Review: Lokki
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Sleepy horror fills the Russian landscape
Anton Chekhov: The Seagull. The Maly Theatre in Moscow at the Helsinki City Theatre. Directed by Yuri Solomin, set design and costumes by Aleksandr Glazunov. Cast: Irina Muravjeva, Stepan Korshunov, Valery Byjatinsky, Olga Molochnaya, Vyacheslav Yezeslav, Alexander Potapov, Tatyana Korotkova, Alyona Ohlupina, Yuri Solomin, Yaroslav Baryshev and Vladimir Bogin.
There are golden nuggets of Russian theatre floating in the air, the entire history of Stanislavski’s acting.
We go back to the beginning of the last century, when the theatrical tradition was rewritten in the sparkling encounters between Konstantin Stanislavsky and Anton Chekhov .
The doors of the Moscow Art Theatre slammed shut, the theatre was polishing a new era and texts.
The expression had to be developed to meet the requirements of the new drama and the times.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Chekhov’s birth.
It means a lot of different interpretations of the master’s works, a whole hefty festival and several international visits.
Visitors will also include the Helsinki City Theatre, which will bring to Moscow the washed-out modern Ivanov, directed by the Hungarian Tamás Ascher, who is clear in his social claims.
The exchange of visits began with the oldest theatre in Moscow, the Maly Theatre in Loki, founded in 1756, which had two sold-out performances on the main stage of the City Theatre.
The guest performance hums. It is a nostalgic, polite homage to early Chechovian theatre. The interpretation is like something out of a textbook: period costumes and set design, music and especially images of people.
Everything happens on time and on time. Thunder ominously, the moon rises, music can be heard from the lake.
Loki’s meta-play, a manifesto for the new theatre written by Kostja, is covered in sulphur fumes, the devil’s red eyes swaying against the lake landscape.
The interpretation is so classic that nothing disturbs the viewer’s peace. Thanks to the fluent simultaneous interpretation by Jukka Voutilainen and Katja Tervo , the viewer can lean back, let the text flow and think about what a brilliant writer and expert on people Chekhov was.
That’s exactly how it goes in life. The man who wanted to, stopped wanting and suffocated himself for the passing era, even though the new one was already rumbling in through doors and windows.
Maly’s performance is perfect in its own genre. Sensual, but seemingly dispassionate, elegant and unbreakable. People who break up don’t rattle or crackle, not even poor people who are always in love with the wrong objects. They shed a little tears. That’s all.
The scratch of a match says it all if you look closely at the footnotes of the presentation. Lights up, doesn’t light up. Loves, doesn’t love.
Diva actress Arkadina’s complex relationship with her son Kostya is expressed with a gruesome gesture. A mother who has changed the head bandage of her son who has attempted suicide blows her nose into a shroud.
The stage is teeming with the adored divas of Russian theatre and film. It’s rare to see actors who are so aware of themselves. I’m acting, so I am.
The absolute pinnacle of the ensemble is Yuri Solomin, who plays the terrifying writer Trigorin in his art and has also directed the entire performance.
Do you remember one of Akira Kurosawa’s finest films, Dersu Uzala? Solomin played the role of the explorer, Captain Vladimir Arsenyev, impressively, almost exhaustively.
Now she’s a few decades older, too old for Trigorin, but that adds to the mess the bestselling author creates when she seduces the innocent Nina.
Another great Moscow star actress, Irina Muravyeva – known for example from the film Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears – takes on the role of a diva like a great comedian.
No wonder why Trigorin focuses on secret lovers.
The gallery of characters in the performance is the imagery of Stanislavskian theatre as such. When you watch Malyn Seagull, your brain starts flowing.
All the Seagulls of the new era begin to move like the circular machinery of the big stage, but counterclockwise.
The Seagull by the Estonian Von Krahli Theatre, the famous one directed by Kristian Smeds . Ukrainian screeching bonk- Seagull, a provocation by Andriy Zholdak .
St. Petersburg’s Maly Theatre and Lev Dodin’s The Seagull…
The performances are placed in a mutual dialogue where there is no whispering.
All the countless upstream Avengers with their new theatres throw themselves into this classic picture. The floors open up like an archaeological excavation.
This is a good place to start the Chekhov celebrations.