elena papanova
Photo: www.youtube.com
As “KP”, the artistic director of the Theater, has written more than once. Ermolova, Oleg Menshikov, in 2021 broke up with a group of older artists, including Elena Papanova, the star of the TV series “School”, daughter of the prominent Soviet actor Anatoly Papanov, who will celebrate his 70th birthday this year. .
Photo: still from the film.
The breakup was so painful that the artist still cannot get over it and in rare interviews she usually avoids the topic. And yet, in a detailed interview with the “PROlife” vlog, Papanova honestly told how it all happened.
“I returned to the theater after the first maternity leave, I worked, then there was a second maternity leave,” Papanova recalled. — Vladimir Andreev left, but Valery Fokin arrived. And it turned out to be a strange situation: essentially, there were two companies for several years. They called us the Moscow International Center named after Ermolova, and the others were called the Ermolova Theatre. After Fokin left, the company was again headed by Andreev (he worked with Elena-Author’s parents).
Then, in the 2000s, Oleg Menshikov came to the theater, after the success of the series “School”, where the actress played the writer Valentina Kharitonovna.
– No conflict [с Меньшиковым] “We didn’t have it, nobody understands it,” says the artist. — Little by little he filmed all the performances of the old repertoire. Apparently, I saw theater in a different way. I didn’t play anything for two or three years. And he went to the Crimea and took a vacation at his expense. And then a colleague calls me and tells me: “They are firing us.” And this is a big violation (dismissal during the holidays – Author). And according to the court, I was one of the first to be reinstated. Do you know what is more offensive? Let’s say I understand Oleg Evgenievich: he is building a new theater, he doesn’t need us. But not to meet the artists… who worked for 40 years in the theater…
elena papanova
Photo: www.youtube.com
Papanova recalled that Menshikov found a dozen different reasons for not giving explanations face to face to those dismissed, not thanking them for their work and not saying goodbye:
“After being reinstated by the court, the director (Sergei Kuzoyatov – Author) said to me: “Elena Anatolyevna, do you want to work in the theater?”, said the 69-year-old actress. “I answer: “Of course I love theater, I’ve been working in it for a long time.” And she says, “We don’t have any roles for you. But you still come to the theater. Every day. You will have to sit in the theater from 11:00 a.m. until the start of the performance.” I say: “What should I do in the theater?” He replies: “Work on yourself. Read books. Raise the cultural level. Sit in the dressing room, you can walk around the theater. And I walked like this for a month. “It was humiliating.”
After Papanova fell ill with coronavirus, she went on sick leave and after the acute phase of the illness she was sent to rehabilitation. When she returned, the director suggested to the actress that she leave the theater. And she agreed.
