Culture

"Interview with Vysotsky"

On the birthday of V.S. Vysotsky, a performance-concert prepared specifically for this date was held in the JINR Cultural Centre "Mir". Traditionally, on 25 January, together with the audience and performers we remember V.S. Vysotsky that left us his notes, thoughts and his feelings - in them. Vladimir Semenovich told stories with every written line and chord in such a way that they stayed with people forever. Each of his songs is a whole world gifted to subsequent generations. On the eve of the premiere, we talked to director and actor Sergey Savin.

Sergey Savin

Sergey, you are presenting the performance-concert "Interview with Vysotsky" at the Cultural Centre "Mir". What is your production made of?

- I'll tell you a little about how the performance was conceived and what key we found for this production. Initially, there was an idea for a concert of songs by Vladimir Semenovich. But performing his songs in their pure form is not a rewarding task. Why? It still won't be possible to perform better than Vysotsky, or even come close to his performance. So far, no one has really succeeded. Therefore, we have decided to modernize it a little. We are young people in the modern world. What's trending today? Various podcasts, YouTube shows, etc. And in Vysotsky's time, these were interviews. That's the idea for the performance. We took a real interview recorded in 1978 in the city of Grozny. Here, it should be added that this recording was ordered to be erased, but someone from the film crew took it upon himself to save the film. So, we took this interview, cut it into meaningful pieces and wrote questions that were not in the original interview. In addition, we took Vysotsky's texts, wrote new arrangements and added our own vision of how to read the text.

Alexander Rychkov

It is valuable and important for us that you created this project especially for us and the premiere will be held on our stage. What does Vysotsky's creative activity mean to you?

- First of all, I want to say that it is also a great honor for us to perform on the stage where Vladimir Semenovich performed and we thank the Cultural Centre "Mir" for the opportunity. And regarding our attitude to Vysotsky's creative activity, I want to say the following: when we came to you with the first performance, we already knew about the history of the Cultural Centre "Mir" and its ties with Vysotsky and so, our actor that played Santa Claus, walked around during editing on stage without shoes, purely out of respect for this stage. I think that says it all. Each member of our team carries such respect for Vysotsky's work in his heart.

Poems and neoclassics will unite to bring your idea to life. Why was this particular area in music chosen to accompany the performance?

- Neoclassical music has the widest musical and emotional range and gives scope for creativity. In fact, we didn't go far from Vysotsky's chords, we simply developed the topic and added a modern sound.

You will perform simultaneously in two roles - actor (reader) and director. How organic is this for you and how do you manage to maintain a balance for the best performance in each of the roles?

Yaroslav Razodeev

- Reading poetry has always been a priority for me in creativity. It seems to me that poetry contains a concentrate of creative energy. What a prose writer cannot fit into a hundred pages, a poet can fit into one poem. And as for directing, when you work in a well-coordinated professional team of actors, directing is no longer work, but pure pleasure! Everyone understands everything, grasps it on the fly, however, sometimes it goes to our multi-instrumentalist Yaroslav, since he often has to understand the notes that I show him on my fingers.

You announced that the action will be akin to filming a TV show. What did you mean?

- Here, we use the traditional method of the Taganka Theater. We only give a hint in the decorations that this is a television studio, we put large light umbrellas, two chairs, soft lamp light and agree with the audience that this is not a hall with 600 seats, but a small, cozy television studio. The presenter asks questions, Vladimir Semenovich answers, Vysotsky's songs are played. And when the actor has something to give and the audience has a desire to hear, a miracle of theater occurs...

V.S.Vysotsky is a special, iconic figure for Dubna and for our Cultural Centre. Is this reflected in the production in any way?

- In the production it is mentioned that he visited Dubna more than once. But there was no opportunity to open this topic widely. The fact is that the entire interview is based on the fact that Vysotsky talks about his work at the Taganka Theater and all the questions and answers are somehow related to this topic.

You step onto the stage where Vladimir Vysotsky stood many times. Do you think this kind of involvement and the moment of preserving memory helps?

- This is not only a great honor for us, but also a great responsibility! When we take the stage on 25 January, whether we like it or not, we will have to live up to both the place and the memory of the great man. Of course, this is a challenge for us, but at the same time, it is an opportunity to pay tribute to Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky. After all, our teachers are not only those that taught us at school and university, but also those on whose books, songs and poems we were brought up.

Eleonora YAMALEEVA, Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation,
photo by Igor LAPENKO