The truth triumphs over lies: the premiere of the play “Tartuf” took place in the Oryol Theater “Free Space”

"Almost Forbidden Comedy"

On October 9, the premiere of the play “Tartuff” (16+) based on the play by Jean-Baptiste Molière took place at the Oryol Theatre “Free Space”. One of the most famous works of the French playwright in the production of Ulyanovsk director Iskander Sakayev sounded fresh and modern.

"I deliberately exposed the scene."

What can surprise the modern viewer the work of the director with a classic work, which is almost four hundred years old? Maybe Oryol theatergoers, going to get acquainted with the new production, represented the characters of the play, playing on the stage negligee, or Tartuf, reading rap? Or waited for technically complex scenery or costumes embroidered with gold and precious stones?

I will say at once: Iskander Sakayev does not abuse such new-fangled techniques. However, some "tricks in the sleeve" he has.

For example, he presented to the audience... Theater in the theater, one might even say, a performance in a cube. In it, artists appear as heroes of “one almost forbidden comedy”, and actors playing a play to the king, and artists of “Free Space”, uttering from the stage monologues-revelations, confessions about the most personal.

All this happens to the sounds of live harpsichord music. The sound of the instrument is very appropriate in the performance and helps the viewer to plunge into the era.

A distinctive feature of the performance can be called minimalism of scenery. “I deliberately bared the scene so as not to hide behind beautiful pictures. All attention is focused on the actor, his face and movements. For me, it is important to submit an artist without focusing on external effects. To pull out of the artist that psychological depth, which is implied by the material, says Iskander Sakayev.

The minimum of scenery compensates for the play of actors, as well as costumes of heroes - dresses and camisoles, as well as voluminous wigs. “Their monochrome scale, textures, as if sewn with a rough thread, make it clear that we are not life itself, but a show for the king,” the costume designer Dina Tarasenko opens the veil of secrecy of the production.

Theatre in theater

We are talking about the fact that, the main character of the play, which takes place in France in the 17th century, during the reign of King Louis XIV, Mr. Molière faces imprisonment, and the staging of his work is prohibited by censorship. But the playwright rewrote the finale and appeals to the king to save the play. And now before the eyes of the king appears a draft version, a rehearsal of a hastily remade play.

The main character of the production - Tartuf - a guest in the house of the simple-minded, but near Orgon (Mikhail Artemyev). The head of the family and his mother Pernel (Irina Ageykina) are misled by the sight of a “God-fearing, highly moral, almost holy man.”.

However, other household members are outraged by the influence of a clever manipulator on the owner of the house. Tortured by his nagging, constant moralizing and false piety, they refuse to recognize Tartuf as saints. The plot is built on attempts to expose a hypocritical deceiver.

Orgon does not want to hear the complaints of the household, their opinions he does not appreciate a penny. Then the family unites in an attempt to compromise Tartuf in front of the owner of the house. Not once, but he finally understands who warmed up on his chest.

Under the mask of virtue

Now for the characters of the play.

The main character Tartuf (Vladimir Nikulin) first appears only at the end of the first act. Before the audience appears half-naked man engaged in self-flagellation, pacification of the flesh. Husband and crook, he acts on the show. In the second act, he transforms from a saint into a lying, sneaky swindler and deceiver. At the end of the play, the audience watches a real demon on the stage.

Those who denounce the falsely holy household are also not saints. So, the viewer notices that the wife of Orgon Elmira (Elizaveta Afanasyev) is not modest at all, but rather a woman-vamp. He sees how the infantile daughter of the owner of the house, Mariana (Victoria Rudnitskaya), who resists marriage with Tartuf, is ready to contradict his father and plot with his mannered fiancé Valer (Matvey Repin). Notes that the maid Dorina (Elvira Uzyanbayeva) is still an intriguer and does not mind doing dirty things to Tartufa. Watches how the brother-in-law of Orgon Kleant (Danila Maskaev) uses the same techniques as Tartuf, eavesdrops and watches over the villain, and the son of the owner of the house Damis (Ivan Kiryukhin) is not restrained and humble. Watches as the elderly Mrs. Pernel does not want to hear and admit the truth.

However, at the end of the action, as in Molière, conventional good overcomes evil, and truth triumphs over falsehood.

However, the finale does not fully correspond to the work of the classic. One of the heroes seems to suffer for the truth. At the end of the day, he will “come to life” and join the rest of the company.

But let's not reveal the cards...