Semyon Alexandrovsky director biography. Director Semyon Aleksandrovsky: “Theater without location is a good strategy

Student of Lev Dodin and Golden Mask nominee about the monastery theatre, Charles Bukowski and the concept of a play that no one will see

The famous St. Petersburg director Semyon Alexandrovsky showed his premiere “Fuel” this week in Kazan at the creative laboratory “Ugol” - a one-man show based on an in-depth interview with IT entrepreneur David Yan, developer of Lingvo dictionaries and the Fine Reader program. BUSINESS Online spoke with Aleksandrovsky about the Pop-up migrating theater project, Soviet stereotypes living in “theaters with columns,” and the importance of developed sociocultural ties for the state.

“GOD CREATED THE WORLD IN 7 DAYS: WHY SO FAST?”

Semyon, the play “Fuel” and the text on which it is based seem very atypical for the themes with which we are accustomed to associate modern Russian theater. This is a success story, a kind of motivating performance. At the same time, it is believed that modern Russian drama is certainly something depressive, telling about the existential horror of modern life.

Directors are all different and work with context differently. I also have different performances. This one, in particular, is really in many ways not similar to modern Russian drama, although it is, in fact, also very different. In modern Russian drama there are Ivan Vyrypaev, Pavel Pryazhko, Vyacheslav Durnenkov, with whom we collected material about the Novosibirsk Academy Town ( The play “Elementary Particles” of the Novosibirsk theater “Old House” was shortlisted for this year’s Golden Mask award in two categories- approx. ed.) and based on this they composed a play.

You correctly noted that this is a story of success, of a complete personality. But it is valuable because this person, in the case of David Yan, does not record his worth, but tries to analyze his inconsistency, painful moments, points of discord. And because he is a man of science, he tries to analyze his life, which is actually a collection of accidents, using a precise, almost scientific approach. This is an interesting moment that gave us a lot to work with, and I hope it gives viewers their own impetus for thought.

Did you initially have the idea that “Fuel” would, in essence, create some kind of training effect? Many viewers say that David Yan’s story motivates him to take decisive action.

There was no such task. I am very happy if this is so, because I caught myself thinking several times when I left the theater full of intentions to act. Some forces that were within me were awakened in me, but for some reason I forgot about them.

- Why are you so interested in the topic of fundamental science as a theater director?

Art explores reality. And people of science are also trying to understand the fundamental laws of this world. This is the questioning mind: why is everything this way? Or maybe it can be done differently?

This approach of scientists to reality is very close to me: why is everything the way it is, who are we? What's happening? How to interact with this? God created the world in 7 days: why so fast? Maybe if you worked longer it could have turned out better? There is room for both humor and serious reflection.

“IT RHYMED VERY MUCH WITH STORIES FROM BUKOVSKY’S LIFE”

- At the same time, you first gained fame by making a play based on Charles Bukowski...

Theater has several paths. You can take texts and work with them - naturally, this should happen out of love. I read Bukowski, and the feelings that awoke in me when I read his texts... It was an interesting period - I was still studying at the theater academy when I started working on this play, and in the summer I worked as a cook. This very much rhymed with stories from Bukowski’s life; I was partial to alcohol.

There is another approach - to find stories in reality and then work with them. “Fuel” is a performance based on interviews. This is a continuation of the large project “Man.doc”, initiated by Eduard Boyakov, to make a series of performances with heroes of our time. Who are they? The first series was with artists, and the second was conceived with people from information technology. It is very important to understand who these people are because they have obviously changed our reality.

Returning to Bukowski. “Stories of Ordinary Madness” - was this a youthful theatrical experience for you or a serious work?

What could be more serious than youthful experience? This experience, of course, was important and difficult - I tried to make this performance with one artist, with another, then I realized that it was not happening - one left the profession, the other went to the monastery, then returned, but realized that he could not work with with this text.

I decided that I should do the performance myself. A year after I graduated from the theater academy, I was lost and didn’t know what to do. This performance gave me a lot - I played it in bars, which was also important, I had many questions for the theater - how it should exist, how I should exist in it. And the fact that I had the opportunity to leave the territory of the theater and explore other territories - a dialogue of a completely different kind begins in bars. This was important because later there were many cases of work outside the theater space. I traveled a lot with this performance, I had a bag with scenery, I got on the train and went to Murmansk, Yekaterinburg, often to Moscow and played this performance.

You talk about questions that you have about the theater as such. Did they come from studying at SPbGATI with Lev Dodin?

It was a very intense educational process - five years with teachers who are convinced of the profession and know exactly what they want. When I graduated from the theater academy, I could try to continue to broadcast the acquired experience or try to reset and find my way. It was important for me to take the second path in order to hear my voice, and not the teacher’s voice in my head. This took a long time. Part of this is due to the desire to rethink the theater, because the artist needs his own discovery. The theater academy fills you with knowledge, and being a transmitter of this knowledge was not very interesting.

- In the class, are they trying to make Dodin a successor to the master’s work or are they encouraging him to find his own path?

This is a choice due to one’s own attitudes and, rather, in spite of it, because MDT is a monastery. The people who serve this monastery are unconditional followers. Naturally, Dodin recruits students for himself, so that it is interesting to work together, so that they understand the same language and are ready for what he wants to implement. And in general, any real theater is a monastery. If people unite and start working, they have their own language in which they agree.

- So you also have your own monastery?

It is rather a more democratic structure. The beauty of today's world is diversity, the opportunity to make some kind of choice every day - I consider this a blessing. Without your own choice and the responsibility you bear for it, you cannot succeed as a person.

- In cities such as Kansk and Prokopyevsk, where you staged plays, is it possible to search for your place in the theater?

Necessary and interesting. I became convinced that in any city there are people ready and open to dialogue. In many ways, it all depends on the person. Surely I have both snobbery and arrogance, but work can only happen when people speak as equals. Maybe an artist who has worked for many years in the profession when he meets a young director has no less arrogance. But if you stop there, then no collaboration will work.

Another thing is that repertory theater is complicated by the fact that people perform work out of obligation. This is a problem I was wondering how to deal with. And I made a conscious choice that when I work with a theater that I have not worked with before, I gather the whole team, talk about what we will do, and offer those who want to stay. I find a way to do the work in such a way as not to post the distribution on the board, where Masha plays Gertrude, and Vanya plays Hamlet.

- So you are extremely skeptical about the “theater with columns”?

If you consider the “theater with columns” as a place where you get stuck, then there is nothing to do there. On the other hand, this feature can be implemented in an interesting way. If I receive an offer to interact on a long-term basis... It is also not eternal, this is a stereotype of Soviet thinking that a director in a theater is for centuries, until he dies. There is another possibility - in any Western theater there is a commissariat, when the director comes for three years, and many theaters in Russia work according to this scheme.

“THE THEATER, IF IT’S NOT BROADWAY, IS UNCOVERABLE”

- You brought “Fuel” to Kazan as an element of your new project.Pop-up theater - how is it different from other experimental venues?

The fact is that this is a project that is always determined in time - it exists for a month and a half in one territory, and then disappears. This is a theater that takes place in an area where there is a bunch of energy, people are doing something interesting, for example, the trendy Beatnik bar in St. Petersburg. Or the spring session, which may take place in the St. Petersburg art cluster. This is a theater that does not lead to oneself, but goes to where there is already energy, to people who, perhaps, do not go to the theater.

If we talk about artistic tasks, then they are formal and organizational, which have an ideological and artistic basis; this is still not an author’s theater, but a collaboration, an attempt to unite artists who work with modernity, and they obviously have a different approach to it. And when they come together in one place in a fairly short period of time, people who come have the opportunity to see a voluminous and different view of modernity.

- Pop-up is limited to the space of St. Petersburg?

This is due to the fact that I live in St. Petersburg. There are independent platforms, but a city like St. Petersburg needs more independent platforms. It goes without saying that when different people create platforms, they fill them with different ideologies. What we did was that there were no such venues in St. Petersburg, and we felt a shortage, because we often have nowhere to go with our performance; now there is no financial, legislative, or tax opportunity for an independent theater to exist.

- Why?

The theater, if it is not Broadway, is unprofitable. In Europe, there are funds that accumulate money and direct it where needed, and in some countries the legislation is structured in such a way that it is profitable for businesses to support or give money to the funds, because it gives tax breaks.

- In Russia, these conditions do not exist because of our usual chaos, or is this part of state policy?

Russian theater is a very rigid system formed by the Soviet government in the 20s; the theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko was copied as a model, because it was a convenient tool for broadcasting state ideology. Every city has a theater based on its model, and this existing model suited everyone for a long time. It seems to me that it is difficult to change it, it happens very slowly.

Returning to the Pop-up theater. This is a format that originated in Britain; designers could not enter fashion houses, but wanted to show their products, and opened Pop-up stores in garages and apartments. Thanks to word of mouth, a lot of people gathered - it was bright and interesting. This format is very democratic, at the level of horizontal connections. It is important that the Pop-up theater did not pay for the rent of the premises, it never can and will not do this; on the contrary, there are dozens of proposals from spaces in the city that want a theater to be made on their territory, because this is an accumulation of people, meanings , publications in the media.

It seems to me that this model can be scaled, I am ready to share our experience so that it can be repeated in other cities. We introduced this concept into space, but I’m not saying that it’s me, on the contrary, it needs to be borrowed. Why are horizontal connections important? Recently there were large-scale fires that the Ministry of Emergency Situations could not cope with. And people united, raised money, purchased equipment and put out the fire. This happens all the time - we can do a lot without waiting for the go-ahead and subsidies, which are certainly needed. Modernist society is developing rapidly not only due to economics and politics, but also due to the development of sociocultural ties, which also need to be invested in. I am now quoting professor of economics Alexander Auzan. Experts have conducted research and identified the similarity of these three factors in societies that are rapidly developing. The third factor has a decisive influence on progress.

- In Russia this still concerns few people and communities.

No consistency. But she also cannot take it out of the blue. We do not wait until we are given an opportunity, we take it ourselves and implement it. If it works, we can scale it up and, perhaps, we will have a dialogue with the authorities, who will understand that this is necessary and profitable to support. I think our colleagues won’t mind either. The creative laboratory “Ugol” that has emerged is a very positive phenomenon, not marginal, but creative.

“WE LIVE IN VERY INTERESTING TIMES, WHEN WE HAVE CONQUERED SPACE”

If we take Kazan as an example of relations, those who manage “theaters with columns” look down on such projects.

When Steve Jobs went to investors to look for money for the first mass-produced personal computer, they laughed at him and said: “Who needs a computer at home?” The world is changed by people who want to do something and do it. We can be cynical about this, laugh, but if this happens, time may pass and we will not be able to imagine our life differently.

We live in a very interesting time when we have conquered space. We could end up in Berlin tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in New Delhi. We can do this even faster since we have the Internet - and read what our colleagues at the Schaubühn did ( famous theater in Berlin - approx. ed.) or Novosibirsk. This globality of the world allows interesting things to happen anywhere. There is no such pattern: if you have money, you will definitely create an interesting and successful theater. Golden Mask experts travel to cities where even planes cannot fly, watch performances, and gather them for a festival in Moscow - evidence that interesting things can happen anywhere.

- It is important for you that for the second year in a row you have been nominated for the Golden Mask ( last year with the play “Presence” at the Taganka Theater, this year with the play “Elementary Particles”- approx. ed.)?

Certainly. This is a continuation of dialogue, and dialogue is the most important thing.

But even in Kazan there are theaters that deliberately say that they will not stage performances that the Golden Mask experts will like, they say, we are doing for the audience.

I can say that there is a place for everything. Everyone has the right to make their own choice. Making a show that will please the experts is a very dubious maxim, you really can't make a play that will please anyone, it can either happen or it can't. Entire books have been written about how to do something successful: become a successful entrepreneur in 7 days, learn a new language in 10 lessons. But we all know that doesn't work. It is impossible to steal an idea because it is something that is in you. We all have our own, difficult path, and we must follow it ourselves.

“TWO PERFORMANCES OF THE LAST SEASON, WHICH HAD A STRONG INFLUENCE ON ME, I HAVE NOT SEEN”

- Which theater would you advise a person who finds himself in St. Petersburg to go to for a few days?

The BDT has a very interesting performance “Drunk” based on Vyrypaev’s play. First of all, I like his lyrics. And I understand that Andrei Moguchiy, as an artist who is now working with a large repertory theater, is solving a very interesting problem - how can a director and artistic director work with a large repertory theater today? I see these reflections in his performances. Interesting things happen to the audience there: I saw how the gigantic hall nervously listened to the first act, and gradually its breathing began to open. The audience responded to both Vyrypaev’s text and the production. It was very interesting to watch not only the performance, but also what happened to the audience, who arrived cold - they were hardly prepared.

At the same time, I can advise the person who is looking to use Google or Yandex, find sites that write about performances, read articles by critics and trust their intuition. We are very different - you need to believe only in yourself and not be lazy to study. I answered for Afisha about performances that made a strong impression on me and discovered a strange thing: it turned out that I had not seen two performances of the last season that greatly influenced me. I read a lot about them, watched videos, reviews, and found an article in English. I got such an interesting impression that I decided to make a performance that no one can see.

- And what could this be?

I discovered this paradox of the performance in myself six months ago and this is not the first time I’ve talked about it, maybe this is what my project is about. It is not necessary that all paths should lead to a platform illuminated by spotlights. It may be different, there may be paths leading to dead ends, without entering which we will not be able to move on.

Reference

Semyon Alexandrovsky- theater director, actor.

He graduated from the directing department of SPGATI in 2007. In 2006 - 2007 - an actor at the MDT - Theater of Europe. Productions: the project “My Friend Hitler” by Mishima in St. Petersburg, “The Story of Ordinary Madness” by Bukowski at the Place bar in St. Petersburg; “Biderman and the Arsonists” by Frisch at the Altai Drama Theater. Shukshina, Barnaul, “Mother” by Ravenhill, “Little Pig and Karasenok” by Klavdiev at the Kansky Drama Theatre, “The Hairdresser” by Medvedev at the Prokopyevsky Drama Theatre, “The Polar Truth” by Klavdiev at “ON.THEATRE”, “Mortgage and Vera, Her Mother” by Cherlak at the Krasnoyarsk Youth Theater, “Irons” by Yablonskaya at the Chelyabinsk Chamber Theater, “Illusions” by Vyrypaev at the Drama Theater. Lermontov in Abakan, “Emptiness” as part of the “Theatrical Almanac” project, Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat at the Post Theater together with Volkostrelov, Haddon’s “The Mysterious Night Murder of a Dog”, as part of the Moscow Art Theater laboratory “New Fairy Tales”, “Masquerade, Masquerade” "Ugarova in the theater "Shelter of a Comedian", "Radio Taganka" in the Taganka Theater, "Elementary Particles" and "Caddisfly, or Where did Andrei go?" based on Durnenkov at the “Old House” Theater in Novosibirsk, “Short-term” by Steshik at the international forum of theatrical art “Teart” in Minsk.

Pop-up Theater (St. Petersburg)
January 20 and 21, 2016 at 20.00 in the Great Hall of the Theatre.doc

"FUEL"

Director: Semyon Alexandrovsky
Performer: Maxim Fomin
Playwright – Evgeny Kazachkov

The pop-up theater presents the play "Fuel", based on an in-depth interview with the world-famous IT entrepreneur David Yan - founder of ABBYY, developer of the Lingvo electronic dictionary system and FineReader text recognition program, one of the founders of flash mobs in Russia and an extraordinary personality.

Anna Banasyukevich, “Theater”:
“From these stories: about admission to Physics and Technology; about the first disappointment; about a crazy student adventure with the first electronic dictionary, a clear picture of the world emerges, in which real motivation lies only in a big, crazy idea. In the flash mob, as in crazy ideas to teach all humanity to understand each other’s languages, there is faith in the opportunity to change the world, fascination with limitless freedom.”

Elena Smorodinova, “Teatral”:
“An hour and twenty of pure delight - from the success story itself and from the way Maxim Fomin plays it. Maxim Fomin’s charm makes the magic of people who are capable of changing the world almost tangible, on a sensory level, and Semyon Alexandrovsky’s direction also exposes it to analysis.”

Alla Shenderova, Kommersant:
“Playing with the audience’s perception and finding new ways to convey the text is what occupies Aleksandrovsky. The content of the performance imperceptibly becomes its form, and vice versa - “Fuel” turns into a Mobius strip. However, you can not pay attention to how this is done. Just enjoy the smart actor and his witty, polished monologue."

Anton Khitrov, TeatrALL:
“Fuel” is as addictive as the series. This is an almost exceptional case of a performance for everyone, which will be appreciated by both the general public and connoisseurs of contemporary directing. Finding your own path despite the authority of parents and mentors, nonconformism and self-development, the need to be useful and its implementation - all these are topics on the agenda that extend far beyond the “circle of theatergoers.”

More information about the creators of the play:

Semyon Alexandrovsky– director, actor, founder of Pop-up theater. In 2007 he graduated from St. Petersburg State Technical University (workshop of L.A. Dodin). Laureate of the New Siberian Transit festival (2012, 2014), Laureate of the Texture festival (2012), Laureate of the Breakthrough festival (2012) in the “best director” categories. Nominee of the Russian National Theater Award "Golden Mask" in the categories "Experiment" (2014, 2015) and "Work of the Director" (2015).

Evgeny Kazachkov– screenwriter, playwright, teacher, translator. Author of the plays “Man.doc. Oleg Kulik. Drumming", "Man.doc. Bronislav Vinogrodsky. Healing by translation", "Radio Taganka". Art director and co-organizer of the Lyubimovka festival of young dramaturgy.

Maxim Fomin– actor, graduate of St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts (workshop of G.M. Kozlov), actor of the Masterskaya Theater. Recognized as the best young actor of St. Petersburg by the Breakthrough Award in 2015.

Semyon Anatolyevich Alexandrovsky was born in Perm in 1982.

From 1990 to 2002 he lived and studied in Israel. He took part in productions of the youth theater studio under the direction of I.A. Mushkatin.

EDUCATION:

Graduation performance: "Life and Fate" based on the novel by Vasily Grossman (2007).

After graduating from St. Petersburg State Technical University, he worked for a year at the Academic Maly Drama Theater - Theater of Europe by L.A. Dodin as an actor.

THEATER PRODUCTIONS:

• 2007
  - Released his first performance based on the play by Yukio Mishima "My Friend Hitler" in the atrium of the House of Jewish Culture "ESOD" in St. Petersburg.
• 2008
  - One-man show "A Story of Ordinary Madness" based on his own adaptation of Charles Bukowski's prose. In the one-man show Semyon Alexandrovsky acts as an actor. The performance became a laureate of the international festivals of solo performances "SOLO" (Moscow) and "Monocle" (St. Petersburg).
  - Within the framework of the Perm Theater Laboratory "Space of Directing" a performance based on the play by Boris Goller "Boy on the Phone".
• 2009
  - At the Altai Regional Drama Theater named after. V.M.Shukshina staging a play based on the play by Max Frisch "Biderman and the Arsonists".
  - As part of the Kansk Theater Laboratory, a performance based on the play by Mark Ravenhill "Mother". The performance became a participant in the "Theatrical Spring" festival (the actress in the role of Hayley received a special jury prize), and the "Festival of Small Towns of Russia" (the actress received a special jury prize "Nadezhda").
  - At the St. Petersburg Academic Drama Theater V.F. Komissarzhevsky performance "An Evening with a Baboon" based on the play by Maxim Kantor.
• 2010
  - At the Prokopyevsky Drama Theater a performance based on the play by Sergei Medvedev "Hairdresser".
  - At the Kansky State Drama Theater a performance based on the play by Yuri Klavdiev "Piglet and Little Karas".

PARTICIPATION IN CONTEMPORARY DRAMA LABORATORIES:

• 2008, Perm
  Perm Theater Laboratory "Directing Space": "Boy on the Phone" based on the play by Boris Goller.
• 2009, Kansk
  "Mother" based on the play by Mark Ravenhill.
• 2010, St. Petersburg
  Second Youth Theater Directing Laboratory "ON.THEATR": "Polar Truth" based on the play by Yuri Klavdiev.
• 2010, Saratov
  Creative laboratory "The Fourth Height. Children in the adult world": "Nathan's Children" based on the play by Ulrich Hub.
• 2010, Kansk
  "Kansk Theater Laboratory": "War and Peace" based on the play by Mark Ravenhill.
• 2010, Pskov
  "Dramtroopers. New European Drama": "Delhi Dance" based on the play by Ivan Vyrypaev.
• 2011, Balakovo
  Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Drama "Seminar on supporting theaters in small towns of Russia. "Masters": based on the play by Ilya Tilkin.

PARTICIPATION IN FESTIVALS:

• 2010, Krasnoyarsk
  Festival of Contemporary Drama "Drama. New Code" ("DNA"): "Front-line girl" Anna Baturina and "Locked Door" Pavel Pryazhko.

Career Director, Stage Director

Total films 8

Genres: drama, opera

Genres drama opera

From 2002 to 2007, he studied at the acting and directing course at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts (SPbGATI), workshop of Lev Abramovich Dodin - graduation performance “Life and Fate” based on the novel by Vasily Grossman (2007).

Theatrical productions: Semyon Alexandrovsky produced his first performance based on Yukio Mishima’s play “My Friend Hitler” in St. Petersburg (2007). In 2008, he staged a one-man show, “The Story of Ordinary Madness,” based on his own adaptation of Charles Bukowski’s prose, in which he also performed as an actor. The performance became a laureate of the international festivals of solo performances “SOLO” (Moscow) and “Monocle” (St. Petersburg). 2009: at the Altai Regional Drama Theater named after. V. M. Shukshina - production of the play based on the play by Max Frisch “Biderman and the Arsonists”.

As part of the Kansk Theater Laboratory - a performance based on Mark Ravenhill’s play “Mother”, which became a participant in the “Theatrical Spring” festival and the “Festival of Small Towns of Russia 2010”. At the St. Petersburg Academic Drama Theater by V. F. Komissarzhevskaya - the play “An Evening with a Baboon” based on the play by Maxim Kantor. At the Prokopyevsky Drama Theater there was a performance based on Sergei Medvedev’s play “The Hairdresser” (2010), which became a participant in the “Festival of Small Towns of Russia 2011”. At the Kansky State Drama Theater there is a performance based on Yuri Klavdiev’s play “Little Piglet and Karasenok”. At the St. Petersburg theater “ON. THEATER" - the play "The Polar Truth", based on the play by Yuri Klavdiev (2011).

Participation in laboratories on modern drama: Perm Theater Laboratory “Directing Space”: “The Boy on the Telephone” based on the play by Boris Goller (2008, Perm), “Kansk Theater Laboratory”: “Mother” based on the play by Mark Ravenhill (2009, Kansk), Second Youth theater director's laboratory “ON. THEATER": "Polar Truth" based on the play by Yuri Klavdiev (2010, St. Petersburg), creative laboratory "Fourth Height. Children in the adult world": "Nathan's Children" based on the play by Ulrich Hub (2010, Saratov), ​​"Kansk Theater Laboratory": "War and Peace" based on the play by Mark Ravenhill (2010, Kansk), "Dramtroopers. New European Drama": "Dance "Delhi" based on the play by Ivan Vyrypaev (2010, Pskov), Festival of Contemporary Drama "Drama. New Code" ("DNA"): "Front Girl" by Anna Baturina and "Locked Door" by Pavel Pryazhko (2010, Krasnoyarsk), Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Drama"Seminar on supporting theaters in small towns of Russia. “Masters”: “RELOAD (reload)” based on the play by Ilya Tilkin (2011, Balakovo), Festival of Contemporary Drama “Drama. New Code" (“DNA”): “The Pagans” by Anna Yablonskaya and “The God of Tickling” by Nikolai Rudkovsky (2011, Krasnoyarsk), Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Drama “Frontvichka” by Anna Baturina (2011, Kemerovo), Creative Laboratory of Contemporary Drama “Hanger” - “Mortgage and Vera, her mother” Egor Cherlak. (2011, Krasnoyarsk)