When one of the most importanttheatersof Europe, ofEvgeniy Vakhtagov(Vakhtangov) and a director with a unique
vision (Rim Tumin) join forces then we can only talk about an improbable, genius result.
A new subversive look at a classic masterpiece of Russian drama and a subversive theater, history, mythical, which carries in its scrolls the glory and the fragrance of allRussian theater. A wonderful one, almost mystical, meeting that we will have the unique opportunity to enjoy in Badminton, exactly as it was first performed in the theater itselfEugene Vakhtangovat 2 September of 2009.
Then the active reaction of the public, as well as the Russians, but also of foreign critics led even the Minister of Culture A. Avdeev to say characteristically that "this production is an amazing re-examination of Chekhov" expressing at the same time the certainty of its great worldwide success. Of course he was justified!
The vision of a theater group that could shake up the stagnant waters of the Moscow theater establishment, born in 1911 through the eyes and thoughts of a director and actor, by Eugene Vakhtangov. During his tenure the promising new theater saw itself steal the limelight from the rest of the more commercial "offshoots" of the Moscow Art Theater with just two productions (Maeterlinkck: The Miracle of St. Anthony 1921 by Gozzi : Turandor-1922).
That's how it is 1926, as expected, the theater was finally baptized with the name of its creator and the most important Russian directors rush to become part of his vision(Meyerhold, Popov, Zavadsky and Akimov). Especially Akimov's unorthodox translation of Hamlet with Shostakovich's music, the 1932, she was the one who introduced this theatrical microcosm to the whole world and caused the first waves of admiration inside and outside of Russia.
Among the important also directors, that run to contribute to the myth, we also discover Okhlopkov and Pogodin as well as a whole series of brilliant young creators who lead decade after decadeVakhtangov Theaterin the 21st century. The high artistic standards and the subversive look they introduce with each of their performances succeed to this day and keep it in its place, perhaps Russia's greatest theatrical myth.
One of those brilliant young creators, it's also Rimas Tuminas and it's not the first time he's produced a Chekhov play. The Three Sisters and his Cherry Orchard, they won public and critical acclaim. Chekhov's plays offer ground for exploration, clarification of the essence, justification of the species. Every Tuminas production is a new step towards the meaning of that mysterious word 'comedy', which so belies the context of the plot. Uncle Vanya's production has already been recognized as one of the best events of recent seasons in Moscow, while the work of S.Makovetsky and V.Simonov deserves to be mentioned in the world encyclopedia of theater.
The most interesting of course in the case of Rimas Tuminas, it is the way he perceives and "translates" this Russian classic masterpiece. No, he didn't vandalize either, nor rewrite the text, didn't cut it either. Just read the text again, as if there were no interpretations before him. Why, there is nothing ordinary, beautiful, intimate. Chekhov's mansion surrounded by gardens does not exist, there are no comfortable armchairs, nor a table laid with a lace tablecloth and a warm samovar, nor the sense of a Home where many generations have lived... There is only empty space, deserted by life, the theater space with the gray corridors, an alabaster lion – a symbol of St. Petersburg – may be the birthplace of the ancestor who built the mansion, there is a workbench with rough slabs, an old sofa and several chairs.
Chekhov's characters, as Tuminas saw them and as embodied by the actors, strongly remind us of a part of ourselves. They live in conditions of conflicting ambitions, philosophize, they work hard or they are lazy, serve and consume. They are very different, but also similar – everyone's life went wrong. Why; We discover this from scene to scene, from the dialogues, the fights, revelations and sarcasm. People discover the principles of the theater of the absurd in the works of Chekhov. His characters say something and then do something else, while they think in a completely different way. Tuminas' Uncle Vanya deals with what the characters think and confess in times of spiritual turmoil. Sometimes they are incoherent, like Uncle Vanya or very violent, like Astrov. But their confessions burst forth from their souls so impetuously, like stepping out of a stuffy room into the fresh air.
"Our Uncle Vanias is needed today to support us, let's not be cynical, rude, unconscious people", λέει ο Rimas Tuminas. “With everything he faced in his life, he did not lose the virtue of honesty and continued to work. Near our theater, there is a monument to Princess Turandot. Maybe we should build a monument to Uncle Vanya".
In the best show for the 150 years of Chekhov, from the great Vagtagov Theater with the 100 years of theatrical history star, including, the award-winning "People's Artists" Sergey Macovetsky;, Ludmila Maksakova, Vladimir Simonov, Anna Dubrovskaya, Yury Kraskov και Galina Konovalova.
RIM TUMINAS (Artistic Director)
Winner of the State Prize of the Russian Federation and the Zolotaya Maska Russian Theater Prize.
He was born on 20 January 1952 in the city of Kelme (Lithuania). During the period 1970 – 1974 studied at the Lithuanian Conservatory. The 1978 graduated from the production department of GITIS (class of I. Tumanov). His first production was the play January by J. Radickov (1978) at the Drama Theater of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, while his first production in Moscow was O.Zagradnik's Peacock Tune (1979) at the K.S.Stanislavsky Theater. From the 1979 up to 1990, worked at the State Academic Dramatic Theater of Lithuania (State Academic Drama Theater of Lithuania), and from 1994 became its art director. The 1999, Tuminas left the theater, with the last productions being Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (1998) and Shakespeare's Richard III (1999). Rimas Tuminas directed more than 20 plays in many theaters in Lithuania and abroad. His work abroad includes Theios Vanias (1992) and the Seagull (1993) of Chekhov in Finland, and Moliere's Don Juan in Iceland (1995). The 1990, Tuminas founded the Small Theater of Vilnius (Small Theater of Vilnius).
There, the following productions were presented: Chekhov's Cherry Orchard (1990), Brecht's Galileo (1991), God, Smile to Us του G.Kanovichus (1994), Masquerade by M. Lermontov (1997), which also traveled abroad. (Finland, Sweden, Poland, Iceland, Ms.) Tuminas' productions successfully participate in festivals such as the International Baltic Theater Spring, Baltic House, Life, Contact, International Chekhov Theatre Festival, etc. After the successful show Masquerade, which won the Russian National Theater Award Zolotaya Maska in the category "Best Foreign Production 1998" in Moscow and within the framework of the 3rd Chekhov Festival, Tuminas was invited to the Sovremennik Theater, where he produced Playing… Schiller! the 2000. The 2002, on the stage of the E.Vakhtangov Theater, Rimas Tuminas produced Gogol's The Inspector General. The 2007, after the death of M.A. Ulyanov, Tuminas accepted the proposal of the Federal Service for Culture and Cinema and the management of the E.Vakhtangov Theater, to become the Artistic Director of the Theatre.
