "Poverty is not a vice" by Alexander Ostrovsky and "Children of Vanyushin" by Sergei Naydenov.
After graduating from high school in 1903, Evgeny Vakhtangov entered Moscow University and immediately joined the student theater group. He staged performances and played himself - both in Moscow and during his visits to Vladikavkaz. For each production, Vakhtangov developed a general plan, carefully listed all the items that should be on the stage, described the costumes, makeup and gait of the actors, and even calculated the pace of the curtain. For him, the Moscow Art Theater was a model of theatrical art. Here Evgeny Vakhtangov was inspired by everything: scenery and acting, sound effects and technical details.
In 1909, Vakhtangov decided to get a professional theatrical education and enrolled in drama courses at the Moscow Art Theater. Mostly theater artists taught here: Alexander Adashev and Vasily Luzhsky, Nikolai Alexandrov and Vasily Kachalov. They trained young actors according to the methods of Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Evgeny Vakhtangov wanted to become a director, and Konstantin Stanislavsky soon began to single him out from the rest of his students. He appointed Vakhtangov as the chief assistant for working with young actors. Inspired by Stanislavsky's technique, Evgeny Vakhtangov dreamed of creating an acting studio.
“I want to form a Studio where we would study. The principle is to achieve everything by ourselves... Check the system of K.S. [Konstantin Stanislavsky] on ourselves. Accept or reject it. Correct, supplement or remove a lie. All who come to the studio must love art in general and stage art in particular. Joy is to be found in art. Forget the public. Create for yourself. Enjoy for yourself. Your own judges."
Evgeny Vakhtangov
Stanislavsky himself aspired to this. Therefore, in 1912, together with Leopold Sulerzhitsky, they opened the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theater, where Yevgeny Vakhtangov began teaching. At the same time, Vakhtangov worked in other Moscow theater schools, among which the Student Drama Studio occupied a special place. It was created in 1913 by five students from different Moscow universities. A year later, novice actors invited Vakhtangov as a teacher and director.
Innovative Studio of Evgeny Vakhtangov
Evgeny Vakhtangov in his youth. Photo: vakhtangov.ru
Yuri Zavadsky. Caricature of Evgeny Vakhtangov. 1913
Evgeny Vakhtangov. Photo: vakhtangov.ru
At first, the Student Drama Studio did not have its own premises, the participants gathered either in the students' rooms, or in restaurants, or in empty cinemas. Rehearsals took place mainly at night, since during the day Evgeny Vakhtangov studied with the 1st studio of the Moscow Art Theater, and the students studied and worked.
In 1914, the Student Studio presented its first production, The Lanins' Manor. The premiere of the performance caused an uproar. Critics wrote caustically about the childish helplessness of novice actors, about the pity of theatrical scenery, about the failure of director Vakhtangov. Stanislavsky, on the other hand, became so angry with Vakhtangov for his amateur performance and the failure of the Lanin Estate that he forbade him to teach outside the walls of the Moscow Art Theater and the 1st Studio.
However, classes at the Student Studio did not stop, but were now held in the strictest secrecy. For his students, Vakhtangov hired the best innovative teachers, despite the poverty of the studio.
“So, in terms of movement, we had the best teacher Aleksandrova, the ancestor of rhythmic etudes. Evgeny Bogrationovich said: “I need the best, the most courageous, perhaps, an innovator in every field. We are so poor that we have to learn from the best.” Therefore, if Pyatnitsky was the best in terms of voice, then let's take Pyatnitsky. Yes, Evgeny Bogrationovich knew how to recognize real people of art! He had a flair for them, and he tried mainly to raise teachers from his older students.
Actress Cecilia Mansurova, from "Conversations about Vakhtangov" by Khrisanth of Kherson
Gradually, Evgeny Vakhtangov acquired his own understanding of the theater. In performances, he sought to emphasize the conventionality of what was happening on the stage, therefore, for example, Vakhtangov’s classical theatrical costumes were worn over modern clothes. And to reinforce this idea, the artists put them on right on stage. In a matter of seconds, they turned from actors into characters in a play. For decorations, ordinary household items were used, which were played up with the help of light and fabric draperies.
In 1917, the student studio came out of the “underground” and became known as the Moscow Drama Studio of Evgeny Vakhtangov. In the same year, Vakhtangov fell seriously ill, but he began to work even harder and harder. “The first studio, the second studio, my studio, the Jewish studio Habima, the Gunst studio, the folk theater, the proletcult, the art theater, the lesson, the performance of the November celebrations - these are ten institutions where they tear me to pieces”- wrote Evgeny Vakhtangov.
Grotesque theater and fantastic realism
Evgeny Vakhtangov as Tackleton in the play Cricket on the Stove. 1914 1st Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre. Photo: wikimedia.org
Evgeny Vakhtangov as Kraft in the play "Thought". 1914 1st Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre. Photo: wikimedia.org
Evgeny Vakhtangov as Fraser in the play "The Flood". 1915 1st Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre. Photo: aif.ru
After the revolution of 1917, it became difficult for the avant-garde Vakhtangov theater to find a common language with a new audience - "primitive in relation to art." The director decided to join the theater of Konstantin Stanislavsky. In 1920 Vakhtangov's studio became part of the Moscow Art Theater and was named the Third Studio.
A year later, the Third Studio of the Moscow Art Theater had its own theater building. In honor of the opening, the artists gave a performance of "The Miracle of St. Anthony" based on the comedy of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck. This was the second appeal of the Vakhtangov to this play, and this time Vakhtangov staged the play in the tradition of the grotesque theatre. He wrote: “Household theater must die. "Character" actors are no longer needed. All who have the capacity for characterization must feel the tragedy (even comedians) of any characterization and must learn to express themselves grotesquely. Grotesque - tragic, comic".
Absorbed by work in several studios, Vakhtangov almost did not monitor his health: at one time he did yogi gymnastics and kept a diet, but then he broke the regime: he smoked continuously and sat up after performances at theater parties.
Shortly before his death, Evgeny Vakhtangov began working on the production of Princess Turandot based on the fairy tale by the Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi. With this performance, he opened a new direction in theater direction - "fantastic realism". Vakhtangov used the characters-masks and techniques of the Italian commedia dell'arte, but made the fairy tale very modern. The actors dressed up in the costumes of fairy-tale heroes right on the stage, and at the same time they talked on topical issues.
“My last conversation with Vakhtangov before the dress rehearsal of Turandot was wonderful. He told me that in this work he is fascinated by a specific acting state, like this: you and I are sitting in the front row and watching a performance, but I am also playing this performance. And while I'm free, I share my impressions with you, and then I say: my way out, now I'll play for you. And I leave the front row, climb onto the stage and start playing everything - grief and joy, and this friend of mine believes me ... And then I finish, sit down to him and say: well, how good?
Leonid Volkov from the book "Evgeny Vakhtangov. Documents and certificates»
Returning home after another rehearsal of the play "Princess Turandot", Vakhtangov fell ill and never got up again. The premiere took place without him, but Konstantin Stanislavsky was present at the performance. Admired by the work of his student, Stanislavsky personally expressed his confession to Vakhtangov: “What I saw is talented, original and, most importantly, cheerful! And a resounding success. The youth has grown a lot.”.
"Princess Turandot" was the last work of Yevgeny Vakhtangov. He died on May 29, 1922. Vakhtangov was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.
- The famous theater Vakhtangov located in the very center Old Arbat.
- Theater business cards are grotesque and irony.
- In the theater repertoire them. Vakhtangov, there are both classical tragedies and mischievous vaudevilles.
- Since 2008, the theater has been systematically modernizing the stage equipment and today, according to a number of experts, it has the best light and sound.
- In the theater, in addition to two scenes there is also an artistic space "Art-cafe", where creative meetings, poetry readings and concerts are held.
- All performances theater in Russian.
In the very heart stands a beautiful building with columns - the Vakhtangov Theater, famous for its light irony, but such deep performances. An excellent and famous troupe, talented directors, a diverse repertoire, strong traditions and its own school - the theater has been deservedly popular with Muscovites and guests of the capital for 95 years.
Ironic about sore
At the beginning of the theater there was a miracle. In November 1921, in a cold and hungry Yevgeny Vakhtangov staged a parable about Good and Evil - "The Miracle of St. Anthony." No less a miracle was the second production of Vakhtangov, when he, mortally ill, in February 1922 staged a fairy tale - “Princess Turandot”. Bright and light, she conquered everyone. The history of the Vakhtangov Theater began with this performance, the hallmarks of which were the grotesque and irony.
Yevgeny Vakhtangov was a student. The students of Vakhtangov himself - Cecilia Mansurov, Yuri Zavadsky, Boris Shchukin - formed the backbone of the troupe. Soon, a school was created at the theater, which was destined to become one of the best theatrical universities in the country. From the walls of the famous "Pike" (as the Vakhtangov Theater Institute named after Shchukin is called) came out a whole galaxy of famous actors and directors - Yuri Lyubimov, Vladimir Etush, Rolan Bykov, Sergey Makovetsky. The legendary actor and artistic director of the Vakhtangov Theater from 1987 to 2007 was Mikhail Ulyanov. Today on this stage you can see the magnificent "old guard" - Vasily Lanovoy, Vladimir Etush, Lyudmila Maksakova, the brilliant "middle generation" - Evgeny Knyazev, Sergey Makovetsky and the talented "youth" - Alexander Oleshko and Nonna Grishaeva.
The performances of the Vakhtangov Theater are varied. These are classical tragedies (“Medea” by Euripides), and mischievous vaudeville (“Mademoiselle Nitouche” by F. Herve). Here they know how to stage the classics, which can be seen from the success of the performances of Rimas Tuminas "Uncle Vanya", "Eugene Onegin" by A. Pushkin.
The performances of Tuminas have become a real event in the cultural life of the city. Taking texts familiar from school to every Russian, Tuminas opened them up for the audience anew. In Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", the director saw the theater of the absurd, where they say one thing, think another and do a third. Usually the heroes of this Chekhovian drama are shown as untenable losers. Tuminas presents us people alive, vulnerable, full of passions and unfulfilled hopes. The director and actors do not look down on their characters - on the contrary, they love them, sympathize with them.
In, which the classic himself called "an encyclopedia of Russian life", Tuminas tries to get to the very essence of the Russian soul. Breaking stereotypes, he shows a whole panorama of images of the national character, where love and hate, sincerity and stiffness, recklessness and responsibility are combined. The leading roles in both performances (Voynitsky in "Uncle Vanya" and Onegin in "Eugene Onegin") were played by the brilliant Vakhtangov actor Sergei Makovetsky.
Theater Opportunities
Since 2008, the theater has been systematically modernizing its stage equipment and today, according to many experts, it has the best light and sound. In 2011, the decorative decoration of the building was restored, and the auditorium was renovated. The performances of the theater are held on two stages: the Big one seats 1055 spectators, the Small one is designed for 250 seats. Both sites provide excellent visibility from all places. However, movable chairs are installed in the hall of the Small Stage, which allows changing their configuration in accordance with the director's intention. A special platform allows you to lift scenery weighing 3.5 tons. An elevator is provided for people with disabilities.
There is also a "special third stage" in the theater - the artistic space "Art-cafe". Creative meetings, poetry readings, performances by the Vakhtangov Orchestra are held here. A cozy and tastefully decorated small hall accommodates a small stage and tables where the audience can relax and have a good time.
Since 1931, a museum has been operating at the theater, opened on the initiative of Vakhtangov's students. In it you can get acquainted with the texts of plays, directors' and actors' records, posters, photographs and other materials telling about the theater's activities.
Total marks: 2
, average rating: 5,00
(out of 5)
February 2017
In general, the whole atmosphere of this theater, its location (on the old Arbat), the magnificent play of actors, I like everything there! The only thing is that you only need to buy tickets for the stalls, the amphitheater and the mezzanine! No balconies!
December 2016
A theater where everything has come together: location, chief director, cast, repertoire that preserves traditions and passes on skills to the younger generation. Now there is another new stage platform for creative meetings - a wonderful art cafe. Gorgeous Marina Esipenko - the third Princess Turandot, it's a pity that the performance left the repertoire, Yulia Rutberg, the inimitable Sergey Makovetsky and Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Vladimir Etush. Actors who give emotions, experiences, reflections.
December 2016
Theatre. E. Vakhtangov is one of the few who has the spirit of intelligence, the highest classical theatrical culture and unfeigned responsibility to the audience! The older generation of stage masters is especially worthy! Young people should pull themselves up - there is someone to learn from. Every visit to the theater is a holiday!
The hall is full house, like at a fashionable premiere. The cast showed up almost completely (out of 113 people, only six did not honor the gathering with their presence without a good reason), and the rest, including the workshops, are here. In the forefront of the "iconostasis" of Vakhtangov - Lanovoy, Maksakova, Etush, Kupchenko, Fedorov, Kuznetsov. The iconostasis, I note, is actively working. Who did not have enough space, stand on the walls.
I note that all the gatherings of all theatrical troupes are similar, like happy families - hugs, kisses, congratulations, announcements of plans for the new season. In this sense, Vakhtangovskiy differs little from others. But there is a difference in the details, and they, as you know, decide everything. Here, let's say, congratulations on some date (birthday, title, length of service) are accompanied by the presentation of flowers - they are usually taken out by administrators. In Vakhtangov, Rimas Tuminas himself distributes them to those who have distinguished themselves, and the crown does not fall from him. And such a human detail, which is not at all essential for many leaders, explains a lot: here is a policy of philanthropy, and not just human use.
The Vakhtangov gathering is clearly divided into two parts - business and artistic. Both are well prepared. Director Kirill Krok in nine and a half minutes on the screen presents the statistics of the last season - impressive: in Moscow during the season, Vakhtangov’s performances played 832 performances on five stages, they were watched by 288 thousand spectators, 55 were played on tour in Russia and Europe. Of the construction achievements - on the Historical The old lighting bridge was dismantled on the stage (in the status of a monument, do not touch it with your hands!) and a new remote spotlight with the latest equipment was made. The second part of the façade of the Simonovskaya Stage has been repaired, and in its Chamber Hall the angle of inclination of the auditorium has been increased - now a magnificent view. The archive and the home furnishings of the study from the apartment of one of the founders of the theater, Boris Shchukin, were donated to the theater. The harvest of state and departmental awards (orders, certificates, titles) is received by more than 30 people, and not only artists. Etush in general this year became a full holder of state awards. And, finally, about the low - about the average salary in Vakhtangov: 113 thousand 200 rubles. Here, as they say, a silent scene. Against the background of such information, even the future tour route pales: China, Estonia, Latvia, Tel Aviv, Surgut, Kazan, Milan, USA, Canada, Hungary, Paris, Istanbul. However, the artistic director returns everyone to Earth.
“That's it, the holiday is over,” Tuminas announces. - Who was left without awards - tell us, we will try. I wanted to analyze last season, but I punish myself for mistakes. So we will make corrections, and some performances will have to be abandoned. There will be new ones - such is life. Leo Tolstoy expressed the eternal pain of man and thoughts about death and life, about war and peace, about the pain of the Earth - this is the invisible side of beauty. Chaos in the minds, in the world, very disturbing times are coming, therefore we must not lose hope. We need to be patient and, most importantly, learn to taste how we sin. After all, the performance falls apart, becomes vulnerable, because we do not cultivate taste.
It follows from the above that Tuminas himself begins work on War and Peace. And then - over the "Little Tragedies" by Pushkin, in which the main role (whom - does not say) will be played by Lyudmila Maksakova (Mozart, Salieri, Miserly Knight?). Rimas quotes Rodin's testament ("Courtesy, pompous style that draws attention to itself is bad. Style is only good when you forget about it"). And Goethe - from "Faust" ("But do not look for high titles: Became a man - and desires. No more: there is nothing more to be").
Judging by the news about plans for the new season, we can conclude that in Vakhtangov our directors will compete with the Vikings. Literally one after another, two Italians come here - Luca de Fuco (play by Eduardo de Philip "Saturday, Sunday, Monday") and Giorgio Sangati from the theater "Picalo di Milana" (play "New Apartment"). And the French director Clement Hervieu-Léger will take on the "Double inconstancy" by Marivaux in November. Yevgeny Arye from Israel, together with the composer Faustas Latenas, will make a "Dybbuk" for the 100th anniversary of Vakhtangovsky. Of the Russian directors, Anton Yakovlev, Ekaterina Simonova, Andrey Maksimov, Eldar Tramov, Mikhail Tsitrinyak were named. The latter will present on stage the unimaginable - Russian epics.
However, as an experienced player, Tuminas prepared the main intrigue for the final. Yuri Butusov will start rehearsing Don Quixote,” he says, adding: “After negotiations, Butusov agreed to come to Vakhtangov as the chief director.”
From surprise, the audience exhales “oh-oh-oh!!!”, but after a pause, timid voices sound:
- What does it mean?
- Explain.
- You're leaving, right?
- I'm not going anywhere. I remain the artistic director,” Rimas reassures. - But I think that this rebel will not let us find ourselves in a classic situation, will not let us petrify, admire ourselves, classical manners in search of the truth. But again we have to look for fantastic realism in the future repertoire. Where the game is visible, light, harmony. To do this, you need to be healthy, in a good mood. And I ask you to think already now about the centenary of the theatre.
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Yuri Mikhailovich! The hand does not rise to write “respected”, as is usually done when referring to a person who has a strange but persistent dislike for the Vakhtangov State Academic Theater and its artistic director Rimas Tuminas.
You have repeatedly spoken sharply about the activities and personality of Tuminas, in your imagination it seems that in the play "Eugene Onegin" Tatiana is holding on to the wrong place, reading Pushkin's great text, then on the radio "Komsomolskaya Pravda" you tell an outright lie about the theater, the latter once in an interview with the title “YOU SHOULD EXPRESS YOURSELF FOR YOUR OWN, AND NOT FOR ANOTHER'S ACCOUNT”, published in the newspaper “Krymskaya Pravda” dated 11.01.2018. You never tire of emphasizing that Rimas Tuminas is an EU citizen who works in the Russian theater but is not interested in our country.
Rimas Tuminas was named as his successor to the role of the head of the theater by the People's Artist of the USSR Mikhail Ulyanov, who directed the Vakhtangov Theater for 20 years, who can hardly be suspected of "obsequiousness before the West."
For ten years, Rimas Tuminas has turned the theater into one of the most successful in the country, which was noted, among other things, by the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation in his report to the President of Russia.
Full halls attendance in our theater in 2017 was 97% - one of the best indicators in the country.
It's not just the commercial success of the team.
Rimas Tuminas pursues a thoughtful artistic policy. Many performances have been awarded theatrical international and Russian awards. Theater performances are shown in many Russian regions, in dozens of countries from China to the USA and Canada.
EU citizen Rimas Tuminas is a graduate of the Russian theater school, graduated from GITIS-RATI, so he received his professional education at a school that adheres to the principles of Russian psychological theater.
The high professionalism of Tuminas, as a stage director who combined the best traditions of Russian and world theater, is combined with the experience of a leader who understands the specifics of the team he leads, deeply respecting the traditions of the Vakhtangov school.
Rimas Tuminas cares about the fate of the actors, about their creative growth, choosing plays that allow not only to reveal the individualities of the unique masters of the troupe and talented youth. At the same time, burning modern themes about love, decency, patriotism, responsibility for one's actions, the meaning of being ... And it does not matter when the play was written - 5, 10 or 100 years ago.
The repertoire of the Vakhtangov Theater organically combines Russian and foreign classics, Soviet dramaturgy and modern literature.
Today in the playbill of the theater: the play "Sergeev and the Town" based on the prose of O. Zaionchkovsky, "Benefit Performance" based on the play by N. Ptushkina, "My Quiet Motherland", "Love at the Throne" by A. Maksimov, as well as wonderful examples of foreign dramaturgy ...
The problem of the modern play is still acute. You yourself, Yuri Mikhailovich, having once again "denounced" the Vakhtangov Theater you do not like, you notice: "Quite often, plays by newly minted playwrights are staged, and they run for no more than half a season." The Vakhtangov Theater carefully chooses literary material, and performances based on modern plays have been going on for many years. According to the report of the theater to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2017, the theater's repertoire includes 53 titles, of which 6 performances are based on modern Russian drama, which is 11% of the total theater repertoire, so your statements are an outright lie...
The performances staged by Tuminas and directors invited by him allowed the theater to earn 2 rubles for every ruble of budgetary funding allocated to it by the state. So at someone else's expense, no one is engaged in self-expression.
Yes, the repertoire of the Vakhtangov Theater does not and will not include Polyakov's plays that do not meet the high standards set by the theater for dramaturgy. Each theater has the right to choose the dramatic material that interests it. It is strange to read that Rimas Tuminas was offended by a certain Polyakov - these are just your fantasies that you are trying to pass off as reality.
To make sure who is right in this more than strange confrontation of the former editor-in-chief of Literaturnaya Gazeta, and now a very tendentious and aggressive chairman of the Public Council of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, who is exclusively engaged in self-promotion, it is enough to come to the performances of the Vakhtangov Theater.
A copy of the letter - to the Minister of Culture of Russia V.R. Medinsky.
People's Artist of the USSR V.A. Etush
People's Artist of the Russian Federation E.V. Knyazev
People's Artist of the Russian Federation S.V. Makovetsky
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation O.V. Tumaykin
Theater director K.I. Croc
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