Text Ksenia Yevdokimenko photo Kirill Fyodorov, Viktor Dmitriev
Last spring the performance of Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden) at The Old House Theatre in Novosibirsk won a Golden Mask at the festival of the Russian Performing Arts and National Theatre Awards. This was unusual because performances staged by foreign directors rarely participate in the festival. Snegurochka was staged by our compatriot, Galina Pyanova, and the designer, Anton Bolkunov, is also Kazakh.
Galina Pyanova has become a brand name not only in her own country, but also abroad. Kazakhstan’s audiences associate her mostly with the legendary independent ARTISHOCK Theatre. Miracles appear to happen quite frequently in Galina’s life, but on closer inspection she probably generates most of them by herself. For example, a little over fifteen years ago, a group of actors broke away from the State Academic Theatre to create their own troupe. In their first premises, marble-floored but unfurnished, they rehearsed their first, fantastic performance of Zip-zap…. And not even a word about a broom. Without backdrops or words and wearing simple overalls, they did not then even imagine the number of international festivals they would take their performance to. They performed even if only a few people had come to watch, they enjoyed it so much. Within a few years, people would gladly sit on pillows thrown on the floor just to be part of the audience. The actors took their performance onto the street, acting in eyecatching ways to show that theatre need not be boring or dusty. That is why Galina Pyanova’s prestigious Golden Mask is a well-deserved award that has been a long time coming, even though she received it for work with another team and at another theatre.
Galina is pleased with the award but does not consider it defining:
“It may be a stamp of conventional
approval, but theatre is truly a collective art.
It has long since stopped being an institution defined by one leader, unless that leader is one of incredible stature. This is why the Golden Mask is a result of the work and stress of a huge number of people. If the composer, Sasha Manotskov, had not provided me with support the performance could never have taken place. If it there were no costumes by Yelena Tyrchaninova or without the work of the designer Anton Bolkunov, the outcome would have been completely different. When we were working on the performance we did not think about how many awards we might win or where it might take us, and in many respects we had to work through areas of resistance, even from the actors…
We won an award for innovation. The performance was first of all experimental, yet this was for me, in a sense, unusual because I don’t consider myself an innovator searching for new forms and genres in an attempt to astonish our audiences. It is more important for me to tell a story that is conveyed with clarity. But now, if there are disagreements during rehearsal I can say in a grumpy voice that I don’t care because I am an innovator!
Nevertheless, you choose the play, the narrative language and even the unusual angle for what at first sight seems to be a children’s fairy tale…
“I expect that the most surprising aspect of this performance was that we had no dialogue. The only sounds are those of the musical score such as the arias of Snegurochka and the soliloquys by Tsar. The performance builds on a tough and efficient interpretation of the play by Alexander Ostrovsky. This is probably what surprised the audience, that there is no direct narrative and yet the story is alive. For me, it is first of all a story of the Berendeis and a miraculous, otherworldly creature, who appears amongst them. What should these ordinary people do with this deity? There are many social issues in this story. The country of the Berendeis is in crisis; they have not had any sunshine for fifteen years and without food the people are now starving. In consequence, there is a demographic crisis as young people don’t want to have children as they
can’t see how they can provide food or clothing for them, or find the money to educate them. And they become a problem for the state. In general, they blame each other for their current situation: those in power blame the people, the people blame those in power. It is a clear situation, isn’t it? For me personally, there are no good or bad people in this story, simply those who are unwise. This is why we decided to remove the dialogue from the performance. It is as though we can no longer talk, or make any sound. But the Berendeis receive a gift – Snegurochka – from whom they can learn a lot. But this is annoys the people. ‘Why is she better than us?’ they ask themselves. ‘Why is she more loved than us? Why does she have better clothes? Why, in the end, can she sing in a way that we can never sing?’ And so by sacrificing the best we become better, this is the law of our society. Whether pagan or barbarian this is an absolute law and this is what the performance is about.
Are you being slightly disingenuous by claiming that the Golden Mask is not a major event in your life? After all, this award is proof that you are a ‘cool’ producer
“Time will tell what kind of a producer I am – cool or not. This is a stamp of approval, but in our profession we have to demonstrate every day what we are worth. Sometimes it seems that you have nothing to say and it feels as though there is nothing left to talk about. For me, it is a permanent source of emotional experience. Honestly, when we got a call in the middle of the night from ARTISHOCK’S actor, Chingiz Kapin, who was in Moscow and who congratulated our team on their victory, Anton Bolkunov and I leapt around like a couple of children in an orgy of excitement for about 20 minutes. But afterwards it is back to work as usual. Indeed, I never obsessed about winning an award of that class. In the Novosibirsk theatre, where Anton and I worked for two years, I was surprised by the fixation of the administration and actors with the idea of being at least nominated for this award. I even thought, some time ago, to protest against it, because you should not focus all your creative
impulses on achieving a concrete material result. If you win the award, what happens next? It won’t be engraved on your headstone, will it? The sparkle in your eye and the thrill of the moment will vanish fast if you don’t get your high from your everyday work, regardless of how the outside world judges you, and if you don’t understand that you are unspeakably lucky in this life to be able to make amazing things in such a creative environment. Which is why I think in the end the management of the Old House Theatre was very surprised to receive this prestigious award for our project.
Can you recall moments of happiness related to your work?
“I experienced one of the most tremendous moments of love and happiness while rehearsing our first performance of Zip-zap… And not even a word about a broom at ARTISHOCK. And also, as I was packing my bags to go to St Petersburg, where I had been invited to work, I realised something incredible had happened. Contrary to all the diagnoses and doctors’ prognoses, I had become pregnant. That was a true miracle. My relationship with my husband Anton is also a miracle. I thought it was impossible to experience such emotions after the age of 40. I am still afraid of speaking about it for fear of scaring the happiness away. The miracle, even though planned, was the birth of our son.
Tell us about your plans for ARTISHOCK.
“Today ARTISHOCK has moved to a qualitatively new level. Our theatre has one of the strongest managerial teams in the CIS. As a result of its work we have stepped onto a larger stage, which means new horizons and new opportunities, which include major performances, tours and festivals. We are currently gathering funds for a renovation. With the launch of the ‘PREVIEW Great Scene’ project, a series of exclusive theatrical activities will take place on the new stage during its construction. Of course, we need a lot of support at this time. I want to appeal to everyone, to our audience and those who love Almaty and believe in its future, who want to live in this city and raise children here, for support. You can take part in our crowd funding; information is available at www. start-time.kz.
I will not stop believing in miracles.”
Сіздер біздің краудфандингімізге қатыса аласыздар, ол туралы ақпаратты www.start-time.kz сайтынан табуға болады. You can take part in our crowd funding; information is available at www.start-time.kz. Вы можете принять участие в нашем краудфандинге, информация о котором — на www.start-time.kz.