festival theater

Today, the VI International Festival NET ("New European Theater") will open on the stage of the Meyerhold Center with the performance of the famous French choreographer Joseph Naja "The Diary of an Unknown" on the stage of the Meyerhold Center. TATIANA KUZNETSOVA comments.

The annual festival "New European Theater", created on the initiative of theater critics, has been held in Moscow since 1998. The current NET is being held with the support of the Hennessy socio-cultural foundation, Carte Noir, Investkapstroy and Bokovfactory companies.

Over the years of the festival's existence, journalists have had a fair amount of practice in inventing headlines using a successful abbreviation, and the festival organizers have practiced deciphering its meaning: and the denial of old theatrical forms; and the abbreviated “new European theater”, which looks the same in Russian and English; and the English word “net”, which is thrown into a foreign theater and then pulled to Moscow; and a letter association with the World Wide Web, read - with the idea of a single European theatrical space. In addition, the festival organizers each time tried to come up with some concepts - either a variety of theatrical forms, or interpretations of modern plays. But this year they honestly admitted that they didn’t want to come up with any more concepts. They simply show those performances that, in their opinion, would be interesting for Moscow audiences to see.

The recognition is unlikely to disappoint anyone: NET has already formed its own identity and its own circle of public. Advanced viewers appreciate the informal nature of the festival - you will never find meaningless greetings from officials in the booklets, and there are no protocol ceremonies in the program; the clothing style is exclusively casual. In general, nothing except the theater itself. Although it is clear that the concept of “new European theater” is still difficult to formulate clearly - it is determined only by eye, and it is different for everyone. But there is no doubt that the festival’s range of performances will be strikingly different from the daily Moscow routine. NET is trying to bring productions by the most famous directors of the generation that was formed and declared itself in the 90s. And mostly from Eastern Europe; it is this part of the world theater space that seems to the organizers to still be very fruitful.

This year, the French choreographer of Hungarian origin Joseph Nadj (two years ago his “Woyzeck,” brought to NET, received the “Golden Mask” as the best foreign performance of the year) and the Lithuanian director Oskaras Korsunovas were again invited with their fresh performances. In addition, as part of the festival, the world premiere of a new play from the creators of Oxygen, a hit of the Moscow season before last and winner of the Golden Mask, should take place. This is a co-production of NET and the prestigious German festival "Theater of the World", which will take place next year in Stuttgart. In general, Netov’s heroes, as they say, grow up. Kirill Serebrennikov, whose “Plasticine”, promoted throughout the festival world, was noticed precisely in the program of the “New European Theater”, is now participating in the production of the Presnyakov brothers’ play “Playing the Victim”. And Mr. Serebrennikov himself over the years has become almost the main guest director of the Moscow Art Theater.

Still, the most brilliant career among young directors has been made by 35-year-old Thomas Ostermeier, who heads the famous Berlin Schaubühne theater and was the artistic director of the last Avignon festival. Mr. Ostermeier's first tour in Moscow is the main discovery of the current NET. Once upon a time, "Schaubühne" shocked the capital with Chekhov's performances by Peter Stein, staged in the best Moscow Art Theater traditions. Now Thomas Ostermeier, with productions of Ibsen’s “Nora” and Kretz’s “Concert on Requests,” must demonstrate what an offensive modern theater is, which does not break with a good tradition, but is sensitive to the social situation, and therefore knows how to make the most “mossy” classical play desperately relevant. So NET does not stand still. It differs from previous festivals in that it no longer begins on the day the Berlin Wall fell, and in the fact that the program no longer includes Evgeniy Grishkovets, whose name the previous posters could not do without. There is something to think about – both for Mr. Grishkovets and for Mrs. Wall.

NET without Evgeny Grishkovets