Culture

Teach me to live

In the autumn Sunday evening of 15 October, the stage of the Cultural Centre "Mir" will be completely dedicated to the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Maxim Averin.

The actor's one-man show "Teach me to live" is a full-fledged theatrical performance, a thoughtful and skillfully composed mosaic of music, poetry and prose, accompanied by a masterful sound and light score. This is a stage performance in which the actor is left alone with the audience and opens his soul in this dialogue. He is extraordinary, he is different, but most importantly, he is real! Our conversation is proof of this.

- Maxim, the idea of creating a one-man show is not born to all actors. It was born to you...

- I have always, in fact, intuitively felt that it would happen! Because I have always wanted exactly this form of expression. You see, an actor's life is very short. Because today you are in demand, but tomorrow, maybe not. There is a possibility that tomorrow you will be crippled or something else. This idea is an opportunity for self-expression! When you work in the theater, you understand that there are 150 souls here and everyone has the right to his or her own success and own role. Hamlet, King Lear and many other roles pass by. And today, I have the opportunity to express myself in such a way as to play something that may never happen in my life. I won't be able to play in "Romeo and Juliet" anymore...

- At what point did you feel the approach of your own project?

- Intuitively, I thought that I was always ready for this. I always knew that I would be an artist and I always knew that I could and wanted to exist like that...

- Is "Performance-revelation" a game of self-play?

- This is a game against yourself and I'll even say more - this is not a game! This is for people who understand that this is the modern world - hectic, vain that completely destroys a person. I want to return man to man with my performance. This is an opportunity to return to the original purpose of man - to live and love!

- Boris Evgenievich Zakhava wrote that a comfortable existence on stage presupposes freedom and it is in this that true creativity lies.

- There must always be conflict. With myself, with the public. Every evening I go on stage and understand that the audience is different today. They have their own problems, unpaid utility bills, accidents, fines, sanctions...

- And at this moment you want to tell them...

- Wake up! This is the most important task.

- Don't you need freedom to be creative?

- No, for creativity, first of all, there must be a conflict situation with oneself. Only in this struggle with yourself and with the conventions that you acquire, can you live calmly as an artist.

- And conflicts are resolved through communication with the audience...

- It is the only way! For example, my performance begins with very complex poetry. These are completely different notes that people no longer measure life by. In fact, this is life, but we try not to notice these notes. And then, towards the end of the performance, we do such things when we return to those questions that a person asks himself every time - "Why am I?!" But first, I like to set a rhythm so that they forget about my roles - "Sklifosovsky", "Capercaillie" and everything else. It is important for me to knock off this touch of vanity from them and the way they are used to perceiving me. And I really like it.

- Is this already about your real self?

- It's about them! So that they can see themselves. Hear themselves. Our performance is a cry for people to finally think that people should first of all LIVE...

- Not to run...

- Not to run... Everything is perishable!

- The names of your one-man performances always have a deep semantic meaning. The first one was called "It all starts with love." And it seems to me that friendship starts with a smile! Your acting friendship with the audience!

- Once, someone asked me why I feel this way about it for they openly hurt me... And suddenly I was born with what we were all told in childhood - "treat people the way you would like them to treat you." If I give it to you, you come to me sincerely to return it. Remember, the cartoon was: "Why? Just!" And it works. It surprises me when artists, my colleagues, are so good on screen, but behave terribly in life. And it's so strange. I do not understand this. When the audience tells me - you are ours, you are like us. So, I have to be like them. You need to be real in life.

- And apparently, the song "Share your smile..." is about you:

- And it will return to you more than once!

- Of course, it is mutual sincerity. Now, how many spectators will be waiting for you in the hall?

- I hope it's a full house...

- And will you see everyone's smile in return?

- Yes. I have an amazing, wonderful team that shares the same breath with me. It means a lot to me. When you find people that also live with you, with the same heartbeat, then everything is not in vain! Not in vain! It is very good to live not in vain!

- And selflessly! Then it makes sense. You don't have to play!

- Absolutely!

Interviewed by Eleonora YAMALEEVA,
Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation