Cold summer of the seventeenth year

Many years ago, some kind of technogenic disaster suffered the country. What kind of country is understandable. Breeded scraps to the pain of a recognizable past life-the top of the power lines, the cradle from the Wheel of Ferris, a lonely, non-traveling car car-crookedly sticking out of the sterile and unearthly space of the stage. The purpose of these items has long been forgotten. Life among them is rude and untidy, even one can say - this is not life at all. All kinds of physical and mental ailments amaze the population. It is cold, people wrapped in blankets warm their hands over the bonfires in rusty barrels. It is snowing all the time. Winter has already ended, already spring seems to have to change the summer, but it all goes and goes.

Such is the new “Snow Maiden”, set on the historical stage by the big team of neighbors from the theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko-director Alexander Titel and scen player Vladimir Arefyev. The fairy tale says the categorical “no”. The Tristan theme of love-death-too. “Yes” is said to the gloomy anti -utopia with a hint that it is not so far from us. From the past works of Titel, the Yekaterinburg Boris Godunov is most remembered, but that performance was more successful.

Why is King Berendey one -eyed? Is he a relative of Votan or Kutuzov?

Here the intentions are understandable, but the details are not clarified, and many details remain riddles. Why is the Snow Maiden have a hand bandaged? And who does she still love-Lelya or Mizgir? Why is King Berendey one -eyed? Is he a relative of Votan or Kutuzov? He is an epicenter of evil, surrounded by security in overalls, or an understanding, but helpless ruler (in the directorial annotation, by the way, he is called an “intellectual”)? By what principle are numerous intricate bills made, as if carved by manicure scissors? And is the climatic collapse invented for the performance something else other than a decorative background?

In a word, there are many questions. In addition, Chernyakov, which appeared almost in parallel (not only on the Paris stage, but also in a public network), is uncomfortable “phonit” the maximum “Snow Maiden” .

A fragile greenhouse next to Berendey’s living space (but it is not involved in the play) and the crooked bath in the possessions of spring (the appearance of sand-legged girls wrapped in bath towels in the snow, thus justified, although they prefer themselves to stole themselves, for some reason, they prefer it not inside the steam room. In the finale, the painful expectation of Yarila Sun is resolved by a non-widespread, well-known Potemkin way-a curve and a plain, but still working design of the Sofis are taken out onto the stage. From bright artificial lighting, the Snow Maiden, and behind it, Mizgira becomes mortally bad, Berendeeev people, having thrown off the blankets, hats and outerwear, is as unpleasant as before, but in general this whole apocalypse does not cut it anywhere.

The delicate, thoughtful and rather indifferent orchestra, under the control of Tugan Sokhiev, also does not help the performance of some life roam. Although many young soloists are involved in it, there are good vocal works: for example, in one of the premieres - Alexei Neklyudov (Berendey), Anna Bondarevskaya (Lel), Maria Lobanova (Kupava). Nevertheless, with the next attempt to populate the old scene with the new classic, the Bolshoi Theater is difficult to congratulate.