Seminar “Klim’s dramatic cycle “8 out of 7”, or “7 days with the Idiot”

Wednesday, November 24th. At 12.00 in the Russian Institute for the History of Arts there will be a seminar “Klim’s dramatic cycle “8 out of 7”, or “7 days with the Idiot” (Unwritten chapters from the novel “The Idiot” by F.M. Dostoevsky) and its stage realizations” (cycle “Actual issues of contemporary art process «). Leading — I. Vdovenko, PhD, senior researcher of the Russian Institute for the History of Arts.

From 2001 to 2004, by order of V. Troitsky (director and head of the Kiev theater center DAKH), Klim wrote 7 plays based on the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky «The Idiot». The original idea was to present The Idiot as a weekly mystery project (7 days of creation). The first Hence the name of the cycle — «Seven days with the Idiot», later — after the addition of «additional», the eighth — changed to (containing a passage to the text of the Apocalypse) «8 out of 7».

The principle of constructing the cycle was originally designated by Klim himself as «evangelical» («the gospel of Myshkin, Rogozhin, Nastasya Filippovna, Totsky, etc.»). At the same time, since all the heroes of the novel in one form or another (within the cycle) correspond to this principle with biblical characters, this principle itself does not seem artificial or imposed on the text. The characters of the plays of the cycle exist in at least two layers: biblical and related to the plot of the novel. At the same time, all of them are also our contemporaries, talking directly to the audience. The plots (and the locations of the plays), although they are directly correlated with the novel, are not as additions (between the scenes described in the novel, after the main action or before it begins).

In the period from 2002 to 2006, V. Troitsky staged at DAH five performances based on the plays of the cycle under the general title «Seven days with the Idiot», or «Non-existent chapters from the novel by F. Dostoevsky» The Idiot «:

day one — «It .. He … I …», or «Sad performance» (actress — Elena Lesnikova);

second day — «Interpreter of the Apocalypse» (actors — Anatoly Cherkov, Alexey Ilyuchenko);

day three — «I … She … They … He …», or «Fallen Angel» (actress — Tatiana Vasilenko);

day four — «Bes-dream-Nice» (actors — Tatiana Vasilenko, Anatoly Cherkov);

day eight — «The Idiot» (actor — Dmitry Yaroshenko).

In 2008, Klim returns to the cycle and adds a Preface and two afterwords to it, which, in his own words, “turns it into a textbook” addressed to the actors of the drama theater.

In 2011, Klim leaves Kiev for Moscow at the invitation of E. Boyakov to the Praktika Theater to conduct a one-year training seminar. The result of this seminar is the organization of a group — or, as Klim himself says, a «circle», which is engaged at first in the Open World center and later, practically in its entirety, moved to the CDR (where Klim comes in 2014 as a director who won the competition of the Moscow Department of Culture , simultaneously with Yukhananov and Serebryanikov).

Three premieres of Klim based on the plays of the cycle in the Central House of Theaters in 2015-2016 are performed by three former «circle members». They are Pyotr Kulikov (philosopher, trainer in kalaripayatt) — «Idiot», Stepan Moshchenko (psychologist, psychoanalyst) — «Veteran» and Kristina Lobaeva (theater critic) — «Fallen Angel» (currently removed from the repertoire).

There is another interesting point in the history of the Open World. In addition to the three who have released solo performances with the Central House of Theaters, another «circle member» reached the final (that is, until the actual end of work) — Alexey Wright, who did not go with Klim to the Central House of Theaters, but went back to his home in Ukraine, where he founded a theater in Kharkov under the name MDT (Youth Drama Theater). In the Open World, he rehearsed and played two plays — «Veteran» and «Evil Show». After his return, he not only continued to play them, but also directed 4 more performances of the cycle as a director. And at the moment, the MDT is a theater where you can watch six performances in a row based on the plays of Klim from the cycle based on The Idiot:

day one — «At the source of waters in the desert» («Petersburg») (actress — Yekaterina Leonova);

day two — «My killer Rogozhin» («Fallen angel») (actress — Natalia Dyadenko);

day three — Aglaya (actress — Anastasia Kolesnikova);

day four — «Evil Performance» (actor — Alexey Wright);

day five — «Interpreter of the Apocalypse» (actor — Timur Gromyka;

the sixth day — «Veteran» (actor — Alexey Wright).

In addition to Moscow, Kiev and Kharkov, performances based on individual plays of the cycle were staged in other cities (and even countries). Here, of course, the activity of the director Alexei Yankovsky deserves special mention (in general, in many respects aimed at popularizing Klim’s drama). Since 2003, he has staged five plays in the cycle (three of them twice — in different theaters and with different actors):

– «Sad Performance» (called «My Star Adelaide») at the St. Petersburg «Takom Theater» with Irina Polyanskaya in 2003, and in her own Theater Workshop «ASB» (also in St. Petersburg) with Anna Prokhorova in 2019 …

– «Fallen Angel» at the Omsk «Fifth Theater» with Maria Dolganeva in 2004.

– «Interpreter of the Apocalypse» in «ASB» with Leonid Osokin in 2005, and in the Moscow Central House of Culture with Alexei Bagdasarov in 2008.

– «Evil Performance» in «ASB» with Tatyana Bondareva in 2009.

– «Petersburg» (under the title «Going beyond the Limit») at the Helsinki theater «ZA» with Elena Spirina in 2014 and (under the title «Tender age or a strange story of my love») in «ASB» with Natalia Sveshnikova in 2017 …

At the moment (from November 11 to December 4, 2021) A. Yankovsky announced the holding of the theater laboratory «8 out of 7», dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Dostoevsky, at various venues in St. Petersburg, within which all the plays included in cycle (including prefaces and afterwords). Eight plays should be performed in the format of readings («Introductory speech», «Sad performance», «Idiot», «Fallen Angel», «Veteran», «Demon-Sleep-Nice», «Dream-Inquiry-Life», «Afterword»). And four in the format of performances: «My Star, Adelaide …» (actors — Anna Prokhorova and Ivan Nikitin), «Tender Age» (actress — Natalia Sveshnikova), «Evil Performance» (actress — Tatiana Marinicheva) and «Interpreter of the Apocalypse» (actor — Alexey Bagdasarov).

Over the 20 years that have passed since the appearance of the first plays of the cycle, in addition to attempts to implement the cycle as a whole, there have also been many performances based on these plays, which were released in different years in different theaters as separate works. Special mentions here deserve:

– “She — I — not me and she” (Petersburg). Theater Osobnyak. St. Petersburg. 2003. Director — Alexey Slyusarchuk, actress — Tatiana Kuznetsova.

– «Aglaya» (Sad performance). ShDI, laboratory of V. Berzin. Moscow. 2009. Director — Vladimir Berzin, actress — Olga Khoreva.

– «Fallen Angel». Independent Theater «New Stage-2», Belgorod, 2010. Director — Oksana Pogrebnyak.

– «Aglaya» (Sad performance). Tilsit-Theater, 2012. Director — G.P. Kudrenko, actress — Anastasia Konstantinova.

– «Interpreter of the Apocalypse.» Theater-laboratory VIE. Zaporozhye, 2013. Director — Victor Popov, actor — Pavel Nebroev.

– «Evil Performance». Youth Theater «Stagecoach», Togliatti, 2015. Stage director, actor — Peter Zubarev.

– «Moron. Final «(F. Dostoevsky, Klim). Theater «LEVENDAL», St. Petersburg. 2019. Staging, direction — Iskander Sakaev. (The text reproduces fragments of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky and excerpts from the plays of KLIM.) Actors — Denis Avkharenko, Ranis Akhmetgareev, Natalia Sveshnikova, Anastasia Voronina, Anna Bukharskaya.

Within the framework of this seminar, it is planned to talk both about the plays themselves (their structure, subtexts, relations with the novel), and about some of the performances staged based on them. Leading and keynote speaker: I. Vdovenko, PhD, Senior Researcher, Russian Institute for the History of Arts, invited guests — directors A. Yankovsky and I. Sakaev, participants of the laboratory «8 out of 7».