The Russian National Theatre Golden Mask Award will be held in Moscow for the 24th time this year.
Founded in 1993, this annual award and festival continues to excite and impress audience imaginations with the creative scope of new productions. Theatre expert and founder of the theatrical production company «Bright People» Maria Galperina tells us how Moscow will be transformed during the festival "Golden Mask".
Maria, tell us about the Golden Mask repertoire this year.
Every year, the best theaters, which were carefully selected by the theatrical commission, come to Moscow for 2 months. The repertoire includes only new performances presented in the theatrical season.
Special attention is paid to modern opera and ballet - according to statistics, these genres attract the Moscow citizens and overseas guests the most.
If the viewer knows Russian, then, of course, he or she can also enjoy other performances, but in general, the vast majority of the audiences pay their attention on this.
Which nominated plays should people visit?
When the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater comes to Moscow every year, it is an important cultural phenomenon in Russia. People from all over the world come here to get to the premiere under the baton of Theodor Curentzis.
He is such an expressive theatrical figure of the musical world that his separate concerts, which he gives in Moscow, are as much interesting as ballets, operas and completely new theatrical experiments with his participation.
Speaking of experiments, the ballets are interpreted through an absolutely original lens - there are no plots to which we are so accustomed. For example, in the new interpretation of the ballet "Cinderella" by Sergei Prokofiev, the heroes of the famous fairy tale learn about king ball, by watching TV, and there is a retro car instead of the pumpkin.
Also, Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg theaters of opera and ballet come to Moscow every year with very interesting performances. I recommend seeing the play about the Soviet power in the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theater called "The Motherland of Electricity" - this opera is different from what is shown in theaters today.
Tell us about the «Golden Mask in the city» program.
I would like to note the real theatrical creative feat of the Golden Mask, because it is inconceivable and laborious process- to bring to Moscow such big troupes, orchestra, ballet scenery. This requires huge, simply titanic, efforts. Within 2 months theater groups show excerpts from their performances in the city space, and they can be viewed for free. This can happen in the buildings of libraries, museums and stations, in the squares of the city.
In addition, children's program is also presented. In most cases, it is not necessary to understand the language, since this is primarily a visual phenomenon.
What part does your company take in the theater award and festival?
For the second year in a row, there has been a unique premiere, which our company is creating together with the Golden Mask - a kind of forerunner of the closing ceremony of the festival.
For people who have not yet come to the theatres, but want to feel the delicate and beautiful taste of art, we organize street performances where we combine entertainment with high genres - choir, opera, ballet, modern dance.
For performers, this experiment is quite bold, because when the theater comes to the urban space, it is always a serious challenge for actors.
The city is a living environment, and it is challenging to create an atmosphere of the theater. Keep attention here is much more difficult, as the street theater doesn’t have special effects and scenery - the artist must compete with the city noise and sounds.
This year our street play will be held on April 14 at Gorky Park from 16:00 to 18:00, where everyone can see it for free.
What did the premiere look like last year? What difficulties did you face?
Last year we did a play - the theater promenade, which symbolized the main theatrical genres: ballet, drama, tragedy, Puppet Theater and opera, corresponding to the Golden Mask nomination.
In each mini-production with humorous modern and traditional forms of art were presented, and at the end an opera performance was prepared. Undoubtedly, this format sounded very unconventional in the urban space, as here we connect the professional skills of artists with very unusual visual images. The achievement of such a combination presupposed a number of definite difficulties.
We had costumes - three-dimensional and extremely difficult to create, and we had to find a balance between how to move and how to combine these elements to create visual beauty.
For example, one opera singer had a chandelier on her head as a symbol of opera. This design should have been done so that it was both light and firmly fixed on the head, and at the same time should not interfere with singing. A whole team of master designers worked on it.
Also, there were complex costumes created for a dramatic group - the artists wore different masks that were playable elements and part of the costume. During the performance, these masks changed depending on the emotions that the artist wanted to convey to the audience.
In the opera, for example, the costumes partly consisted of notes that were used during singing and were removed from the costume. All these elements were very exciting, because the viewer must be enticed, so that he was interested in what will go on.
Especially for this performance together with the director we developed a mobile column. The performance was moving, and the sound had to move with it. We faced the task of making the column so that it was no less elegant and exquisite - we had to solve such questions almost every day.
What else can people see before the Golden Mask festival is over?
Speaking of performances, you can go to the production "Uncle Vanya". This is a very visual spectacle, on which you can experience the history of the images.
I also recommend seeing "the Small form" in theater-studio "Grany". Each work of a local talented director is always another discovery you won’t forget.
If we talk about opera, I recommend going to "Faust" in the theater "New Opera" and "Chad" in "Helicon-Opera".
As for the ballet - definitely worth a visit "Seasons" at the Mariinsky Theater, "Cinderella" at the Perm Opera and Ballet Theater.
Lovers of contemporary art will be interested in the production called "Cage" at the Bolshoi Theater and "Memoriae" in the theater "Contemporary".
And, of course, we shall not forget about the operetta "The Princess of the Circus" at the Moscow Musical Theater, which will be appreciated by the devotees of the light genre.
Maria, what can we expect in the city spaces during the theater festival?
The Golden Mask Festival will end at the height of Easter, so there will be interesting Easter events in the city that you can visit and learn about the holiday and try a traditional food.
We share with you in the next article what exactly we prepare in the program, and what we are going to surprise you with!
Author: Maria Shchur
Photo: Valery Latypov
