I made a post from pieces, excerpts from books and articles. When you put together the puzzles of text and video, I hope that you will feel the atmosphere of the theater, or rather one very interesting performance, that's what I wanted to express in my post:
During Brecht's lifetime, his relations with the Soviet theater were, to put it mildly, not particularly successful. The main reasons were the official theater's ideological rejection of Brecht's artistic searches, as well as the paradoxical nature of Brecht's figure, which rather irritated the authorities. Mutual hostility was mutual. On the one hand, in the 1920s and 1950s, Brecht's plays were almost never staged by domestic theaters. On the other hand, the acquaintance of the German playwright himself with Soviet theatrical practice more than once plunged him into despondency.
Brecht found himself in the Soviet chalk circle. It was only at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, after his death, that rare productions of his plays appeared. Among the first and most significant should be mentioned: "Dreams of Simone Machar" in the Moscow Theater. M. Yermolova directed by Anatoly Efros (1959); "Mother Courage and her children" at the Moscow Academic Theater. Vl. Mayakovsky (staged by Maxim Strauch) (1960); “The Good Man from Sezuan” at the Leningrad Academic Theater. Pushkin (1962, director - Rafail Suslovich); “The Career of Arturo Ui” at the Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theatre. Gorky (1963, directed by Erwin Axer).
However, these and some other productions of the thaw by Brecht pale before the significance of one educational student performance. In 1963, young Vakhtangov students, third (!) year students of the Theater School named after B.V. Shchukin, presented the fruit of their six-month work - the play "The Good Man from Sezuan" staged by the course teacher Yuri Lyubimov.
His success was stunning. In the last year of the thaw, in a small hall of the Shchukin school on Stary Arbat (later it was played on other stages in Moscow), the performance was watched by I. Ehrenburg, K. Simonov, A. Voznesensky, E. Yevtushenko, B. Okudzhava, B. Akhmadulina, V. Aksenov, Yu. Trifonov, A. Galich, O. Efremov, M. Plisetskaya, R. Shchedrin... It would seem that the next student production was perceived by the Moscow public not only as a theatrical breakthrough, but also as a kind of public manifesto , a banner that promised a change of time. It is very symptomatic that a year later, on April 23, 1964, Liubovskiy's "The Good Man from Sezuan" will open a new theater - the Taganka Theater, in which it is still being performed.
(Excerpt from an article on Brecht's work.)
Moscow is an amazing city - everyone there knows everything from rumors. Rumor has it that some interesting performance is being prepared. And since everyone is bored, and diplomats too, if something interesting, then there will be a scandal. As my late friend Erdman said, “if there is no scandal around the theater, then this is not a theater.” So in that sense he was a prophet to me. And so it was. Well, it's boring, and everyone wants to come, see, and they know that if it's interesting, then it will be closed. Therefore, the performance could not start for a long time, the audience burst into the hall. These diplomats sat on the floor in the aisle, a fireman ran in, a pale director, rector of the school, said that "he will not allow it, because the hall may collapse." In the hall, where there are two hundred and forty people, about four hundred sit - in general, there was a complete scandal. I stood with a lantern - the electrics there were very bad, and I myself stood and led the lantern. Brecht's portrait was highlighted in the right places. And I kept driving this lantern and shouting:
For God's sake, let the performance continue, what are you doing, because the performance will be closed, no one will see it! Why are you stomping, don't you understand where you live, you idiots!
Still, I calmed them down. But, of course, everything was recorded and reported. Well, they closed after that.
An excerpt from the book by Yuri Lyubimov "Stories of an old talker"
"The Good Man from Szechuan" Bertolt Brecht (German: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) 1940
Brief summary of the play (for those who do not know what it is at all)))
The main city of Sichuan province, which summarizes all places on the globe and any time in which a person exploits a person - this is the place and time of the play.
Prologue. For two thousand years now, the cry has not stopped: it cannot go on like this! No one in this world is able to be kind! And the worried gods decided: the world can remain as it is if there are enough people capable of living a life worthy of a person. And to test this, the three most prominent gods descend to earth. Perhaps the water carrier Wang, who was the first to meet them and treat them with water (by the way, he is the only one in Sichuan who knows that they are gods), is a worthy person? But his mug, the gods noticed, had a double bottom. A good water carrier is a scammer! The simplest test of the first virtue - hospitality - upsets them: in none of the rich houses: neither at Mr. Fo's, nor at Mr. Chen's, nor at the widow Su's - Wang can find accommodation for them. There is only one thing left: to turn to the prostitute Shen De, after all, she cannot refuse anyone. And the gods spend the night with the only kind person, and in the morning, saying goodbye, they leave Shen De an order to remain as kind, as well as a good payment for the night: after all, how to be kind when everything is so expensive!
I. The gods left Shen De a thousand silver dollars, and with them she bought herself a small tobacco shop. But how many people in need of help are close to those who are lucky: the former owner of the shop and the former owners of Shen De - husband and wife, her lame brother and pregnant daughter-in-law, nephew and niece, old grandfather and boy - and everyone needs a roof over their heads and food. “Salvation is a small boat / Immediately goes to the bottom. / After all, there are too many drowning / Greedily grabbed the sides.
And here the carpenter demands a hundred silver dollars, which the former mistress did not pay him for the shelves, and the landlady needs recommendations and a guarantee for the not very respectable Shen De. “My cousin will vouch for me,” she says. “And he will pay for the shelves.”
II. And the next morning, Shoi Da, Shen De's cousin, appears in the tobacco shop. Resolutely chasing away unlucky relatives, skillfully forcing the carpenter to take only twenty silver dollars, Prudently making friends with the policeman, he settles the affairs of his too-kind cousin.
III. And in the evening in the city park, Shen De meets an unemployed pilot Song. A pilot without a plane, a mail pilot without mail. What should he do in the world, even if he read all the books about flying in a Beijing school, even if he knows how to land an airplane on the ground, as if it were his own ass? He is like a crane with a broken wing, and there is nothing for him to do on earth. The rope is at the ready, and there are as many trees in the park as you like. But Shen De does not let him hang himself. To live without hope is to do evil. Hopeless is the song of a water carrier selling water in the rain: “Thunder rumbles and it rains, / Well, I sell water, / But water is not for sale / And it is not drunk in any. / I shout: “Buy water!” / But no one buys. / In my pocket for this water / Nothing gets in! / Buy some water, dogs!”
Yi Shen De buys a mug of water for her beloved Yang Song.
Vladimir Vysotsky and Zinaida Slavina in the play "The Good Man from Sezuan". 1978
IV. Returning after a night spent with his beloved, Shen De sees the morning city for the first time, cheerful and giving fun. People are kind today. The old carpet merchants from the shop across the street lend dear Shen De two hundred silver dollars, enough to pay off the landlady for six months. Nothing is difficult for a person who loves and hopes. And when Song's mother, Ms. Yang, tells that for a huge amount of five hundred silver dollars, her son was promised a place, she happily gives her the money received from the old people. But where to get another three hundred? There is only one way out - to turn to Shoi Da. Yes, he is too cruel and cunning. But a pilot must fly!
Sideshows. Shen De enters, holding the mask and costume of Shoi Da, and sings “The Song of the Helplessness of Gods and Good People”: “The good people in our country / They cannot remain kind. / To reach the cup with a spoon, / Cruelty is needed. / The good ones are helpless, and the gods are powerless. / Why don't the gods say there, on the ether, / What time to give all kind and good / The opportunity to live in a good, kind world?
V. Clever and prudent Shoy Da, whose eyes are not blinded by love, sees deceit. Yang Sun is not afraid of cruelty and meanness: let the place promised to him be someone else's, and the pilot who will be fired from him has a large family, let Shen De part with the shop, besides which she has nothing, and the old people will lose their two hundred dollars and lose their housing , just to get your way. Such a one cannot be trusted, and Shoy Da seeks support in a rich barber who is ready to marry Shen De. But the mind is powerless where love is at work, and Shen De leaves with Sun: “I want to leave with the one I love, / I don’t want to think about whether it’s good. / I don't want to know if he loves me. / I want to leave with the one I love.”
VI. A small cheap restaurant in the suburbs is preparing for the wedding of Yang Sun and Shen De. Bride in wedding dress, groom in tuxedo. But the ceremony still does not start, and the bonza looks at his watch - the groom and his mother are waiting for Shoi Da, who should bring three hundred silver dollars. Yang Song sings "Song of Saint Never's Day": "On this day, evil is taken by the throat, / On this day, all the poor are lucky, / Both the master and the laborer / Walk together to the tavern / On Saint Never's day / The skinny one drinks at the fat one at a party . / We can no longer wait. / That's why they should give us, / People of hard work, / Saint Never Day, / Saint Never Day, / Day when we will rest.
“He will never come again,” Ms. Yang says. Three are sitting and two of them are looking at the door.
VII. Shen De's meager possessions are on a cart near the tobacco shop - the shop had to be sold in order to repay the debt to the old people. The barber Shu Fu is ready to help: he will give his barracks for the poor, whom Shen De helps (you can’t keep goods there anyway - it’s too damp), and write out a check. And Shen De is happy: she felt in herself a future son - a pilot, "a new conqueror / Inaccessible mountains and unknown regions!" But how to protect him from the cruelty of this world? She sees the carpenter's little son, who is looking for food in the garbage can, and swears that she will not rest until she saves her son, at least him alone. It's time to be your cousin again.
Mr. Shoi Da announces to the audience that his cousin will not leave them without help in the future, but from now on, the distribution of food without reciprocal services stops, and in the houses of Mr. Shu Fu there will be one who agrees to work for Shen De.
VIII. The tobacco factory that Shoi Da set up in the barracks is staffed by men, women and children. The overseer - and cruel - here is Yang Sun: he is not at all sad about the change of fate and shows that he is ready for anything for the interests of the company. But where is Shen De? Where is the good man? Where is the one who many months ago on a rainy day in a moment of joy bought a mug of water from a water carrier? Where is she and her unborn child that she told the water carrier about? And Sun would also like to know this: if his ex-fiancee was pregnant, then he, as the father of the child, can apply for the position of the owner. And here, by the way, in the knot of her dress. Has not the cruel cousin killed the unfortunate woman? The police come to the house. Mr. Shoi Da is facing trial.
X. In the courtroom, Shen De's friends (Wang the water carrier, old couple, grandfather and niece) and Shoi Da's partners (Mr. Shu Fu and the landlady) are waiting for the hearing to begin. At the sight of the judges entering the hall, Shoi Da faints - these are the gods. The gods are by no means omniscient: under the mask and costume of Shoi Da, they do not recognize Shen De. And only when, unable to withstand the accusations of the good and the intercession of the evil, Shoi Da takes off his mask and tears off his clothes, the gods see with horror that their mission has failed: their good man and the evil and callous Shoi Da are one person. It is not possible in this world to be kind to others and at the same time to yourself, you cannot save others and not destroy yourself, you cannot make everyone happy and yourself with everyone together! But the gods have no time to understand such complexities. Is it possible to refuse the commandments? No never! Recognize that the world must be changed? How? By whom? No, everything is okay. And they reassure people: “Shen De did not die, she was only hidden. There is a good man among you." And to Shen De’s desperate cry: “But I need a cousin,” they hastily answer: “But not too often!” And while Shen De stretches out his hands to them in despair, they, smiling and nodding, disappear above.
Epilogue. The final monologue of the actor in front of the public: “Oh, my venerable public! The end is unimportant. This I know. / In our hands, the most beautiful fairy tale suddenly received a bitter denouement. / The curtain is lowered, and we stand in embarrassment - we have not found the issues of resolution. / So what's the deal? We are not looking for benefits, / So, there must be some right way out? / You can’t imagine for money - what! Another hero? What if the world is different? / Maybe other gods are needed here? Or no gods at all? I am silent in anxiety. / So help us! Correct the trouble - and direct your thought and mind here. / Try to find good for good - good ways. / Bad ending - discarded in advance. / He must, must, must be good!”
T. A. Voznesenskaya retold.
Bertolt Brecht
Good man from Sichuan
Parabolic play
In collaboration with R. Berlau and M. Steffin
Translation by E. Ionova and Y. Yuzovsky
Poems translated by Boris Slutsky
CHARACTERS
Van is a water carrier.
Three gods.
Yang Song is an unemployed pilot.
Ms. Yang is his mother.
Widow Shin.
Family of eight.
Carpenter Ling To.
Mi Ju's landlady.
Police officer.
Carpet merchant.
His wife.
Old prostitute.
Barber Shu Fu.
Waiter.
Unemployed.
Passers-by in the prologue.
Location: the semi-Europeanized capital of Sichuan.
Sichuan province, which summarized all the places on the globe where
Man exploits man, now he does not belong to such places.
A street in the main city of Sichuan. Evening. The water carrier Wang is introduced to the public.
Van. I am a local water carrier - I sell water in the capital of Sichuan. Hard craft! If there is not enough water, you have to go far for it. And if there is a lot of it, earnings are small. In general, there is great poverty in our province. Everyone says that if anyone else is able to help us, it's the gods. And now imagine my joy when a cattle dealer I know - he travels a lot - told me that several of our most prominent gods are already on their way and can be expected in Sichuan any hour. Heaven is said to be greatly disturbed by the multitude of complaints that come to it. This is the third day I have been waiting here at the city gates, especially in the evening, in order to be the first to greet guests. I won't be able to do it later. They will be surrounded by high-ranking gentlemen, then try to get through to them. How would you know them? They probably won't show up together. Most likely one at a time, so as not to draw too much attention to yourself. These don't look like gods, they're coming home from work. (Looks attentively at the workers passing by.) Their shoulders are bent from the weights they carry. And this one? What kind of god is he - fingers in ink. At most an employee of a cement plant. Even those two gentlemen...
Two men pass by.
And those, in my opinion, are not gods. They have a cruel expression on their faces, like people who are used to beating, and the gods do not need this. And there are three! As if it's something else. Well-fed, not the slightest sign of any occupation, shoes in the dust, which means they came from afar. They are they! O wise ones, have me! (Falls down.)
The first god (joyfully). Are we waiting here?
Van (gives them a drink). Long ago. But only I knew about your arrival.
First god. We need an overnight stay. Do you know where we can settle down?
Van. Where? Everywhere! The whole city is at your disposal, O wise ones! Where would you like?
The gods look at each other meaningfully.
First god. At least in the nearest house, my son! Let's try in the nearest time!
Van. It only embarrasses me that I will incur the wrath of those in power if I give special preference to one of them.
First god. That is why we order you: start with the nearest!
Van. Mr. Fo lives there! Wait a minute. (Running up to the house and knocking on the door.)
The door opens, but Van is seen to be refused.
(Returns timidly.) What a failure! Mr. Fo, unfortunately, is not at home, and the servants do not dare to do anything without his order, the owner is very strict! Well, he will be furious when he finds out who was not accepted in his house, right?
Gods (smiling). Undoubtedly.
Van. One more minute! The house next door belongs to Su's widow. She will be overjoyed. (Runs towards the house, but apparently gets rejected again.) I'll do better opposite. The widow says that she has only one small room, and that one is not in order. Now I will turn to Mr. Chen.
Second god. A small room is enough for us. Say we'll take it.
Van. Even if it's not tidy, even if it's full of spiders?
Second god. Trivia! Where there are spiders, there are few flies.
The third god (friendly, Vanu). Go to Mr. Chen or somewhere else, my son, spiders, I confess, I do not like it.
Van again knocks on a door, and they let him in.
Van (returning to the gods). Mr. Chen is in despair, his house is full of relatives, and he does not dare to appear before your eyes, wise ones. Between us, I think there are bad people among them, and he does not want you to see them. He fears your wrath. That's the whole point.
Third God. Are we that scary?
Van. Only for bad people, right? It is known that the inhabitants of the province of Kwan have been suffering from floods for decades - God's punishment!
Second god. Here's how? Why?
Van. Yes, because they are all atheists.
Second god. Nonsense! Just because they didn't fix the dam.
First god. Shh! (Vanu). Do you still hope, my son?
Van. How can you even ask such a thing? It is worth passing one more house, and I will find accommodation for you. Everyone licks his fingers in anticipation that he will receive you. Unfortunate coincidence, you know? I'm running! (Walks away slowly and stops hesitantly in the middle of the street.)
Second god. What did I say?
Third God. Still, I think it's just a coincidence.
Second god. Chance in Shun, Chance in Kwan and Chance in Sichuan. There is no more fear of God on earth - this is the truth that you are afraid to face. Admit that our mission failed!
First god. We may yet come across a kind person. Any minute. We must not retreat immediately.
Third God. The decree said: the world can remain as it is if there are enough people worthy of the title of man. The water carrier himself is such a person, unless I am deceived. (Goes up to Wang, who is still scurrying in hesitation.)
Second god. He is being deceived. When the water carrier gave us a drink from his mug, I noticed something. Here is the mug. (Shows it to the first god.)
First god. Double bottom.
Second god. Scammer!
First god. Okay, he's out. Well, what is it if one is rotten? We will meet those who are able to live a decent human life. We must find! For two millennia the cry has not stopped, it cannot go on like this! No one in this world is able to be kind! We must finally point to people who can follow our commandments.
"Kind Man from Sichuan"(translation option: "The Good Man of Sezuan", German Der gute Mensch von Sezuan) is a parabolic play by Bertolt Brecht, completed in 1941 in Finland, one of the most striking embodiments of his theory of epic theater.
History of creation
The idea for the play, originally called "The Goods of Love" ("Die Ware Liebe"), dates back to 1930; the sketch, to which Brecht returned in early 1939 in Denmark, contained five scenes. In May of the same year, already in the Swedish Liding, the first version of the play was completed; however, two months later, its radical processing began. On June 11, 1940, Brecht wrote in his diary: "For the umpteenth time, together with Greta, word by word, I am revising the text of The Good Man from Sichuan" - only in April 1941, already in Finland, he stated that the play finished . Initially conceived as a domestic drama, the play eventually took the form of a dramatic legend.
The first production of The Good Man from Sichuan was staged by Leonhard Stäckel in Zurich and premiered on February 4, 1943. In the homeland of the playwright, in Germany, the play was first staged in 1952 by Harry Drop Letter in Frankfurt am Main.
In Russian, “The Kind Man from Sichuan” was first published in 1957 in the journal “Foreign Literature” translated by E. Ionova and Y. Yuzovsky, the poems were translated by Boris Slutsky.
Characters
Van - water carrier
three gods
Shen Te
Shui Ta
Yang Sun - unemployed pilot
Ms Yang is his mother
Widow Shin
family of eight
Carpenter Ling To
Homeowner Mi Ju
Police officer
carpet merchant
His wife
Old prostitute
Barber Shu Fu
Bonze
Waiter
Unemployed
Passers-by in the prologue
Plot
The gods who have descended to earth are unsuccessfully looking for a kind person. In the main city of Sichuan province, with the help of the water carrier Wang, they try to find accommodation for the night, but they are refused everywhere - only the prostitute Shen Te agrees to give them shelter.
To make it easier for the girl to remain kind, the gods, leaving Shen Te's house, give her some money - with this money she buys a small tobacco shop.
But people unceremoniously take advantage of Shen Te's kindness: the more good she does, the more trouble she brings on herself. Things are going very badly - in order to save her shop from ruin, Shen Te, who cannot say "no", dresses in men's clothes and introduces herself as her cousin - Mr. Shui Ta, tough and unsentimental. He is not kind, he refuses to everyone who turns to him for help, but, unlike Shen Te, things are going well with the "brother".
Forced callousness burdens Shen Te - having corrected things, she "returns", and gets acquainted with the unemployed pilot Yang Sun, who is ready to hang himself out of desperation. Shen Te saves a pilot from a noose and falls in love with him; Inspired by love, she, as before, refuses to help anyone. However, Yang Sun uses her kindness as a weakness. He needs five hundred silver dollars to get a pilot's job in Beijing, that kind of money can't even be earned from selling a shop, and Shen Te, in order to accumulate the required amount, turns into the hard-hearted Shui Ta again. Yang Sun, in a conversation with his "brother", speaks contemptuously about Shen Te, whom, as it turns out, he does not intend to take with him to Beijing, and Shui Ta refuses to sell the shop, as required by the pilot.
Disappointed in her beloved, Shen Te decides to marry a wealthy citizen Shu Fu, who is ready to do charity work for her sake, but, having taken off Shui Ta's costume, she loses the ability to refuse, and Yang Sun easily convinces the girl to become his wife.
However, just before the wedding, Yang Sun learns that Shen Te cannot sell the shop: it is partially mortgaged for $ 200, long given to the pilot. Yang Sun counts on Shui Ta's help, sends for him, and in anticipation of his "brother" postpones the marriage. Shui Ta does not come, and the guests invited to the wedding, having drunk all the wine, disperse.
Shen Te, in order to pay off the debt, has to sell the shop that served her as a home - no husband, no shop, no shelter. And Shui Ta reappears: having accepted material assistance from Shu Fu, which Shen Te refused, he forces numerous freeloaders to work for Shen Te and eventually opens a small tobacco factory. In the end, Yang Sun also gets a job at this rapidly flourishing factory and, as an educated person, quickly makes a career.
Half a year passes, the absence of Shen Te disturbs both the neighbors and Mr. Shu Fu; Yang Sun tries to blackmail Shui Ta into taking over the factory, and failing to get his way, brings the police to Shui Ta's house. Upon discovering Shen Te's clothes in the house, the police officer accuses Shui Ta of killing her cousin. The gods will judge him. Shen Te reveals her secret to the gods, asks her to tell her how to live on, but the gods, pleased that they have found their good man, fly away on a pink cloud without giving an answer.
"The Good Man from Sezuan" is the performance from which Taganka began. Although many actors are no longer alive, the fact that this is a production by Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov is felt. The action of the performance is permeated with Lyubov's atmosphere.
"The good man from Sesuan." Plot
The gods do not want to believe that there are no good people left on earth and almost pilgrims travel the world. Why almost - because they seem so natural to themselves, but in fact an ordinary water carrier recognizes the gods in the satellites. Sezuan is one of the many cities that they came across along the way. Maybe someone will shelter them for the night?
I managed to ask for it only to a girl of easy virtue. The rest - with heavy - were adamant. And the one with the lung, she can't say no.
As they left, the gods thanked the girl. And then it all started...
eternal questions
- Is it easier to be kind if you have money?
- How long can you stay kind with money?
- Is it possible to be infinitely kind? Is there an inexhaustible source of kindness?
- Is it true that kindness should be with fists?
- Why do brains turn off when you love?
- What is more important - feelings or obligations?
- Is life easier for the good than for the evil, or is it more difficult?
- Kind people - simpletons? And why is it said that simplicity is worse than theft?
- What, in the end, is stronger - good or evil? Now, if two opposite people converge, will the bad one, in the end, become better or the good one worse?
If you decide to go to the play, your head will swell from such questions. And the heart will break with pity ... And despite all this, you will giggle at the jokes of the characters. Here is such a paradox.
How about this dialogue:
First god. "Most importantly, stay kind, Shen Te! Farewell!"
They turn to leave, nod goodbye to her.
Shen Te (frightened). "But I'm not sure of myself, wise ones! How can I be kind when everything is so expensive?"
Second god. "Here, unfortunately, we are powerless. We cannot interfere in economic issues."
Third God. "Wait! Wait a minute! If she had some means, it would probably be easier for her to remain kind."
Nothing has changed in our lives...
Author
When I used to try to feel the work of "The Good Man from Sezuan", reading about Vysotsky, and that the role of the unemployed pilot Sung Yang was his favorite, everything seemed incomprehensible to me. And the main character is one in two faces, and the strange names of the characters, clearly not existing in reality, clearly invented, made in the Chinese manner, but not Chinese - Shue Ta, Shen Te, and maybe Chinese - Mrs. Shin, pilot Song, brother Wong. In general, it seemed strange.
Then, after watching, there is a desire to "catch up" with information, you read about the author, and about his time, and about the history of the creation of the play. And you understand what Brecht is. And you penetrate. This quote is revealing:
Me-ti said: my deeds are bad. Rumors are spreading everywhere that I have said the most ridiculous things. The trouble is, absolutely between us, most of them I actually said.
actors
If you are our longtime reader, you might have noticed that we often visited Taganka. And some actors are already like close people for us. We are glad every meeting with them, and expectations are justified. Trifonov, Luchikhin, Radtsig, Ryabushinsky, Badalbeyli, Nechitailo, Gaaz, Kotov, Ushakov, Staburov, Sidorenko. They are certainly talented, and each new role they see reveals another facet of their talent.
The discovery this time for us was Maria Matveeva in the title role and - surprisingly - Marfa Koltsova. And her role is not a role, but a role, but HOW it is presented! Several days have passed, and her image is still before my eyes, and her raspy voice and phrases uttered like a broken record are heard in my ears.
Pleased. Each of the images - absolutely everyone - was remembered.
Bright bitchy Margot. In another cast, the housekeeper Mi Tzi is played by Anastasia Kolpikova, so it is very difficult to imagine her.
Enchanting extreme Timur. Just a barber-darling Shu Fu!
Dmitry Vysotsky opened from the other side. Like I didn't get it at all. And as a water carrier, he is incomparable.
The same story with Mikhail Lukin. Woland, in my opinion, he is so-so. Boring. And here - just a musician. But captivating, memorable. How to explain this phenomenon - I do not know.
Another musician Anatoly Vasiliev is a theater legend. I feel reverent delight in relation to those people who stood on the same stage with Vysotsky. And even then he was the same musician. Moreover, the music is his.
Music
Can you imagine a film or performance with Vysotsky without music? Yes, of course, "Dima Gorin's Career" or "The Cook". Or the same "Meeting place ...". You can remember if you want. But the same "Hozyan taiga" or "Intervention" is primarily remembered by songs.
"The Good Man of Cezuan" is filled with songs, and in addition, music often plays in the background, setting the mood and giving meaning to the scenes of the play.
Lyrics do not lose, unfortunately, over time, acute social orientation. Half a century has passed since the staging of the play in Taganka, a century has almost passed since the writing of the texts, but come on!
Sheep march in a row
The drums are beating
They give skin
The sheep themselves.
We can no longer wait.
That is why we must give
People of hard work
Saint Never's Day -
The day we will rest.
staging
The production is original, Lyubov's.
Taganka began with "The Good Man". And despite the fact that many of the actors of that time are now gone, the spirit of Lyubimov is felt, carefully, reverently preserved.
Minimalism of the props and simplicity of the costumes. The emphasis is on acting. Each character has its own character.
The portrait of Bertolt Brecht and some of the scenery seem to have survived from that time.
Impression
After all that has been said, talking about impressions, in my opinion, is superfluous.
"The good man from Sezuan" hooked. And it is not clear why, despite all the tragedy of the problem posed and the questions asked, it was easy and pleasant to watch it. Probably, this is the SKILL OF TAGANKA.
Bertolt Brecht
in collaboration with R. Berlau and M. Steffin
Good man from Sichuan
Parabolic play
Characters
Van- water carrier.
three gods.
Shen De.
Shoy Da.
Yang Song is an unemployed pilot.
Ms Yang- his mother.
Widow Shin.
A family out of eight people.
carpenter Lin To.
homeowner Mi Ju.
Police officer.
carpet merchant.
His wife.
Old prostitute.
Barber Shu Fu.
Bonze.
Waiter.
Unemployed.
Passers-by in the prologue.
Scene: semi-Europeanized capital of Sichuan.
The province of Sichuan, which summarized all the places on the globe where man exploits man, is not one of those places today.
A street in the main city of Sichuan. Evening. Water Carrier Van presented to the public.
Van. I am a local water carrier - I sell water in the capital of Sichuan. Hard craft! If there is not enough water, you have to go far for it. And if there is a lot of it, earnings are small. In general, there is great poverty in our province. Everyone says that if anyone else is able to help us, it's the gods. And now imagine my joy when a cattle dealer I know - he travels a lot - told me that several of our most prominent gods are already on their way and can be expected in Sichuan any hour. Heaven is said to be greatly disturbed by the multitude of complaints that come to it. This is the third day I have been waiting here at the city gates, especially in the evening, in order to be the first to greet guests. I won't be able to do it later. They will be surrounded by high-ranking gentlemen, then try to get through to them. How would you know them? They probably won't show up together. Most likely one at a time, so as not to draw too much attention to yourself. These don't look like gods, they're coming home from work. (Looks attentively at the workers passing by.) Their shoulders are bent from the weights they carry. And this one? What kind of god is he - fingers in ink. At most an employee of a cement plant. Even those two gentlemen...
Two men pass by.
... and those, in my opinion, are not gods. They have a cruel expression on their faces, like people who are used to beating, and the gods do not need this. And there are three! As if it's something else. Well-fed, not the slightest sign of any occupation, shoes in the dust, which means they came from afar. They are they! O wise ones, have me! (Falls down.)
first god(joyfully). Are we waiting here?
Van(gives them a drink). Long ago. But only I knew about your arrival.
First god. We need an overnight stay. Do you know where we can settle down?
Van. Where? Everywhere! The whole city is at your disposal, O wise ones! Where would you like?
Gods look pointedly at each other.
First god. At least in the nearest house, my son! Let's try in the nearest time!
Van. It only embarrasses me that I will incur the wrath of those in power if I give special preference to one of them.
First god. That is why we order you: start with the nearest!
Van. Mr. Fo lives there! Wait a minute. (Running up to the house and knocking on the door.)
The door opens, but you can see that Van gets rejected.
(Returns timidly.) What a failure! Mr. Fo, unfortunately, is not at home, and the servants do not dare to do anything without his order, the owner is very strict! Well, he will be furious when he finds out who was not accepted in his house, right?
Gods(smiling). Undoubtedly.
Van. One more minute! The house next door belongs to Su's widow. She will be overjoyed. (Runs towards the house, but apparently gets rejected again.) I'll do better opposite. The widow says that she has only one small room, and that one is not in order. Now I will turn to Mr. Chen.
Second god. A small room is enough for us. Say we'll take it.
Van. Even if it's not tidy, even if it's full of spiders?
Second god. Trivia! Where there are spiders, there are few flies.
third god(greetingly, Vanu). Go to Mr. Chen or somewhere else, my son, spiders, I confess, I do not like it.
Van knocks again at some door, and they let him in.
Van(returning to the gods). Mr. Chen is in despair, his house is full of relatives, and he does not dare to appear before your eyes, wise ones. Between us, I think there are bad people among them, and he does not want you to see them. He fears your wrath. That's the whole point.
Third God. Are we that scary?
Van. Only for bad people, right? It is known that the inhabitants