29.03.2024

Don Giovanni by Viktor Shamirov – eternal themes in a modern arrangement

In the anamnesis of the overwhelming majority of creative people in the Soviet and post-Soviet space, there will certainly be some kind of engineering institute.

We will not go into the reasons and origins of this phenomenon, we will just make sure that Viktor Shamirov exactly falls on the experimental curve: he began his path to knowledge and creative stars through the thorns of Rostov University, namely the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, the Department of Applied Mathematics.

In November, Israeli fans of modern theater, as well as Melpomene and Talia, will meet with an extraordinary production that combines a classic plot, postmodern irony, the eternal theme of love and jealousy and a new direction: the farce performance Don Giovanni based on the play by Don Nigro, in directed by Viktor Shamirov and starring Gosha Kutsenko.

Also in the «case history» there is a mandatory element of the student theater group. It is also found in our particular case: at the rehearsals of the student Shamirov was seen more often than at the lectures on tensor calculus and he received immeasurably more pleasure from the former than from the latter. Therefore, although mathematics is the queen of all sciences, since art requires sacrifice, Shamirov did not enter GITIS right away, but only at the age of 26, having already worked «as a fireman and a carpenter,» but did not lose his ardent passion for the theater. And he was admitted to the course of Mark Zakharov as a reward, having graduated from a theater university with a diploma: «director of a drama theater.»

At the same time, his first work in Moscow turned out to be an actor’s: Iosif Raikhelgauz, the famous director of the legendary School of the Modern Play, saw only Shamirov in the role of Treplev. There was a double intent in that: Reichelgauz decided that this role should also be played by the director, who, inside the performance, would make his own production of Treplev’s play. Shamirov was perfect for this.

Today Viktor Shamirov is not only one of the most famous Moscow theater and film directors, but perhaps the most shocking, unusual, and provocative and in-demand person in the world of Russian show business.

Like any creative «hooligan», Shamirov, like an experienced diamond cutter, can illuminate and add extraordinary brilliance to even the most hackneyed subjects, no matter how ingenious they may be. One of the striking examples is the story of the skillful, ruthless, cold-blooded, insatiable seducer Don Juan, who broke hundreds of women’s hearts without a shadow of regret.

This eternal image first appeared in the 17th century in a play by Tirso de Molina, a Spanish playwright and monk in combination. The initiative of the Spaniard was happily picked up, continued and deepened the folk scenes of Italy, turning the grave tragedy into an outright cocky farce — a national character from which one cannot hide.

A few years later, the plot migrated to the scenes of France, where Moliere — no wonder he is a Frenchman, brought a bit of courtesy to the plot. With a light movement of a goose feather, Moliere wiped out both gloomy Spanish clericalism and disorderly Italian comicism from the play. After him, the plot finally went from hand to hand: each author, actor and director brought something of his own into the image.

Zamora, Goldoni, Hoffman, Byron, Merimee, Pushkin and even the namesake of the «mirror of the revolution» Count Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy wrote about Don Juan. This eternal ladies’ man did not ignore music either, and the pearl in this crown is Mozart’s opera.

Of course, the crafty mischievous Shamirov could not pass by such a rich material. In 1996, he already took on Don Juan, staging a play based on the work of A.K. Tolstoy. At the end of the second decade of the 21st century, when the style, style, rhythm and pace of life have changed incredibly, a new dramatic language is needed. Taking as ingredients the classic of the famous Austrian «Don Giovanni ossia Il dissoluto punito» («Don Giovanni, or the Punished libertine») and the postmodern adaptation of the plot by the popular American playwright Don Nigro — the play «Don Giovanni» — Shamirov conjured up a magic potion and performed a magic potion farce «Don Giovanni».

The story of the famous heartthrob is described in the play in a frivolous Broadway manner, with risky jokes on the verge of a foul, which is very close to director Shamirov who does not go the beaten paths. Therefore, it is no coincidence that another stage hooligan who organically fits into it in the main role: Gosha Kutsenko, a longtime creative associate of Shamirov.

«Don Giovanni» is a play about eternal values ​​and eternal human throwings: love and hatred, loyalty and friendship, treachery and betrayal, everyday life and being. A magnificent production, a stellar cast, unexpected dramatic moves and directorial finds are designed for people with a refined sense of humor, who love theater and are ready to see new things in the most ordinary and familiar.

The roles are played by theater and film stars:

Don Giovanni — Gosha Kutsenko, Honored Artist of Russia

Leporello, his servant — Alexander Samoilenko

Donna Anna, daughter of the Commander — Marie Vorozhy

Zerlina, Donna Anna’s maid — Elena Moiseeva

Commander, father of Donna Anna — Alexander Andrienko

Casanova and the Commander — Alexander Andrienko

Donna Elvira — Natalia Shchukina, Honored Artist of Russia

Tel Aviv, Theater «Gesher», 19 November 2017, Sunday, 20:00

Ashdod, Performing Arts Center, 20 November 2017, Monday, 20:00

Netanya, «Heikhal ha-Tarbut», 21 November 2017, Tuesday, 20:00

Petakh-Tikva, «Heikhal ha-Tarbut», 22 November 2017, Wednesday, 20:00

Kiryat Haim, «Teatron Ha-Tsafon», 23 November 2017, Thursday, 20:00

Nazareth Illit, matnas «Berkovich», 24 November 2017, Friday, 19:00

Karmiel, «Heikhal ha-Tarbut», November 25, 2017, Saturday, 19:00

Book tickets on the website of the tour organizers — Rest International.

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