Electrons, wunderkinds, stage in hall: how Kamal Theatre changes formats
The Tatar Drama Theatre presented two experimental stagings
Two new plays in an unusual format — The Formula of the Beauty poetry evening and The Spectators’ Performance staging with theatre fans, not actors, were shown at the weekend on the small stage of the Kamal Theatre. Read more in Realnoe Vremya’s report.
How actor beat chemist technologist
Iltazar Mukhamatgaliyev who usually plays roles of hesitating people in the Kamal Theatre seems to be the same in real life too. In any case, in the Formula of the Beauty he plays himself. He came up with the evening during the pandemic-related lockdown actively reading verses, while Mukhamatgaliyev knows many. His spouse and colleague Lyaysan Rakhmova helped him. Sergey Skomorokhov was responsible for the laconic stage design. Lighting artist Leyla Mukhamatgaliyeva, the artist’s daughter, is studying lighting design in the Moscow Art Theatre School.
Though the action starts in a very classic way, with an invitation to the world of poetry. However, the actor reads in a way that there are fewer doubts — he reads without any airs and graces, without aspiration, but with unexpected pauses. In a word, as if he does it in somebody’s kitchen remembering the words that don’t come to his mind immediately. There are nearly 30 verses, Yoldyz Minnullina, Gamil Afzal, Khadi Taktash are among the authors. There are a lot of poems by Mudarris Aglyamov and Lena Shakirzyanova.
He reads Afzal’s verse In the Light of Neon: 20th Century is Era of Science and Equipment and switches to a short lecture. There will be several lectures. In particular, Mukhametgaliyev holds a degree as chemist technologist, he will tell you about electrons and the golden ratio showing the harmony, beauty can be explained through power. Moreover, he talks freely, not according to the script, he complains about the chalk, a too small board. He proves that the Volga is a beautiful and inspiring river measuring its length and extreme points.
Mukhametgaliyev doesn’t give incredible information, however, this creates new optics at the poetic evening. However, there are records of rain, piano, music pieces, and this isn’t in favour of the evening. The author seemed to promise a poetic action, and other incrustations of genres turn it to an ant reprise. For instance, after a verse about a fortune teller, a bayan, guitar, contrabass appear and Gypsy music plays. Also Mukhametgaliyev starts to read Yelisey Godovikov’s verses with a long prologue the wunderkind wrote at the age of 5. By the way, now he is an adult, a serious man. In a word, at a certain point emotions take one over — you didn’t seem to come to get usual emotions. The action is going to be shown every month.
Memes, selfie and cardboard Emil Talipov
Something similar happens to The Audience Show. The play was presented to competitors of an open contest for the Kamal Theatre’s new building for the first time.
Chief Director of the theatre Farid Bikchantayev said at one of the press conferences he decided to invite Ksenia Shachnyova after he saw the play the Real Tatar at MOÑ theatre festival she also worked on. Here Gyulnara Fazliakhmetova who performed in the Real Tatar helps her here. The principle is the same — actors are ordinary citizens, this time, it is fans of the Kamal Theatre. They play sitting in the habitual rows of the small hall, while spectators watch them from the stage. A Tatar speech is heard, but it seems this was agreed during the two-month preparations, Russian words appear too.
11 new actresses and an actor are in the final version (it is written there were three men, but the others fell out). So imposing stylist Ismail Safiulov takes the rap.
The play is a series of episodes, sociological surveys and monologues. For instance, one can learn that all heroes have different professions — there is a photographer, teacher, journalist, a worker of a tour agency. Or that many do not always hear the actors’ replies. One of the surveys looks the following way — heroes sit at the last seats, and when they can answer a question they are asked they come closer until the two meet in the middle.
Also, with the help of video, a combination of rap and runs, fantasies about the future,” the play is added reflections if the Kamal Theatre should move, what would happen in the old building. It turns out to be an animated paper note it will be interesting to listen to when the future is here.
At last, the monologues. The first performance didn’t have two actresses, so we didn’t see the final monologue about a spectator who dreamt of becoming an actress but became a teacher. However, there was a story about theatre memes. One of them explained the difficulty of a Tatar expression that could be translated as “hell with it.” Obviously, he ironically exploring Tatar folklore and psychological traumas. In another monologue, a drawing teacher explained how she dreamed of working next to the theatre, already played on the stage and even was on the roof. Also, she understood what the main character of the Immortal Love loved so much.
In the third monologue a girld where one can guess it is a student of some arts faculty showed how he performed a dramatic episode of Love FM play with a cardboard figure of Emil Talipov. Finally, sitting in the middle of the hall the stylist told off hicks who weren’t dressed properly to attend a play. Translators from English and Tatar appear to talk about their work. All this lacked the culmination and a person one wants to associated oneself with, but perhaps it is an indicator of the selection, this is the average spectator, comedies, melodramas are staged for them and the Formula of the Beauty. We would like to wish actors to remember they are spectators, this is why they are appreciated. We would like to say to Iltazar as an actor that his chemist technologist is very important for us.
