A director Andrey Borisov: 'We sold a couple of diamonds and went on a tour'
The Sakha Theatre came to Kazan with three productions
Probably the most important theatrical event of this autumn is the tour of the Sakha Academic Theater named after P. Oyunsky that was opened in the Galiaskar Kamal Tatar Academic Theatre. The day before the opening, it was a press-conference of guests, where the iconic Yakut film and theater director, the former Minister of Culture of the Republic of Sakha, now a State Councilor of the Sakha Andrey Borisov featured. Realnoe Vremya also asked him a couple of questions.
'The legend about the Theatre went in front of it'
The guests from the Republic of Sakha showed three performances in Kazan. The first one is the Coveted shore... by the prose of Chingiz Aitmatov (at the time, it was the graduation work of Andrey Borisov, a pupil of Andrey Goncharov). Two more performances — by the students of Borisov: The house of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca staged by Susanna Oorzhak and The Dream of the Shaman by Alexey Kulakovsky staged by of Ruslan Tarakhovsky.
A singer, actress and director Stepanida Borisova has repeatedly performed at the international festivals of Nauruz with solo programs and once even presented a solo performance Medea. Three such different performance from the repertoire of the Yakut theatre is a gift to theater-goers. By the way, the tour was held under the motto 'The legends of the Sakha Theater'.
The press conference was opened by the chief theatre director of the Kamal Theatre Farid Bikchantaev. 'We heard a lot about Sakha Theatre, the legend about it went in front of it. It is very pleasing that the theatre, which, as well as ours, celebrates 110 years this year, included our region in its tour route as well,' commented on the arrival of colleagues Bikchantaev.
Bright, charismatic Andrey Borisov immediately replied: 'Tatar Theater has always been the example for Yakutia. Its performances, last night I saw Don Giovanni, show that intellectualism in the theatre is possible. It is very valuable now because it often happens that a theatrical performance becomes a show. The Kamal Theatre do its performances about being. It unites us.'
'In line with the great Russian theatre'
The tour, about which Borisov said that they have spent 'lots of money', is not just a beautiful event in the anniversary year. 'We want to restore the Eurasian cultural ties. We're going through Novosibirsk, Bishkek, Almaty, Astana, the Republic of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Moscow,' marked the route Borisov.
'We sold a couple of diamonds and went on a tour,' joked the director. In general, it was evident that he was happy to be in Kazan, he was in anticipation to see the Kazan audience and he was in a very good mood.
According to him, these cultural ties have existed since ancient times, and the theatre of the Republic of Sakha has always existed in line with the 'great Russian theatre'. This is no wonder — Borisov got an education as an actor at the Mikhail Shchepkin Higher Theatre School, which ideologically is adjacent to the Maly Theater (Moscow), to the 'house of Ostrovsky' with its age-old traditions. He learnt directing from Andrey Goncharov, a long-standing chief director of the Moscow Theater named after V. Mayakovsky. So, he is the flesh and blood representative of the Russian theatre school.
However, as Borisov noted, similar tours are infrequent, in most cases, the troupe travels to rural areas. Sometimes such tours last for two months. The journalists inquired: 'Does the youth go to the theatre?', Borisov answered in the affirmative, noting that young audience is about half of the audience.
The Sakha Academic Theatre named after P. Oyunsky is the main theatre of the Republic of Sakha, its plays are performed in the Sakha language, in Kazan they were, of course, with translation. Three performances quite fully represent this direction, in line with which the team works.
The philosophical prose of Aitmatov, passionate, temperamental poetry of Lorca (by the way, the title role in The House of Bernarda Alba was performed by Stepanida Borisova) and really unusual for Kazan performance The Dream of Shaman, an apocalyptic performance in the center of which is a young rock musician. After going through the rite etteni (the dismemberment of the flesh), he is spiritually healed.
In the new season, the communication with the Sakha Theatre has not been the only one. The International Festival of Turkic Theatres Nauruz will be devoted to the Yakut Theatre next summer.