Melikhovo spring poster. XVII International Theater Festival "Melikhovo Spring"

From May 21 to May 28 this year at the State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve A.P. Chekhov's "Melikhovo" hosted the 17th International Theater Festival "Melikhovo Spring". 14 theaters showed their performances and creative teams from Russia, near and far abroad. Moreover, the geography of cities represented at the festival was unusually vast: from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Berlin. The performances included in the festival program were also extremely diverse and differed high quality. This year's program turned out to be one of the strongest in creatively over the last 7-8 years. At the same time, the expert council, which included well-known theater critics and observers, was quite strict in selecting performances, and many of those that were announced were not included in the program.

At the “Melikhovo Spring 2016” they presented both large plays by A.P. Chekhov, as well as dramatizations and compositions based on individual stories, sometimes not even the most famous. The genre spectrum of the festival program, which included comedies, dramas and even theatrical works with a mystical slant, is also interesting. Was varied art form performances: some of them were performed in the traditions of Russian psychological school, others - in the style of a performance theater, others - in the genre of a farce. Moreover, along with performances from famous repertory theaters, the playbill included experimental works by young directors and artists.

A distinctive feature of this year’s festival poster was new program“Visiting A.P. Chekhov." The organizers suggested that writers – contemporaries of Anton Pavlovich – could well come to Melikhovo. In particular, Maxim Gorky, who was spiritually connected with A.P. Chekhov. As part of this program, the play “At the Lower Depths” of the Perm Theater “At the Bridge” directed by Sergei Fedotov was shown - one of the best interpretations of the brilliant play on Russian stage. The performance became another testimony great power Russian Psychological Ensemble Theater and demonstrated the excellent skills of the artists of the U Mosta Theater. The second “guest” of the estate A.P. Chekhov was the modern Romanian playwright Matei Visnek, who lives in France. His play “Nina”, shown by the Russian Stage Theater from Berlin, directed by Inna Sokolova-Gordon, is a kind of romantic conjecture-fantasy on the theme future fate characters from Chekhov's "The Seagull".

The opening performance of the festival was the open-air project “Chekhov. The Seagull”, created at the Melikhovo Theater “Chekhov Studio” by its chief director Vladimir Baicher and production designer Vladimir Anshon. The screening of this performance coincided with the world cultural event called “Night of Museums”. The highlight of Melikhovo’s “The Seagull” is that 2/3 of the performance is performed outdoors at A.P.’s estate. Chekhov: first near the Aquarium pond, and then on the croquet field. The weather that evening made significant adjustments to the course of the performance. But, at the same time, it did not spoil the joyful and elated creative atmosphere, into which the director and actors immersed the audience.

A number of festival performances were performed on the stage of the Serpukhov Music and Drama Theater. This part of the program was opened by the Strela Theater from the science city near Moscow - the city of Zhukovsky. Director Sergei Zolkin staged Chekhov's " The Cherry Orchard"in the traditions of Russian psychological theater, directing his efforts to carefully constructing each role, without avoiding some textbook behavior. Performance by the Sevastopol Drama Theater named after. A.V. Lunacharsky's "#TodaSyo" directed by Moscow director Nikita Grinshpun was played in Serpukhov in the genre of a cheerful KVN farce. A mosaic performance created based on several stories by A.P. Chekhov, caused, however, not only homeric laughter auditorium, but also introduced thoughtful and even sad notes into the cheerful comedy, forcing the viewer, in the words of W. Shakespeare, to turn his gaze “inside his soul.”

Academic Russian Drama Theater named after. M. Gorky from Astana took on the production very complex work A.P. Chekhov's "The Black Monk". Director Igor Sedin staged a tragic and mystical performance, main theme which became the question of whether psychical deviations an inevitable consequence of human genius?! The performance turned out to be very unusual in form: it combines a conventional environment with the deepest psychological study of each role. The Astana theater was rewarded with a long standing ovation from the audience after the performance.

An even more conventional spectacle was the performance of the Taganrog Theater named after. A.P. Chekhov's "Darling" directed by Moscow director Tatyana Voronina. Suffice it to say that main character Three actresses play in the play, and the main location is a children's sandbox. The audience, however, accepted the unusual style of the play with a bang, demonstrating interest in unusual, experimental, difficult-to-perceive theater, realizing that the theater, first of all, spoke to them about the serious existential problems raised in A.P.’s work. Chekhov.

The Serpukhov part of the Melikhovo Festival was completed by the Moscow Theater “School of Dramatic Art”. Director Igor Yatsko showed his version of Chekhov’s last play “The Cherry Orchard,” who interpreted the theme of human existence as a mystery. Artist Nikolai Simonov created a poetic atmosphere for the performance, in which signs of the bygone century were mixed - from the paintings of Salvador Dali to the aesthetics of Tarkovsky’s films. I. Yatsko believes that the heroes of this play are the Cherry Orchard that is dying, and with which the ideal is leaving. A student of Anatoly Vasilyev, Igor Yatsko, preserving the foundations of the Master’s school in his performances, in “The Cherry Orchard”, talking about Man, brilliantly combines it with the foundations of Russian psychological theater.

The second performance that was performed in the open air of the Melikhovo Nature Reserve was “Uncle Vanya” by the Voronezh Chamber Theater. The play was staged by the famous director Mikhail Bychkov. This is the theater's latest premiere. But in Melikhovo, the audience saw a unique version of the play, since in Voronezh it is played on a large stage, and in the estate the director chose the “location” for his performance on the lawn near the “Theater Yard”, where he built the unfinished Voinitsky house. The famous director created a very sad, although witty in a theatrical sense, archetypal action about a sleepy state swollen from sleep, inhabited by very recognizable and also archetypal characters.

“Uncle Vanya” of the Rain Theater from St. Petersburg appeared completely different to the audience. Staged a play artistic director Theater Natalya Nikitina. The heroes of her play, placed in the closed, gloomy atmosphere of the Voinitsky house, in the absence real life live in mirages. And they don’t even try to break out of the sad regularity of their existence. This does not at all exclude violent passions, which become the main meaning of life for them.

Wonderful performance" Happy story"in Melikhovo" Theater Yard"played by the Sakhalin Puppet Theater. The theater, despite its name, turned out to be not quite a puppet theater in the generally accepted sense. This is a completely respectable adult theater in which excellent dramatic actors and puppets perform equally. The story, which was brilliantly staged by the theater's artistic director Antonina Dobrolyubova (she is also the author of the dramatization), turned out to be not very happy. The performance is based on a composition based on various works of Chekhov: compact, bright, funny, touching and tragicomic. And sometimes very sad. Thanks to the bright and dynamic direction and very precise construction of even the smallest role, the performance certainly became important event Melikhovo Festival.

A very unique, somewhat mystical play “The Man in a Case” was brought to the festival by the Berezniki Drama Theater. The history of a gymnasium teacher Greek language, living by the principle “no matter what happens,” in the director’s presentation by Andrei Shlyapin, intrigues, captures attention and holds it throughout the entire performance. This is probably also because the director made an attempt to erase the textbook gloss from famous work. The voiceover plays a significant role in the performance; at some points the audience hears the voice of Sergei Garmash. But the main intrigue is that the main character is played by a young, charming girl.

Two very touching events took place at Melikhovo Spring 2016. The performance, a sketch based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” was shown by the “Connection” charity foundation for the support of the deaf-blind. This amazing performance with the participation of “special” people was staged by director Olga Prikhudaylova. In this extraordinary performance, magnificent professional artists and people with disabilities exist absolutely on equal terms. But not a single viewer thought for a second about their physical disabilities. Because they - happy people, experiencing unspeakable joy from contact with Chekhov, his estate and the great play written in it.

The second action took place on the day of memory of the outstanding actor and director O. N. Efremov, who loved Melikhovo very much and came here four days before his death in 200. His colleagues and associates gathered for a memorable tea party, who shared their memories of meetings and work with the Master. Main " actor“That evening Oleg Nikolaevich’s son Mikhail came and told many funny and touching episodes from his father’s life.

At the closing of the “Melikhovo Spring”, a young theater team - TOM ( Creative association workshops) by Sergei Golomazov. (He and Vera Babicheva are the directors of the play). The action, called "123 sisters", was played on outdoors, more precisely, on the veranda of the Main House of the estate. And according to established tradition, it also rained! Meanwhile, this did not at all break the wonderful young artists, and, above all, the performers of the roles of the staunch Prozorov sisters, but, on the contrary, gave them additional physical and spiritual strength. And therefore, we can say that despite the confrontation with the elements, the International Theater Festival “Melikhovo Spring-2016” took place and ended on the highest creative note!

- February 27, 2016, 02:29

Program X approved YII International Theater Festival "Melikhovo Spring - 2016"!

From May 21 to May 28 this year at the A.P. Museum-Reserve. Chekhov "Melikhovo" will host the traditional 17th festival "Melikhovo Spring". Every year theaters from different corners world and bring performances based on the works of A.P. Chekhov or about himself. The festival tradition began with the spring theater festival in 1982, when, on the initiative of the museum director Yu.K. Avdeev and the chief director of the Lipetsk Drama Theater V.M. Pakhomov, the actors of this theater played “The Seagull” for the first time in the history of Melikhov on the veranda of Chekhov’s house. In subsequent years, other theaters moved to Melikhovo. As a result, the first full-fledged festival was held in 2000 "Melikhovo Spring" which eventually became international. According to those who have been following him closely for several years, Lately its level has increased significantly. This applies to both the composition of the participants and the quality of the performances they show. On February 25, the Expert Council, which included well-known Russian theater critics, approved the composition of the festival participants. The Melikhovo Spring 2016 poster includes performances from theaters in Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Moscow region, Sevastopol, Taganrog, Tyumen, Voronezh, Perm, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Berezniki, as well as from Astana and Berlin. The Melikhovo Theater "Chekhov's Studio" will open the festival with its latest premiere - a plein air performance “Chekhov. Gull". The director of this performance main director theater and part-time director of the Melikhovo Festival VLADIMIR BAICHER told our agency's correspondent about the essence of the festival, its creative direction and this year's program.

Vladimir Grigorievich, what are the objectives of your festival and how does it differ from others?

I am sure that our festival - Chekhov's not in name, but in essence - is very important and necessary. Because a theater that decides to stage a play or prose by A.P. Chekhov and intends to show his performance in Melikhovo, takes on an incredibly difficult task. And the point is not at all that this memorial site and that theaters, “shedding a tear of tenderness,” should pay tribute to the great writer. The main thing is that here the theater can compare its thoughts and feelings with Chekhov about the work that it has taken on.

On what basis are performances selected for the festival?

A remarkable Czech scholar and one of the organizers of the “Melikhovo Spring” Tatyana Konstantinovna Shah-Azizova, a year ago, who passed away, claimed that Melikhovo does not accept everyone.

As a festival selector, looking at the sent videos of this or that performance, she sometimes said: “There’s no need to invite him. Melikhovo will not accept this performance.” And, on the other hand, many performances that previously seemed not at all outstanding begin to flourish at the festival. This indicates that the performance was created correctly in its essence, and the Melikhovo atmosphere accepted it. So coming to the festival in Melikhovo is important, first of all, for the theater itself. Many directors said that after the festival performance the performance became very united, and the artists began to play with tripled energy.

You have been the director of the festival for eight years. Is it possible to talk about some modern trends in the interpretation of the dramaturgy of A.P. Chekhov?

The festival is interesting because it represents a certain cross-section of attitudes towards Chekhov’s material in the theatrical space. It seems to me that based on the productions of A.P. Chekhov can judge the state in which the whole modern theater. By the way, the view of Chekhov’s drama and prose is changing very quickly. What seemed bold and innovative a few years ago now seems to have passed: completely different trends are already being observed in the theater space. And our festival allows you to feel them. I'm always with great interest watching the festival's performances different theaters and I'm afraid of missing something. Because in any of them something can happen creative discovery. Anton Pavlovich really wanted there to be a theater in Melikhovo. And it seems to me that he would be very pleased that in the spring great time When flowers bloom, theaters come to his estate and play his works.

What are the distinctive features of this year's festival?

This year the 17th festival will take place in May, which means we are already approaching “coming of age”. The poster was laid out, and it became clear that the program would be very strong. And the geography of theaters – guests of the festival – will be very extensive. Along with theaters from Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Moscow region, guests from Tyumen, Sevastopol, Taganrog, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Astana and even Berlin will come to us! By the way, our festival is called international, and this is true. Every year theaters from near and far come to us. Moreover, the initial “long list” contains much more foreign performances than the final playbill. But they undergo the same strict selection as everyone else. This happened this year too: one of the foreign performances was not included in the playbill. We do not strive to ensure that the program necessarily includes a performance from any exotic country. For us, the most important thing is its quality. I hope that at this festival, “foreign” performances will match the Russian ones. I am confident that the viewer will see a meaningful and varied program; it will feature the most various works A.P. Chekhov: from intimate to large-scale.

In both of them the viewer will see interesting, unique directorial decisions and very good acting work. These performances are diverse in style and genre: next to productions created in the traditions of Russian psychological theater, the viewer will see unusual, experimental works. Usually “at the beginning of the journey” we plan to create a poster of 12 titles, but in the end, given high level performances included in the “short list”, we allow ourselves to increase their number to 13 or even 14. And this year even 15 titles are included in the playbill! It should be noted that this year the expert council of our festival, which completed its work on February 25, included the country's leading theater critics, including Olga Egoshina, Marina Timasheva, Anastasia Efremova, Oleg Pivovarov, Alexander Vislov.

You often invited students to past festivals theater universities who showed their experimental work. Is such an event planned for this year?

Yes, sure. This year, students from the American studio at the Moscow Art Theater School will come to us and will show a composition of several plays written by A.P. Chekhov in Melikhovo. A similar performance at one of the previous festivals was a huge success with the public, despite the fact that there was no translation into Russian. This year we are planning another experimental campaign. Inclusive will show its own performance – a sketch based on Chekhov’s “The Seagull” theater project"Compound". It involves professional actors and people with other abilities (with sensory, physical and mental impairments), who, as the organizers of this project write, “use their abilities and other ways of perceiving the world and interacting with it V quality own funds expressions and forms of existence on stage.”

In past years, you and your colleagues, the organizers of the festival, always prepared some creative surprises for the audience. Are there any plans for this year?

This year we came up with an action that we called “Visiting Chekhov.” We assumed that writers – contemporaries of Anton Pavlovich – could well have come to Melikhovo. And in this regard, we want to show a very interesting performance based on the work of M. Gorky, who was spiritually connected with A.P. Chekhov.

This is a performance “At the Lower Depths” of the Perm Theater “U Mosta”, who has already traveled half the world. It seems to us that this would be very appropriate in the program of the Chekhov festival “Melikhovo Spring”. It will probably be interesting for the viewer to understand the connection between the two writers and to identify parallels in their work. We hope that we will have another surprise. Since 2016 has been declared the year of cinema in Russia, we would like to organize one or two film screenings as part of our theater festival. Of course, these will be films based on the works of A.P. Chekhov. We plan to announce a “night session” in the main house of the estate by hanging big screen on the veranda. And now we are negotiating with the authors of wonderful films created based on the works of A.P. Chekhov in different years. We have one wonderful, albeit sad tradition: if the festival week falls on May 24 - the date of death O. N. Efremova– then we will definitely dedicate an evening of memory to Oleg Nikolayevich on this or the days following him. Moreover, he loved Melikhovo very much and came here very often. And in last time- shortly before his death.

Are there nominations and prizes at your festival? Is there a jury on it?

No, we do not provide for determining the winners. Because the very participation of the theater team in the Melikhovo Festival is its victory. And there is no jury at the festival either. But it traditionally works " round table"leading theater critics. This is one of the distinctive features our festival. Every day critics discuss the performance shown the day before with creative group theater: director, artists, director, etc. Moreover, taking into account the very strict selection of performances at the stage of formation of the poster, such professional discussions are always very friendly and never turn into an analysis of the “bones” or - God forbid - into an “execution”. Therefore, it seems to me that they are very useful for festival participants. This is evidenced by the attention and interest in discussions not only of theater managers, but also of actors. Quite often, almost the entire theater troupe gathers for such critical analyzes.

The latest premiere of your theater is the plein air performance “Chekhov. Chaika" will open the festival. Perhaps this places a special responsibility on the Chekhov Studio?

Yes, definitely. This is responsibility, excitement, and pride! Moreover, the screening of our “The Seagull” will coincide with the world cultural event called “Night of Museums”. Our excitement is also explained by the fact that depending on how we start the festival, it will “roll” further. This performance is completely “fresh”: we released it six months ago, but only played it a few times. Its specificity is such that it can only be played in Melikhovo in the spring and summer. So at the beginning of September last year it was “mothballed”. Now we need to “reactivate” it, rehearse it and play it outdoors at Melikhov. I hope that the weather will be kind to us, and on Saturday May 21 we will receive our guests at the opening of the festival and at the screening of our “The Seagull”!

The conversation was conducted by Pavel Podkladov.

P. S . The Moscow Region News Agency plans to introduce its readers in detail to all the festival participants before the start of Melikhovo Spring 2016.

From May 21 to May 28, 2016 at the A.P. Museum-Reserve. Chekhov "Melikhovo" will host the International Theater Festival "Melikhovo Spring" for the 17th time.

The festival program will traditionally include performances based on the works of A.P. Chekhov and about Chekhov, which will bring theaters from different parts of the world to the writer’s estate. Also this year will be presented special program Festival "Visiting Chekhov" Theaters from Moscow, Astana, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Perm, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and other cities will take part in the festival.

The concept of the Melikhovo Spring festival is simple - to show all the variety of stage interpretations of A.P.’s works. Chekhov. For this purpose, theaters from different countries, with performances of completely different genres. The festival program also includes performances about the writer himself. main feature“Melikhovo Spring” is a mandatory “Seagull” in the festival program every year. In addition to classical productions, the playbill includes chamber performances, large-scale dramatizations, and avant-garde versions. " This approach presents the audience with modern theater in all its diversity.“, says festival director Vladimir Baicher.

About Melikhovo Spring 2016:

Over the years, the geography of the “Melikhovo Spring” becomes not only wider, but also qualitatively more interesting. In 2016, theater gourmets and admirers of Chekhov's talent will have plenty to choose from. Academic Russian Drama Theater named after. M. Gorky from the capital of Kazakhstan Astana will show at the festival "Black Monk", A Drama Theater"Arrow" from a small Moscow region Zhukovsky – "The Cherry Orchard".Sevastopol will present at the festival Drama Theater named after A.V. Lunacharsky with a performance based on the works of Chekhov "This and that". Another production based on several stories by the writer - a tragicomedy "Happy Story"- will bring from the other side of the world Sakhalin Puppet Theater. "Uncle Vanya" this year two will play at the festival theater groups– St. Petersburg “Theater of Rains” And Voronezh Chamber Theater.

Drama Theater from Berezniki prepared for the festival "Man in a Case", A Taganrog Theater named after. A.P. Chekhov – "Darling" directed by Tatiana Voronina. Tatyana, by the way, has recently become a frequent guest of the Chekhov estate. In March 2016, she staged the play “The Bench” based on the play by Alexander Gelman at the Melikhovo Theater “Chekhov Studio” in the bold format of a stand-up cafe. The unusual “Bench” was liked not only by the audience, but also by the playwright himself, who visited Melikhovo and stopped by the premiere.

In 2016, the special program of the festival is of particular interest “Visiting A.P. Chekhov". The performances of this program are not dramatizations of Chekhov’s works, but in these productions or the fates of their authors, interesting connecting threads with the work of Anton Pavlovich can be traced. For example, a play "Nina" based on the play by the famous Romanian playwright Matei Vishnek, which opens the program “Visiting A.P. Chekhov" this year, is a kind of continuation of Chekhov's "The Seagull". Second performance as part of the special program - “At the bottom” of the Perm theater “U Mosta” - based on the work of A.M. Gorky, who, as you know, was an admirer of Chekhov’s talent, wrote about this in one of his letters: “...I would like to express to you the sincere, selfless love that I have had for you since young nails mine, I would like to express my admiration for your amazing talent...” It is believed, by the way, that it was Chekhov who “encouraged” Gorky to try his hand at drama.

Moscow will be represented at the upcoming festival School of Dramatic Art with the premiere of last season - the play "The Cherry Orchard" Igor Yatsko and VOLUME by Sergei Golomazov with staging "123 Sisters" based on Chekhov's Three Sisters.

Mentioned Theater "Chekhov's Studio" from Melikhovo is responsible for the highlight of the program at the 2016 festival - the constant “The Seagull”. Theater OPEN-AIR project “Chekhov. Gull", staged in the summer of 2015 in Melikhovo, is interesting because it is played in several locations of the estate, including the space near Chekhov’s wing, where it was written great play, and the Aquarium pond in front of the writer’s house, where the action takes place on rafts.

Another very special one "Seagull" will show at Melikhovo Spring Charitable foundation for supporting the deaf-blind “Connection”. Sketch of "The Seagull", staged workshop D.M. Brusnikina Moscow Art Theater School with professional artists and actors with disabilities will be presented as part of the OFF program of the festival and will become a real event within the festival, as well as another eloquent confirmation that Chekhov’s creativity has no boundaries.

It should be noted that the festival program in 2016 will be supplemented by whole line interesting events and events, for example traditional Melikhovo tea party on the Day of Remembrance of O.N. Efremova May 24. On the territory of the estate there will be a lot of waiting for festival guests pleasant surprises. Among them screenings of film masterpieces based on the works of Chekhov worldwide famous directors And exhibition-retrospective of the festival “Seventeen Moments of Spring” with photographs of performances participating in the “Melikhovo Spring” different years. Visitors audio zones “Listening to Chekhov” V summer cafe will be able to hear the best radio shows based on the works of A.P. Chekhov performed by O. Tabakov, A. Kalyagin, S. Garmash, S. Makovetsky, I. Churikova, Y. Rutberg, S. Bezrukov, M. Efremov, K. Khabensky, N. Karachentsov and others famous artists. The project of the audio zone “Melikhovo Spring 2016” was prepared jointly with Radio Rossii and Radio Culture.

Let us recall that the composition of the participants of the current, 17th, festival was approved by the Expert Council, consisting of famous Russian theater critics, including Marina Timasheva, Anastasia Efremova, Olga Egoshina, Oleg Pivovarov, Alexander Vislov and others.

« It’s an amazing thing: many performances brought to the festival open in Melikhovo from new sides, - notes Anastasia Efremova. – Theaters often worry that they cannot bring all the necessary technical equipment with them to Melikhovo, and that they will have to play in unusual conditions. As a result, we have mosquitoes, we have cold, and sometimes rain, but the performances work, they can be heard and seen, everything is breathing! Performances acquire such an interesting sound that they will never have on their native stage».

It is worth emphasizing once again that the festival’s performances are performed not only in the colorful Theater Hut of the Melikhovo Museum-Reserve, but also in the living scenery of the estate. Such atmospheric plein air shows are invariably very popular among viewers. The festival also has a venue outside the Melikhovo estate - the Serpukhov Musical and Drama City Theater, which has been welcoming participants of the “Melikhovo Spring” for several years in a row. Her festival will also take place in 2016.

Address of the Melikhovo Museum-Reserve:

142326, Moscow region, Chekhov district, Melikhovo village

Museum-Reserve A.P. Chekhov "Melikhovo"

How to get to the Melikhovo estate:

From metro station Yuzhnaya: bus number 365 to the station. Chekhov, then by bus/minibus No. 25 (Nerastnoye) to the stop with. Melikhovo.
From Kursky station: train to st. Chekhov, then by bus/minibus No. 25 (Nerastnoye) to the stop with. Melikhovo.
By car: along the M2 highway (New Simferopol highway), 55 km, turn at the sign for “Melikhovo”

The international theater festival “Melikhovo Spring” will be held for the 17th time from May 21 to 28, 2016 at the A.P. Chekhov Museum-Reserve “Melikhovo”. The festival program will traditionally include performances based on the works of A.P. Chekhov and about Chekhov, which will be brought to the writer’s estate by theaters from different parts of the world. Viewers will see theater productions from Moscow, Astana, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Perm, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and other cities

“The concept of the Melikhovo Spring festival is simple - to show all the variety of stage interpretations of the works of the great writer,” according to a press release received by the editors of the InterMedia agency. - For this purpose, theaters from different countries gather in Melikhovo every year, with performances of completely different genres. The main feature of the festival is only Chekhov and - with the obligatory “The Seagull” in the program.

In addition to classical productions, the festival's playbill includes chamber performances, large-scale dramatizations, and avant-garde versions.

“This approach presents the audience with modern theater in all its diversity,” says festival director Vladimir Baicher.

As part of the “Melikhovo Spring”, the Academic Russian Drama Theater named after. M. Gorky from Astana will show “The Black Monk” at the festival, and the Drama Theater “Strela” from Zhukovsky near Moscow will show “The Cherry Orchard”. Sevastopol will be represented at the festival by the Drama Theater named after A.V. Lunacharsky with a performance based on the works of Chekhov “Todasyo”. Another production based on several stories by the writer - the tragicomedy "Happy Story" - will be presented by the Sakhalin Puppet Theater. “Uncle Vanya” will be performed by two theater groups at the festival this year - the St. Petersburg “Rain Theater” and the Voronezh chamber theater. The Drama Theater from Berezniki made “Man in a Case” for the festival, and the Taganrog Theater named after. A.P. Chekhov - “Darling” staged by Tatyana Voronina.

This year a special festival program “Visiting A.P. Chekhov” will be presented. It includes the performances “At the Lower Depths” (based on Gorky) by the Perm theater “U Mosta” and “Nina” by Matey Vishnek, directed by Ilya Gordon at the Berlin theater “Russian Stage”.

Moscow at the upcoming festival will be represented by the School of Dramatic Art with the premiere of last season - the play “The Cherry Orchard” by Igor Yatsko and TOM by Sergei Golomazov with the production of “123 Sisters”. The Chekhov Studio Theater from Melikhovo is responsible for the highlight of the program at the 2016 festival - the unchanging “The Seagull”. Another “Seagull” will be shown at the “Melikhovo Spring” by the Charitable Foundation for Supporting the Deaf-Blind “Connection”.

- Directors and actors have always strived to come to Melikhovo - after all, Chekhov worked here, the foundations of Russian psychological theater were laid here. Theaters of various ranks - from academic to student - are happy to show their versions here Chekhov's plays, says the current director of the Melikhovo Museum-Reserve, Konstantin Bobkov.

The main program of the festival in 2016 will be complemented by a number of interesting events and activities. These include the opening ceremony on May 21, the script of which is kept in the strictest confidence every year, television screenings of theater and film productions based on the works of Chekhov by world-famous directors, and the traditional Melikhovo tea party on Oleg Efremov’s Memorial Day on May 24.

From May 21 to May 28, 2016 at the A.P. Museum-Reserve. Chekhov "Melikhovo" will host the International Theater Festival "Melikhovo Spring" for the 17th time. The festival program will traditionally include performances based on the works of A.P. Chekhov and about Chekhov, which will bring theaters from different parts of the world to the writer’s estate: Astana, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, Perm, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Moscow and other cities.

The concept of the festival "Melikhovo Spring" is to show all the variety of stage interpretations of the works of the great writer. For this purpose, theaters from different countries gather in Melikhovo every year, with performances of completely different genres. The main feature of the festival is only Chekhov and - with the obligatory "The Seagull" in the program. In addition to classical productions, the festival's playbill includes chamber performances, large-scale dramatizations, and avant-garde versions.

Another production based on several stories by the writer - the tragicomedy "Happy Story" - will be brought from the other end of the world by the Sakhalin Puppet Theater. “Uncle Vanya” will be performed by two theater groups at the festival this year - the St. Petersburg “Rain Theater” and the Voronezh Chamber Theater. The Drama Theater from Berezniki saved it for the “Man in a Case” festival, and the Taganrog Theater named after. A.P. Chekhov - "Darling" directed by Tatyana Voronina.

In 2016, the special program of the festival “Visiting A.P. Chekhov” is of particular interest. It includes the performances “At the Lower Depths” (based on Gorky) by the Perm theater “U Mosta” and “Nina” by Matej Vishnek, directed by Ilya Gordon at the Berlin theater “Russian Stage”. Moscow at the upcoming festival will be represented by the School of Dramatic Art with the premiere of last season - the play “The Cherry Orchard” by Igor Yatsko and TOM by Sergei Golomazov with the ascetic-figurative production of “123 Sisters”.

The aforementioned theater "Chekhov's Studio" from Melikhovo is responsible for the highlight of the program at the 2016 festival - the constant "The Seagull". The plein air play "Chekhov. The Seagull", staged in the summer of 2015 in Melikhovo, is interesting because it is played in several locations of the estate, including the space near Chekhov's wing, where the great play was written, and the pond in front of the writer's house, where the action takes place on pontoon decks . The magical atmosphere of Chekhov’s places, which became the natural backdrop of the performance, did its job, and in 2015, after the premiere, the organizers had to stage several additional performances in order to accommodate everyone who wanted to watch “The Seagull” in the homeland of “The Seagull” before the end of the season.

Another, very special, “The Seagull” will be shown at the “Melikhovo Spring” by the Charitable Foundation for Supporting the Deaf-Blind “Connection”. The performance-action "The Seagull" will take place outside competitive program. It will be another eloquent confirmation that Chekhov’s creativity has no boundaries.

It should be noted that the main program of the festival in 2016 will be complemented by a number of interesting events and activities. These include the opening ceremony on May 21, the script of which is kept in the strictest confidence every year, television screenings of theater and film productions based on the works of Chekhov by world-famous directors, and the traditional Melikhovo tea party on the Day of Remembrance of O.N. Efremova May 24.

More information about the festival: http://chekhovmuseum.com/theatre/festival/archive/festivals/2016/
Information support"Radio Russia", radio "Culture".