Translated material
Borderline Man
Moscow will see Matthew Bourne's play for the first time
Tonight on the stage of the Mossovet Theater the English company New Adventures (previously Matthew Bourne's troupe was called more frankly - Adventures in motion pictures; the name was changed after parting with the previous producer) will show the play "A Play Without Words" for the first time and then repeat it five times. The Chekhov Festival, which consistently presents world celebrities working in drama, has finally reached ballet. More precisely, to the thin line that now separates theater and dance, because Matthew Bourne (pictured) is the most borderline person. When asked who he considers himself to be, a choreographer or a director, Bourne replied that he himself has been trying to figure this out for the fifteen years he has been staging performances.He started dancing incredibly late - at the age of 22, he studied at the famous Laban school, where many dance revolutionaries came from. Before that, he spent time in musicals and films, and these two hobbies left their mark on all his work. Dynamics, rigid editing, the attitude of “you have to amaze the viewer - and then we’ll figure it out” and the lack of respect for the “sacred legends” of ballet - these are the characteristic features of Bourne’s performances.
Ten years ago he directed Swan Lake. All the swan roles went to men, but instead of circus jokes in the spirit of “Trocadero” there was a sad and mocking story about a prince, oppressed by his domineering mother, dealing with his sexual orientation. This “Swan” tours the world to sold-out audiences to this day - and all these years, films with pirated copies have been circulating around Russia. Bourne said at a press conference: “I’m just glad that people have the opportunity to watch my stuff. And copyrights - God bless them.” At the same press conference, journalists began to pester the festival producer Valery Shadrin with questions about whether they would ever bring “Swan”; the answer was: it’s difficult, expensive, and well, we’ll see how the current performance goes.
“A Play Without Words” is based on the drama “The Servant” by Harold Pinter, and the film of the same name by Joseph Losey was based on it. The story of how a rich young man hired a servant, and after some time, through the efforts of the servant, they switched roles, was created to music written by Terry Davis based on jazz tunes of the 60s (Bourne: “Jazz is not dramatic enough music, and we were worried that it would dilute our idea; but Terry found many ways to use this jazz." The performance follows the border exactly: although only dancers participate in it, the dance scenes give way to dramatic ones. True, not a word is spoken. Asked if he was going to stage a play with words, Bourne replied: “I’d better mind my own business.” The “cases” in the archive include “The Scottish Fling,” where Sylphide travels with the Scotsman James through modern Glasgow, and “The Nutcracker,” sent to an orphanage. Maybe someday they will be shown to us. Shadrin: “I’m sure that we will want to see each other in the future with this art and with Matthew.”