'Hope for hope': Anatoly Bely - about touring the USA, creativity and war

In June, under the auspices of the Cherry Orchard festival, the famous actor Anatoly Bely arrives in the United States with the performance “I'm here". This is a solo performance in which the story of the protagonist is combined with poems by contemporary authors written after February 24, 2022, and his tragedy and pain are intertwined with touching funny scenes and live communication with the audience.

Photo courtesy of the tour organizers

Anatoly is one of the few well-known actors who has publicly spoken out against the war in Ukraine. In the summer of 2022, he left for Israel with his family, leaving a brilliant career in film and theater in Russia. About how difficult it was to start life in a new place, about new films and performances, and about what made him leave Russia, Anatoly Bely spoke in an exclusive interview with ForumDaily.

man lost

Anatoly notes that despite the fact that many anti-war poems by modern poets are used in his production, this is much more than an ordinary theatrical and poetic program. "I'm Here" is a full-fledged performance with its own plot and hero, which gradually reveals itself to the viewer from various angles: it seeks, loses, suffers, shares its experiences and tries to find itself again.

«The protagonist is a very recognizable figure today, which we have designated as “a lost man”. To define him as a “refugee”, in my opinion, would narrow the scope, since we are talking not only about the external loss of home or homeland, but also about the internal loss of oneself. The hero himself does not know what to do and how to live on.", - explains the actor.

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Anatoly Bely personally participated in writing the monologues of his hero - together with the director of the play Egor Trukhin, to whom the idea of ​​​​the production belongs. The "Lost Man" appears on stage with two backpacks, front and back. At first glance, he seems funny and ridiculous, joking with the audience, but gradually reveals himself deeper and more tragic, and his inner monologue increasingly breaks out in the form of poetry.

«I understand that it’s not easy for everyone today, and everyone is faced with losses in one way or another: some more, some less, some lose everything they had, and some even lose their lives. Therefore, we did not want to completely immerse people in darkness, and we chose the tragicomedy genre. Egor highly appreciates Charlie Chaplin, and in the performance you can see references to the legendary "Tramp" - elements of tragic clowning. I will not say that we promise the viewer a light at the end of the tunnel or the hope that everything will definitely be fine. Rather, it is hope for hope - the hero gradually gropes for a subtle glimpse of light, thanks to which he finds the strength to live on.”, Anatoly shares.

You can buy tickets for the play “I'm Here” in the USA here to register:.

The young director Yegor Trukhin, like Anatoly Bely, immigrated to Israel last year. The actor himself calls his co-author a real, serious director with great potential.

«Yegor has big plans - to create his own own theater in Europe, with his own handwriting and style, and I very much support him in this idea. Of course, it will be quite difficult to realize it, but it seems to me that if a person goes to his dream, he always has a chance to reach its realization, especially if he is lucky enough to meet a good producer”, Anatoly argues.

"Bridges burned themselves"

Before his repatriation to Israel, Anatoly Bely played for many years in the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov and starred in multitude famous movies and series. Nevertheless, the actor assures that it was not so difficult for him to leave a successful career, and on the contrary, it was more difficult to finish the last theatrical season in the atmosphere that reigned in Russia after February 24 last year.

«The people who supported the war had different motives: both fear and usual conformism, as well as sincere support and faith in the "God's chosen people" of the Russian people, "saving the world." But for me it was especially amazing that a huge number of people with whom we once played Chekhov together - seemingly erudite, educated, sensitive, intelligent - could literally go crazy so easily. This was a huge disappointment for me.", - shares the actor.

Anatoly Bely admits that this disappointment, in a sense, made it easier for him to emigrate, psychologically “cutting him off” from many things that once connected him with Russia.

«Under the influence of this atmosphere, the internal bridges with the past seemed to burn themselves, and it was as if I was “pushed out” from a country that ceased to be mine. Both the city and the people have changed, everything has turned upside down so much - and this unexpectedly helped me change my life. Of course, there are a couple of emotional triggers left, but in general I don’t feel any torment, I’m not pulled back, and I understand that there is no one to return to and nowhere to go. I remember that since the beginning of the war, I had practically no contact with my fellow actors. I just went on stage, played my part and ran away from the theater. It was a terrible feeling: when you don’t know who is in front of you, what is happening in the soul of your viewers or colleagues, how they relate to this nightmare", - recalls the actor.

Photo courtesy of the tour organizers

simple meanings

According to Anatoly Bely, his initial disappointment in the profession was so great that immediately after moving to Israel, he was ready to leave the stage and cinema.

«I did not understand the meaning of creativity and art in general, seeing how the brilliant examples of Russian culture created over the centuries: literature, poetry, painting and music, however, could not stop anything and did not save anything from", - he admits.

However, over time, Anatoly saw many people who were interested in his work, and along with this came the understanding that art in all ages did not have the power to save the world, but it was quite capable of filling the lives of individuals. In Israel, the theater "Gesher" appeared in his life, and with it - new performances, moreover, in Russian.

«I was amazed at how high the demand for Russian-speaking culture is in Israel. In the theater "Gesher" we have already staged the play "Do not look back”, and just recently I again felt the spiritual strength in myself to resume reading poetry. Together with a wonderful virtuoso saxophonist Arnold Giskin we created the musical and poetic program "Part of Life", which included works by Brodsky, Mandelstam and Pasternak", - says the actor.

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Anatoly notes the amazing friendliness and mutual assistance of the Israelis, thanks to which he quickly found a film agent, and then starred in an Israeli film - already in Hebrew.

«It's a pretty simple movie. In Israel, oddly enough, the full meter in the genre of melodrama is very popular - more than serials. In appearance, this is an ordinary modern cinema that does not claim to be “higher meanings”. However, it has very simple, human meanings, which, against the background of what is happening today, can be called high.", - Anatoly is sure.

Speaking about his plans for the future, the actor notes that he would like to continue doing what he likes.

«For example, I recently received a request from the Tel Aviv Philharmonic to read The Little Prince with a symphony orchestra. If you think about it, the simple truths set out there are more relevant today than ever. If a lamb eats a rose, this is really very important, how important it is to clean up your planet and make sure that baobabs do not tear it apart. It is precisely such texts that bring light and give at least some hope that I would like to continue to share with the viewer", - sums up the actor.

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