Ave! (статья с сайта международного фестиваля "Edinburgh Fringe 2003") - Новости и пресса - Каталог статей - Театр-студия ТЕАТР ПИЛИГРИМОВ. Официальный сайт
Ave! (статья с сайта международного фестиваля "Edinburgh Fringe 2003")
Ave!
Cast Virgin Mary: Lubov Monina, Elena Corniernko, Tatiana Malahova, Viktor Lesovoi; Oleg Ermolovich (The Wanderer); Alexander Glushkov (guitar) Composerand Musical Director Vladimir Sokolov Sound Engineer Sergei Atlashkin Venue St John's Church Hall (Venue 127) Address West End, Princes Street Reviewer Pat Napier
The Pilgrim Theatre, the only Russian group at the Fringe, began with a dedication, through an interpreter, of their performance to those who died in New York on 11 September 2001. This immediately set a mood of great humanity, of connection and profound spriituality which turned out to cross language and cultural barriers in a deeply moving way.
Lubov Monina
Set in an abandoned Siberian village on the shores of Lake Baikal and interspersing the music and song of the Russian Orthodox faith with the telling of the Virgin Mary's life, the story unfolded in evocative music and song. The only set was a backdrop of stunningly beautiful images of Siberia and wonderfully spare line drawings. All of the cast's robes were plain white occasionally overlaid with black or grey cloaks - except for the guitarist. He and his electric guitar were a crucial and dramatic part of the action.
Now you might think that this would be an exotic, spiritually rarifed Everyman type of performance, divorced from today's reality. Not a bit of it! What this gifted Russian group placed before us was a story of the triumph of hope, of the power of resurrection and regeneration, and of deep sacred and universal truths.
The Virgin at various stages of life
It was told in a stunning array of Russian traditional songs full of yearning, of Orthodox hymns, of evocative music to simulate such things as the lapping of the lake on the shore or the flight of birds - and of contemporary emotive music. There was narrative music when telling the Virgin's story as she grew older, watched the birth, life and ghastly death of her Son, then the glorious shining out at His resurrection. Snatches of the Dies Irae gradually gave way to Lubov Monina's stunning Ave Maria, her huge range of voice and vocal colouring giving us a marvellous memory; this gradually moved into a Russian Ave Maria of great beauty.
When the story dwelt on the breakdown of the Baikal natural world resulting from man's destructive tendencies, Alexander Glushkov's amazing guitar playing was given total freedom to improvise and set the modern, angst-ridden, despairing scene, shown in images such as blasted trees and a horrific shot of a nuclear explosion. However, the rock guitar also helped set the scene for such episodes as the Christ Child's presentation in the Temple and was there, in pounding, driving mood as he died on Good Friday and then at the end, contributing to the universal message of hope and rebirth.
Vladimir Sokolov has created a powerful and modern mystery story, an Everywoman story just as timeless as the medieval Everyman story. The singers, without exception, were marvellous. His music and songs lodge deep in the mind. Don't miss it!
