Shakespeare is a very convenient author; can be interpreted as the director needs. Photo by Marina Zabolotskaya
The most famous work in the world repertoire has many interpretations. The good thing about Shakespeare is that he is a “gutta-percha” author. Director Anton Yakovlev wrote his own dramatization. The textbook “to be or not to be?” in his version, a question addressed to all of us. Do we have any chance of salvation from wars, hatred and betrayal? Furthermore, there is a conflict within the person himself. When, on the one hand, he seeks God, on the other, he is a ruthless killer and destroyer. His Hamlet is not a reflective hero, a seeker of truth, who thinks and feels differently from others. A tough person, with all the internal contradictions. By mistake, he stabbed Polonius and sent his childhood friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to certain death. And not a drop of remorse, no reflection. This duality is the essence of humanity.
This is how Hamlet was presented to the audience by actor Anton Shagin, who had been preparing for this role for a long time. He agreed on this work with director Anton Yakovlev several years ago. In the role of Claudio, Maxim Averin (in the summer he moved to the Lenkom company from the Satire Theater). Gertrude – Anna Yakunina, Polonius – Ivan Agapov, Ophelia – Alla Yuganova, Laertes – Igor Konyakhin, Horace – Dmitry Maltsev… The new play “Lenkom” combines dramatic theater, music, plastic arts and features a live orchestra.
Photo by Marina Zabolotskaya
– Shakespeare is a very convenient author; can be interpreted according to the director’s needs. “It’s like a designer, you can reformat it to your liking,” says Anton Yakovlev. And it brings modern meanings to the production. The director added some of his own things to the dialogues, added some stylization things and exchanged some scenes and details. In Shakespeare’s text, the now meme expression “he went through the wrong door” suddenly appears. The stage space is devoid of everyday objects. The action is timeless and timeless. Ophelia and her brother Laertes have an overly passionate relationship, which gives rise to different assumptions. The viewer tries to unravel the director’s intentions, but is fed more by artistic impressions.
I have questions about the choice of artists. The director invited Alla Yuganova, undoubtedly a good actress, to play the role of Ophelia. She runs around the stage like a teenager with a backpack on her shoulders. Although she has long since moved away (and no longer plays) from the image of the eternally young and carefree Conchita. With all due respect to the acting talent of Alla Yuganova, there are many talented young actresses in the Lenkom company. The charm of Maxim Averin, well known for his film roles, interferes with the perception of him in the role of the treacherous Claudio. Ivan Agapov (plays Polonius) always finds the support of the public with his ability to bring calm to everyday life. All his papers are based on this technique. Like: “I saw your Italy: boot to boot.” Although this is a line from another author and said by another actor (also Lenkom). But the intonations are similar.
For Lenkom this is the third attempt to stage Shakespeare’s great tragedy. Before Anton Yakovlev, Hamlet was performed here twice. And on both occasions, film directors. And both productions were unsuccessful.
Photo by Marina Zabolotskaya
In 1977, Andrei Tarkovsky made his debut as a theater director with the production of Hamlet. For the main role, he chose his favorite artist, Anatoly Solonitsyn. Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother) was played by Margarita Terekhova, 8 years younger than Solonitsyn. But theatrical convention allows such inversions. Terekhova and Solonitsyn were guest artists, “outsiders”, which the company did not accept. The remaining roles were played by the Lenkomovites. Ophelia was played by Inna Churikova, Poland by Vsevolod Larionov, Laerta by Nikolai Karachentsov. In episodic roles were Alexander Abdulov and Viktor Proskurin. They say that Solonitsyn was not accepted also because Lenkom’s “native” Oleg Yankovsky auditioned for the role of Hamlet. But Tarkovsky did not choose him. There was no agreement or understanding of the common cause between the actors, which predetermined the fate of the performance. And the audience did not accept the performance, which was too complex, like all of Tarkovsky’s works, too long (it lasted three and a half hours). By the way, “Hamlet”, directed by Anton Yakovlev, is more or less the same. And this is alarming: Tarkovsky’s Hamlet lasted only four months on stage.
Lenkom saw the next Hamlet in 1986. The director was Gleb Panfilov. This was also his directorial debut on the theater stage. Finally, Yankovsky played the main role. But this performance did not save, nor did the fact that the role of Gertrude was played by the incomparable Inna Churikova. Ophelia – Alexandra Zakharova. Well, the entire star cast of Lenkom: Alexander Abdulov (Laertes), Alexander Zbruev (Claudius), Mikhail Kozakov (Polonius). “Hamlet” by Gleb Panfilov also did not last long in the repertoire. He was underestimated by critics. Although the performance is now considered to have been ahead of its time. And then a lot of questions arose for Oleg Yankovsky. The actor himself considered that this role had not been successful. Contrary to the traditional interpretation – a reflective hero, full of spiritual searches – his Hamlet was rational, cold, selfish, like everyone else. In this sense, Hamlet played by Anton Shagin is similar to his predecessor. He also acts without hesitation or remorse. You don’t have time to look for compromises and it’s useless. When you are surrounded by enemies, you must be proactive. It seems that such a Hamlet will be understandable to the modern viewer.
