Baryshnikov, robots and Russian soldier: Ukrainian director surprises Americans with modern version of Chekhov's play

Ukrainian director Igor Golyak can rightly be called an innovator of the American theater industry. His experimental productions have repeatedly become the Critics' Choice of The New York Times. And from June 7 to July 3, the creator and director of the Boston theater Arlekin Players presents his new experiment - the off-Broadway performance "The Cherry Orchard", for which a four-dimensional universe was created, inhabited by robots, side by side with traditional Chekhov characters. In the role of the bankrupt aristocrat Ranevskaya Jessica Hecht, Mikhail Baryshnikov plays the elderly servant of Firs and Chekhov himself. Viewers can choose between watching an immersive performances in theater (BAC) or online (ZOOM). ForumDaily asked the director what was wrong with theaters in America, how they managed to attract world stars to the performance, and how a Russian soldier got into the garden.

Igor Golyak. Photo provided by the press service of the event

You were born and lived in Kyiv until the age of 11, after which you moved to the USA, but studied theater art in Russia. What is your creative language?

I think and compose performances in Russian. But it really depends on what artists I work with. If with Russian speakers, then at the rehearsal I usually speak Russian. And with English-speaking actors, I conduct a rehearsal and think in English.

Why did you go to study in Russia? Are there no theater studios in America that could give you what you were striving for?

When I moved to the USA, I couldn’t really “fit in” to American life. I felt a little “stranger”, “different”. At that moment I thought that the best theater school was founded by Konstantin Stanislavsky - in Russia. But now I understand that then I was just trying to find myself, that’s why I wanted to go to Russia. It seemed to me that everything there would be closer to me than in the USA.

Which of the Russian directors do you consider an innovator who continues the traditions that led you to study in Russia?

At first I studied at the Boris Shchukin Theater Institute, then at GITIS. There are all the same clichés... For example, Rimas Tuminas, who left the Vakhtangov Theater and left Russia. As far as I know, he will now be staging a play in Israel. As a director, I really love Dmitry Krymov - this is an unattainable value, and Yuri Butusov. And when Pyotr Fomenko was there, I thought that his theater was the most interesting.

And what of the American theater do you consider to be a manifestation of real theater, and not the pursuit of a show?

Hard to say. I do not want to be a snob, but there is no such thing as a theater that is a highly artistic theater of Tuminas or Butusov. If it was at least the theater of Robert Wilson (American director - Ed.), it would still be an art theater with a certain aesthetics. Also, I really like The Wooster Group.

That is, in the United States there is practically no such theater as in Russia? Arlekin Players is an attempt to organize something similar?

Yes, it was just such an attempt. But here it is practically impossible, because the state does not support the theater. To live on the funds from the performances is definitely unrealistic. So it all comes down to the desire of the artists and the company to be together for a while. But it quickly dries up, because there is a family, the main job. All this is very difficult, because theater, like any art, requires an absolutely extraordinary amount of strength, energy and soul. The theater does not forgive when the artist does not fully spend himself. However, this is not possible in the American theater system, there are simply no resources for this.

Is it not possible to receive grants for the work of the theater?

It is possible, but these will be small grants. Or you need to do something commercial, but it’s quite difficult to break through there. Besides, I don't really want to do a show. I'm trying to work in a different genre and create my own theatre.

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However, the Arlekin Players Theater has already opened its twelfth season..

In Boston and New York we definitely put ourselves on the theatrical map. We had two performances that were given a Critic's Pick by The New York Times critics. There are no theaters like this in Boston, no matter your budget. But if in Russia or Europe the best critics said that “this is good,” then, probably, I would already have my own theater and the state would fully pay for it. Here we were simply “patted on the head.” This is some kind of status, but nothing more.

In the USA, all the top opera, ballet, and theatrical productions are mostly attended by Russian-speaking and Asian audiences. How to educate and accustom the American audience to the theater?

Criticism is of great importance here: what they write about the performances, how they are analyzed. This is generally a big science, which in Russia is taught for 4-5 years. When people write about the performance, you understand what it is about. It can be compared to wine. For example, you can drink Cahors - it is sweet and therefore tasty, or you can drink expensive wine. To understand the flavor nuances, you need to try it. Besides, someone has to tell you that a certain wine is good. It’s the same with performances - you need to watch a certain number of performances, not necessarily “sweet” ones, and figure out why this or that performance is good. In addition, people have some kind of emotional response to performances - this is when everything is “tasty” and interesting, and a person tries to figure out why. Everything happens in different ways, but there is no single panacea. Of course, lately the theater has been developing somehow, directors are staging interesting performances. However, there is a lack of artistic theater in the United States.

Photo provided by the press service of the event. Author: Pavel Antonov

Was your goal to attract the younger generation through immersive elements in the performances chekhovOS and The Cherry Orchard?

I didn’t think much about it and just did what was interesting to me. For example, the idea of ​​combining robots and Chekhov contains an internal conflict that can express Chekhov in a new way. It seemed to me that this was correct and it was interesting to try to figure it out myself. In many ways there was an intuition that there are people who cannot understand themselves and, as a counterpoint, programmed robots. In Chekhov's poetics, where he, as a doctor, tries to understand people, there is an antipode to the robot, which is understandable. Plus, it was a “challenge” about how such a big “toy” could exist in this family.

What is this production of Chekhov in your theater?

Already the third.

Why do you think the relevance of Chekhov is growing, despite the time?

For many reasons. There is a director’s and actor’s cliché: when you start to understand Chekhov, it’s like a pit or a tunnel. You start walking along it, it leads you somewhere. And the more you try to think about it, the more new associations, understandings, and meanings emerge. It’s interesting to exist in it, to figure out what characters and conflicts we’re talking about, and to try to uncover them. From a modern point of view, taking “The Cherry Orchard” you can understand the meaning of the main cue of this performance - the sound of a broken string. This is very relevant today, because the sound of a breaking string at the moment is when something in the universe is stretched and breaks. For example, now it is a war, before there was a pandemic. All this can be explained in any way. And Chekhov is a kind of question about what happened to him all his life. Because if a doctor, dying of tuberculosis, does not have the opportunity to fix this world and himself, something bursts in the atmosphere and the question “Why am I sick?” appears. And not why - just like that. And the answer “no why” is what has happened to all of us. This is the meaning of the broken string that sounds today.

Did the soldier in your English-language performance, who speaks Russian, appear after February 24th?

Конечно.

How do American audiences react to it?

Amazing. They, however, do not understand what he is talking about and usually ask: “So what did he say? How did he threaten them? But he doesn't actually threaten, he's just talking over text. This passing character in Chekhov's play is also mystical. This is not just a drunkard character who came in, asked for money and left. For their environment, he is an alien.

And how do Russians react to this character, are they not offended by the image of an aggressive Russian soldier?

I didn't receive any negative feedback. But today, a broken string is in many ways this character that has flown in from somewhere. Something happened to them (to the characters) and to us.

In Ukraine, you lived only up to 11 years. Nevertheless, you position yourself as a Ukrainian director, you have organized the Artists for Ukraine fund. Many people who left Ukraine long ago say that this is the call of blood, which is not felt until the critical moment. Is that how it was for you?

Yes, that's basically it. Previously, when in the USA you said that you “come from Ukraine,” the Americans asked: “Where is that?” For them it was somewhere between Serbia and Slovakia. That's why I said that I was Russian. Although I am Russian, first of all I am a Jew from Ukraine who studied in Russia.

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Have you followed what is happening with theaters in Ukraine?

No. Only sometimes, when I visited my uncle (he was a composer), who took me to the Lesya Ukrainka Theater and other theaters, it was all very interesting and great. Once we were at a theater festival in Lvov - we played a performance there and saw very unusual searches.

This is the first time you have such a stellar cast. To what extent are Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jessica Hecht with their theatrical baggage involved in the creative process?

They bring themselves very strongly, but as actors. They have a different task - they need to come up with a character, a role, understand what they come to in their role, and exist in a complex fantasy space. It is necessary to find oneself in this space, extensions to it, in order to settle in it and organically exist in it - this is a difficult task. And they do it perfectly. I came to them with a vision that the performance would be just like that - they supported me.

Photo provided by the press service of the event

Mikhail Baryshnikov is very selective towards directors. Moreover, in your case, he not only provided his stage for the performance, but also plays one of the main roles. How did you manage to attract him?

I offered him the role and the idea of ​​the play. He thought and agreed. Of course, it’s hard for him to accept roles - he is a great person and artist, you need to be selective. But somehow we got along.

Your performance chekhovOS /an experimental game/ based on “The Cherry Orchard” - was this your response to the pandemic?

Initially yes. But in general, he appeared in tandem with the “live” performance.

Do you have an understanding that the habit of virtual life will remain and such performances will be needed for an audience that, due to the crisis, will have fewer opportunities to come to Boston or New York for the performance?

I have a feeling that this format will definitely exist. The main question is how to make virtual theater interesting. And this is a question, on the one hand, of the technologies that are needed for implementation. On the other hand, you can’t just broadcast the performance. We need to make it interesting for people who cannot come to New York for a performance, but at the same time want to get a unique experience, so that it is not a movie or live theater. To do this, you need to find a way to this type of art. Now many people around the world are doing this. Our current attempt has succeeded and failed in some ways. But at least it's not completely broadcast. There is a part of the broadcast, but there is also a part where Jessica directly communicates with the audience, there is an interactive auction in which virtual spectators come as potential buyers of the cherry orchard. There is a scene where Baryshnikov lies on the operating table, and the audience can play and operate on an actor who reads Trigorin’s monologue from “The Seagull” about how hard it is to create.

Is there already a definition for this type of art?

This is probably a virtual or online theater. Now there are theater scientists who are dealing with this issue.

The performances of The Orchard at the Baryshnikov Center in New York are held as part of annual festival "Cherry Orchard"which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Performances are held daily, except Monday, until July 3, 2022 at BARYSHNIKOV ART CENTER (BAC), 450 W 37th St, New York, NY. Tickets can be ordered on the festival website cherryorchardfestival.org or https://www.theorchardoffbroadway.com.

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