Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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At the Moscow Drama Theater "Human" premiere – The Decline of Europe Based on the 1962 play by French playwright Eugène Ionesco, "Delirium for Two." Directed by Fyodor Thorstensen, the film stars honored artists of Moscow Dmitry Filippov and Milena Tskhovrebova.
Little people
The story centers on two characters—She and He. The director moves the play's action from the 1960s to the 1930s, at the beginning of World War II.
She and He are two very ordinary people, the kind of little people so abundant in Russian literature. They find themselves in dire circumstances they are powerless to resist. All they can hold on to in the face of danger is their love for each other. The couple constantly quarrels and settles scores. Their world crumbles, but the more the viewer watches their comical spats, the more they realize: in reality, She and He love each other.
This is the level of human relationships where strong feelings express themselves in disagreements. These disagreements are minor: arguments about whether a snail and a turtle are the same animal, or whether to open or close a window… However, in moments of danger, the two cling to each other. "The more afraid they are, the closer they are to each other," concludes Dmitry Filippov.
Milena Tskhovrebova explains her character's behavior: "She pretends to be very strict, pushing this man back and forth precisely because, oddly enough, she's trying to give him this strength, not the other way around. It's love that drives her to such actions. She exists on an incomprehensible plane, but within the rigid logic of love for a man."
Broken vessels of love
The production follows the style of the absurd, in keeping with the dramaturgy of Eugène Ionesco. The director explains how he worked with the actors on the production: "Milena is an actress from the school of the theater of the absurd, and Dmitry is a representative of the Moscow Art Theater school. He tried to construct this story with psychological precision, and we inclined him toward absurdist theater, from which this psychology would then suddenly emerge. And at this turning point, when everything emerges from the absurd into very touching and immediate human emotions, our path was ours: to move from the abstract to the concrete and personal story of these two people."
In these circumstances, for which it's impossible to prepare, it's difficult to decide how to behave. Milena Tskhovrebova reflects on her character: "She's very, very much a woman. She copes with the circumstances she finds herself in, frankly, poorly—and at the same time well, because her very nature doesn't presuppose the circumstances she finds herself in. My character copes with them without coping. This story emerges from external circumstances. It reveals a completely different kind of human life, one that has a certain beauty."
The actress finds a surprising metaphor for this story: "There's a Japanese art of gluing vessels together with gold glue. I'd be delighted if the audience noticed how these veins form, how the characters try to piece together the broken vessel of their lives. And this is precisely what creates the absolutely extraordinary pattern of their existence, in which they are forced to exist."
The play depicts the drama of innocent people forced to wander, showing how two nameless people – anyone could be in their place – try to cope with something they cannot influence.
The next performance will be on March 26. Tickets can be purchased online. Mosbilet.
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