"Contemporary" turns 50 years old - the anniversary performance will be free

"Today is our birthday - we are 50 years old." Such an inscription was inscribed at the poster of the Moscow Contemporary Theater, which today celebrates a half -century anniversary. However, instead of accepting gifts and congratulations, the popular troupe decided to make a gift to the audience itself - to play one of the best performances for free - “Cool Route” based on the book of Evgenia Ginzburg.

The audience, which will fill the Hall of Contemporary today, literally will be "selected". It was selected throughout the season with the help of the so -called "communicative pipe", which was installed in the lobby. In this simple building, as in a mailbox, the audience who visited the performances could lower their notes with wishes, thoughts, and mini-reviews.

“We received over a thousand such messages, the number of their authors significantly exceeded the number of seats in the hall,” Galina Volchek, the artistic director of Contemporary Tass, said in an interview with ITAR -TASS. “In the end, we took 250 people, to whom we will hand over two tickets,” she said. According to Volchek, the age of the guests of today from 16 to 76 years, and this is by no means VIPs, but ordinary spectators, only very true and interested in the fate of the theater.

For such an audience, they will first play a performance, and then they will invite to the dialogue. The whole troupe will enter the stage, they will turn on the light in the hall, install microphones and begin, as they hope in the theater, a lively conversation with the audience. And when it ends, all together will go, presumably, for already night pure ponds - to get a holiday.

Everything will happen again in the same way as it was exactly 50 years ago. After all, "Contemporary" was really born at night. "On April 15, 1956, we played the play" Eternally Living "based on the play by Victor Rozov, after which a dialogue with the audience took place," Volchek recalled. “That night conversation gave strength to create the theater, and then the energy received then was enough for 50 years,” Galina Borisovna admitted.

However, in the morning, long before the start of the celebrations, the team of "Contemporary" will visit its founder and teacher Oleg Efremov - will visit his grave at the Novodevichy cemetery. Thanks to this master, “Contemporary” was established as the theater of like -minded people, an integral artistic organism with pronounced creative and civilian aspirations, with a strong talented troupe. This is always remembered here.

On the account of "Contemporary" more than a hundred performances, many of which became legends. The plays were carried by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Genghis Aitmatov, Vasily Aksenov and Alexander Galich. The art of "Contemporary" was admired by Eduardo de Filippo, Peter Brooke, Arthur Miller, John Gilgood and other masters of the world stage. Only stars always played in this theater.

And when in 1970 Oleg Efremov left the “Contemporary” and headed the Moscow Art Theater, the troupe elevated Galina Volchek to the “Captain Bridge”, who still “steers” her theater. When asked about whether she prepares a successor to herself, the current artistic and contemporary artistic director replies that she is engaged in searching all the time. “But this should happen completely organically, as happened to me - when you need it, the team himself will choose a leader. Good traditions do not have to be violated,” Volchek is sure.

On the eve of April 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin came to the theater to congratulate the team. The head of state, as a gift for the half -century anniversary of the "Contemporary", brought to artists and leaders state awards. From the hands of the president of the Order, Igor Kvasha, Leah Akhedzhakova, Marina Neelova, Nina Doroshina, Lidia Tolmacheva, Elena Yakovleva, Olga Drozdova, Chulpan Khamatova and others received. The ceremony also announced the assignment of ranks in the field of culture and art, reports ITAR-TASS.