Senor Pygmalion Jacinto Grau read. Down with Pygmalion. But be that as it may, the theater was created for people, “of flesh and blood,” for the theater is a living organism
It was a full house, the small hall was filled to capacity. We sat on side chairs and ottomans placed on the steps. But there was enough space for everyone, and the stage here is clearly visible from absolutely all points. Even if a tall person sits in front, it will be perfectly visible, since the rows are well raised.
“Dolls” interprets the eternal myth of Pygmalion, who created man and fell in love with his creation. The great puppeteer, Señor Pygmalion, creator of the famous puppet theater, whose puppets are almost indistinguishable from living people, comes straight from Broadway to Madrid.
Actors of local theaters, whose performances have been supplanted by touring performers, are indignant, but behind their indignation there is fear: what if these dolls are really superior to them, living actors, and then they will no longer be needed and in demand, and this is the collapse of the acting profession, the end of the theatrical creativity.
Such is the conflict, and behind it new and new questions arise. Can living feelings and passions be replaced by their mechanical imitation? Can the creations of human hands become like the creations of God? Can man, like God, create and manage his own world? These are the difficult questions posed by the play “Dolls” by Valery Belyakovich at the Theater in the South-West.
Nowadays, when robots have become a part of life and have replaced people in some areas of activity, the plot does not seem fantastic. However, the mystical moment of reviving a doll, investing life, consciousness, even mind into it, exists. And the dolls created by Senor Pygmalion are beautiful, tireless and almost eternal. They do not age, do not get tired and require only energy replenishment for the work of their mechanical hearts.
The beautiful bodies and faces of the Lord Pygmalion dolls evoke passion in the audience. Some fans accompany the Puppeteer Theater on all its tours, just to be close to their idols. Each doll is unique, each has some kind of talent. One has a wonderful voice, but she is out of tune, the other dances like a real ballerina, but not like a ballet soloist, the third has the talent of a dramatic actress and imagines herself to be a theater queen. Unable to control his feelings, the sovereign lord, Duke Adulkar (O. Leushin), loses his mind and kidnaps little Pomponina (K. Dymont), who turned his head. They are pursued by the Duke's wife, Aurelia (O. Ivanova).
But who could have imagined that all the other dolls of the Pygmalion troupe would rush to the rescue of their friend! Brainless creatures, intended to amuse the public and improve the well-being of their creator, suddenly flee from the theater on the eve of the performance and declare themselves free.
Photo from the website of the Theater in the South-West
Inimitable dances, movements, plastic movements, somersaults, stunts and jumps in the light of multi-colored spotlights create the feeling that we are in one of the theaters in Madrid at a performance of animated puppets. They appear from the mirrored doors of their boxes and do not let go of their gaze until the end of the action. You want to admire them and at the same time you are afraid for them when the Puppeteer’s whip cracks. And when they lie down on the stage and fall silent next to the murdered Pygmalion, all that remains is to cry. The girl next to me couldn’t hold back her tears. But then they got up and the tears dried up.
And before that, we laughed merrily at the jokes uttered by the Brandahwhip doll and the Madrid entrepreneurs, which were not at all medieval, but very relevant today. The actors of Madrid, at first offended by the advent of puppet theater and the cancellation of their performances, and then paying tribute to the skill of the Puppeteer, read real monologues from “Othello”, “Hamlet”, “King Lear” and it was clear that they were real dramatic actors. These monologues were woven into the action and gave it, as it were, greater authenticity. I especially liked Oleg Leushin in the role of Duke Adulcar and the miniature Karina Dymont in the image of Pomponina. The female roles of the dolls Marilonda (O. Avilova) and Dondinella (I. Barysheva) were wonderfully emotionally and plastically performed.
Photo from the website of the Theater in the South-West
There are many parallels in the play; everyone will find something of their own here. I was shocked to the point of goosebumps by the story of how Pygmalion came to create his own theater. Starting from childhood, when he left Spain with his parents, having one wooden doll in his hands, he created his own troupe for 27 years. One of the parallels is the political regime. Everyone laughs here, but as correctly noted. Imitating people, dolls create their own bodies of self-government: “You will be the parliament, and you will be the people who are oppressed by everyone. And I will stay with Pygmalion and spy on your behalf...” In this case, dolls who are tired of their owner and want freedom can be associated with the tired people of some (not necessarily our) country, and Pygmalion, a millionaire who equates himself with God, can be imagined as some kind of president. And when the dolls, tired of Pygmalion’s “usurper” power, decided to run away from him and build a new, independent life, they die. As in life, the ending of the performance is predetermined.
Photo from the website of the Theater in the South-West
At the end, the real Pygmalion appears before the audience, and there are only three of them in the play. The first is the false Pygmalion, who is actually the Brandakhlyst doll (D. Nagretdinov), who played a prank on the theater people of Madrid at the station. The second is Pygmalion (E. Bakalov), who died from a bullet, surrounded by dead dolls, their creator. And the third - reading the final monologue, Pygmalion (A. Vanin) pays tribute to the living actors, who immediately begin to read their monologues from Shakespeare, with which the performance began. Main refrain: "These are dolls!" sounds new every time and now Pygmalion himself doubts whether he is a man or a doll. And the dolls become humanized and experience feelings that are unusual for them.
The performance is very beautiful, the mirrored doors of the doll boxes transform into the mirrors of the theater of ancient Madrid, the play of light, which is either the solemn, festive light of the footlights, or the reflection of a swinging lonely lantern near an abandoned hut. And in this ghostly light, characters appear, reflect and disappear, dressed in intricate or minimally concealing clothing. The music is chosen perfectly, it either builds up and builds up the atmosphere, or relaxes and invites you to have fun. And it sounds in the places where it is needed, leading its part in the performance.
Video from the theater's YouTube channel:
Valery Belyakovich's performance "Dolls" was included in the project "Cultural Heritage of the Russian Federation: the best performances." It was first shown in July 2004, a very difficult time for the Theater. Valery Belyakovich - a tireless inventor and experimenter - takes on the play by the Spanish playwright Jacinto Grau "Señor Pygmalion" and reworks it on topical topics. The performance is a confession, a performance about painful issues, and over the last few years of creative activity, then, after 13 years, it has remained just as relevant and modern. Final monologue performed by Valery Belyakovich:
Thank you very much for the opportunity to see this miracle to the theater staff and for the invitation, special thanks to Anna atlanta_s . Subscribe to the Moscow blogger community moscultura and you will be aware of all the most interesting events in our city.
Friends, if you do not have the opportunity to read Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, watch this video. I can easily tell where a person is from by the way they speak. If I let her into my life, my calm life will be covered with a copper basin. - asked the mother. I lived for my own pleasure, but now I don’t. “Good luck,” answered Eliza.
The genre of "Dolls" is defined as tragic farce. You can’t imagine anything more precise: this material can be used to play everything, from tragedy that evokes tears and catharsis, to farce that evokes laughter. There was a feeling that in November they presented rather a farce with unexpected elements of tragedy (Pygmalion’s view of Pomponina - “what will happen next?”). In December they played a tragedy with elements of farce. I’m not that versed in theatrical theory, but as far as I can my classical education - there are several approaches to the theater, one of which (if I’m not confusing anything, according to Stanislavsky) implies: the viewer must forget that he is in the theater, there is a stage and actors in front of him, dissolve in the action and completely “believe” in what is happening on stage. And there is an approach to the theater, according to Bertolt Brecht - the viewer, on the contrary, needs to constantly remember that he is in the theater.
So, I have no idea where I got this particular perception, but I have a strong feeling that in November I saw a performance made closer to the second version, and in December - to the first. It definitely didn’t fit in my head that I was seeing artists. On the stage were Pygmalion, the Duke, and the Brandwhip, and it wasn’t a play being played in front of me, no, it was I who happened to be somewhere in Madrid and suddenly spied the arrival of Senor Pygmalion with his dolls...
It was different from the very beginning. Very serious and intense entrepreneurs, and unexpectedly interesting actors. Usually their words somehow merged for me into one common “mess”, however, such a reading also took place. I finally caught where the “real” monologues of Lear, Hamlet and Othello transitioned into the text “about dolls”. This time the “actors” were able to convey not only the fact that they are, in general, average actors, but also convey a certain drama - “what about us, are we worse than dolls?”...
And then Duke Alducar came out. Usually, during the first act, I calmly relate to the Duke; usually he is somewhat pompously theatrical (but this is rather necessary - without this there will be no brilliant contrast with “you are mine” in the second act). But this time I got goosebumps already at his first monologue: “Their faces were bright...” Honestly, at the end I was seriously scared - had something happened to Igor Olegovich Smelovsky? The performance was indescribable: the suffering and melancholy on Alducar’s face, a passionate desire expressed by a man of too high a rank to allow himself to talk about his passionate desires. "The dreams of my youth have long since left me." They don’t always admit this to themselves, and it came out by accident - in front of dissatisfied actors, in front of down-to-earth entrepreneurs. Madness. And the incredible tenderness of Aurelia, who is still able to understand her husband... Then it became more and more interesting... If earlier there was a feeling that the Duke’s tragedy came more likely from his inability and unwillingness to resist his own whims and passions, but yesterday everything happened because inability to resist them. Amazing changes from: “Sell me Pomponina!!!” to “Well, if it’s not for sale, it means it’s not for sale...” It is impossible to describe in words everything that happened on stage at that moment when the Duke took Pomponina away with him. Intoxicated... frightening (only Pomponina does not notice this yet), he waved his torn tie and those who knew “what would happen next” could see here a hint of Pygmalion’s whip.
Somehow the antagonism between the Duke and Pygmalion was particularly felt, although formally it was always present: several times they stand at opposite ends of the stage, the Duke repeating Pygmalion’s gestures. More than ever, it was felt that there was a struggle for a woman, for the right of ownership, a clash between two owners.
The next version of Pygmalion (like most of the characters in this play, Pygmalion is never the same twice) is also difficult to describe in words: there was an amazing anguish in him, as if he, just appearing on stage and rejoicing at his successful joke, already knew that he was doomed. There was so much feeling in the monologue “You eclipsed everyone for me in the sublunary world”... The moment was clearly visible when from a brilliant creator (a story about a puppet show in Washington) he turned into a brilliant madman (“and then I decided - no, I won’t stop there." I was ready to cry with him - that man in the theater and that boy...
Problem: I seem to be supposed to look at the character on the front stage, but I keep looking at someone else. While singing the song "Cuckoo's Children" I suddenly became distracted by Pygmalion... He froze, he moved his hands as if playing the keys, and... he worries about them, his dolls, he wants them to succeed. .. The second time was when Pygmalion looked at Pomponina. He almost cried... he had the look of a man in love, he could have said nothing before - we would have understood everything about his love. This is the difference: the Duke’s feeling for Pomponina is a passion mixed with tenderness, the strongest, because he has “nothing to lose.” The feeling of Pygmalion is love, which over time has become a painful feeling. But who can doubt this love? After all, he understands everything that Pomponina is just a doll, his creation, that the reciprocal feelings, the ones he would like, are not there. And yet... he hopes. After all, these could have been tears of hope...
Only this time I realized that Pygmalion’s monologue about Pomponin gives rise to more questions than answers. When did he realize that he was in love with his creation? He created it - and the feeling awoke? Or did he fall in love with the beautiful Pomponina in the making? (it was no coincidence that he gave her not just a woman’s name - but the name of a forest nymph). Or did he consciously want to make a doll, a woman he would love?
How scary he was, really scary, when he caught up with “his creations.” This was a real creepy and cruel tyrant and despot, what about Brandahwhip... His impeccably smoothed hair suddenly became disheveled... He broke almost instantly, you just had to shoot, and... he was also a doll. The most perfect. A doll that didn't know its essence...
Giovanni Brandahlyst. Like Pygmalion, yesterday he was different again. Half as I saw this hero in September - creepy, frightening; half as in the October performance - he tried to provoke the audience. As a result, the image turned out to be subtler than usual, it was impossible to catch how it changed in it, flowed - together with amazing plasticity: from almost human to already doll-like, from scary - to funny, from smiles in the audience - to goosebumps. The voice somehow became more mannered, mimicking intonations, the character seemed to become even more cheeky (as he greeted the entrepreneurs in the role of the false Pygmalion - “Good! Great!”), and at the same time, Brandakhlyst was tougher and angrier (if you compare with the previous performance). And also - I was again very touched by the gesture - a hand raised to my face, a small scene without words (before the “night dashes”). Many thoughts flashed through this moment: is it crying, or does it seem, and can a mechanical doll cry at all, especially the cruel Brandwhip?
The result was a kind of mechanical creation, both frightening and attractive.
And it also evokes a lot of thoughts. Why does he enjoy playing the role of the “first” Pygmalion so much? Perhaps because he is mistaken for a person? With what pleasure Aurelia holds out her hands to him for a kiss in the first act - and with what disgust she runs away in the second (“Where did you go?”). How does it really feel for him, because in fact he, Giovanni Brandahwhip, is a kind of “buffer” between Pygmalion and the dolls. But he... he probably gets it the most. The tragedy of such a character as Brandahwhip is a completely different category than the tragedy of Duke Alducar or Pygmalion.
Separately, about resourcefulness. After all, all artists are probably afraid of forgetting the lyrics. In the “press conference” scene, the false Pygmalion, Dmitry Erin, mixed up the answers, and to the question: “How many performances have you given?” answered “No one has complained yet,” but this was an answer to the question that had not yet been asked, “What percentage goes to entrepreneurs?” At that same second, Brandakhlyst began to jerk into puppet movements - he broke down, the program jammed. Spectators who were at “Dolls” for the first time probably didn’t all understand what was going on. Moreover, the press conference went further, as it should - when asked about the percentage, the false Pygmalion answered irritably: “Good! Normal!” But regular viewers, at least I, admired how elegantly the mistake suddenly became part of the image.
After this viewing, another scene caught my eye that had previously passed me by - probably because it is somewhat incidental in itself: in the foreground there is a general dance of dolls, and at the edge of the stage are the Duke, Pygmalion, and Brandon Whip approaches them. Suitable to find approval from his “creator and master.” Even a mechanical doll, a “jointed creature,” turns out to find this approval so important and pleasant. And Pygmalion, as it turned out, can also be not only a “creator”, not only a “tyrant”, but also a “good master”. For me, after this episode, some new colors were added to the characteristics of both Brandahlasht and Pygmalion.
Pomponina. To some extent, it’s easier for other artists. They can only be compared with a theater troupe in the South-West, and even that is difficult, our “Dolls” are so different. And only Pomponina always gets it: and because in the Comedy there are three actresses playing this role; and because at one time the Nizhny Novgorod public was spoiled by Karina Dymont. At three performances I saw three different heroines, and now at least I can compare. Yulia Palagina tried to be different, to be “completely different”, Yulia Lykova seemed like a very young Pomponina (at some point even an association with Suok, “the doll of the heir Tutti” popped into my head). Pygmalion’s love for her is the love of a man who is older and wiser (but still powerless in front of the “beautiful Pomponina”). She wants people to give her “flowers, sweets, anything” because it’s nice. And she wants to see “other continents” because she has never seen them before. Marina Zamyslova’s Pomponina seemed to me a more “mature” heroine, as if more “experienced”, and in her own way, like a puppet, knowing life. This Pomponina wants people to give flowers because she knows she deserves them. She wants to see the continents because she needs to break out of her “box.” This Pomponina is strange, unusual, mysterious, in her almost human awareness and understanding of everything that is happening constantly contrasted with the doll's naivety - the result was a very interesting version of the heroine.
The Aunt Hortense-Teresita couple, which I adored from the very first viewing of “Dolls,” was excellent. From the very first words of “auntie” it became clear that it would be gorgeous. Dmitry Kryukov created something extraordinary. A wild, strange woman (precisely a woman, in my opinion Matoshin in Moscow is played by some mysterious creature of a completely indeterminate gender), moving from mannerisms to rudeness (“Sing!”), such an emotional auntie, at whose intonations and remarks the whole audience laughs . Her niece wonderfully echoes her with her inimitable facial expressions and “terrible plasticity.” And this time, how funny Teresita came out (“drive, bring us happiness!” - my favorite quote, probably from the whole performance), how scary Krohobor barked “rolling pain!”, I even shuddered.
All the dolls were good, and the special causticity of Screwball, and the romanticism (and facial expressions, of course) of Cherub, Captain Mamona turned out to be unusually emotional in contrast to the usual severity, the wonderful beautiful dolls Marilonda and Dondinella (called “trrrrrrrrrrrrr!” and “who will I be, who I will be who I will be!”), Juan-Bolvn, capable of telling a lot with just one “kuckoo!”
Never before have I been left with so many different thoughts after a performance. I’m already wondering “what will happen next”... that is, what will I see in January on “Dolls”. I have no doubt, something completely new and different.
- International Conference:
- Conference dates: December 3-5, 2018
- Report date: December 3, 2018
- Type of talk: Invited
- Speaker: not specified
- Location: IMLI RAS, Russia
- Abstract of the report:
The report is dedicated to the tragicomic farce “Señor Pygmalion” by the 20th century Spanish playwright H. Grau. The premiere of the play took place outside of Spain: the first production was carried out in Paris in 1923 by C. Dullen, in 1925 in the Czech Republic by K. Capek, and a little later in Italy by L. Pirandello. The main characters of the work are dolls-automata, similar to people, who rebelled against their creator and killed their hated owner in order to gain freedom. In three acts of the play, Grau shows the world of dolls and their relationship with their creator, hiding under the pseudonym Pygmalion - the only person among the main characters. Within the framework of the report, the novelty of Grau’s proposed interpretation of the theme of the relationship between the creator and creation is revealed by comparing “Signor Pygmalion” with various works, developing this topic up to the 20th century. Another feature of Grau’s tragicomic farce is the intertextual richness of the images and plots of “Señor Pygmalion,” which refer to various texts that influenced the playwright to one degree or another: from Spanish folklore to the novels of G.D. Wells and G. Meyrink.
