Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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IN Moscow Drama Theater named after M.N. Ermolova the premiere of the play took place "____ in Rus' ____ is good" Based on Nikolai Nekrasov's poem, director Dmitry Mulkov and playwright Artem Kazyukanov's production transforms the classic work into a garage rock concert for modern workers, where the main road is replaced by the well-worn ruts of a workshop, guitars made from canisters replace the gusli, and the question "Who lives well in Rus'?" resonates as poignantly as it did a century and a half ago.
Dmitry Mulkov: "It's as if it was written specifically for rock."
— Dmitry, in your play, seven of Nekrasov's men become workers who play rock music in a garage. How did this idea come about?
"One day, I stumbled across a rock band on VKontakte with the amazing name "Tekhmashrecords." They're two workers from Vorkuta who write songs in their garage to their own lyrics—rock and even punk. I fell in love with their music and thought: these are just like Nekrasov's characters! I wanted to combine this energy with Nikolai Nekrasov's lyrics.
Initially, it was an experiment—to test the extent to which Nekrasov's poems could become genre music. It turned out they were written specifically for this purpose. I also acted as composer for the production: we rehearsed together and composed the music simultaneously.
— In the play, we see customized musical instruments. Did you make them yourself? Do they sound authentic?
"Yes, it's been a long-standing passion of mine. Our show features several guitars made from canisters—I made them myself. When the idea for the garage story came up, I already had one such guitar. We tried it out, tweaked it, and it worked. Then the passion grew: I sawed metal, remade a bass guitar. Together with the designer Igor Kanevsky, we found a solution for the performance space, and from there I designed the individual instruments."
They're all real, working instruments. Many of the actors had to relearn how to play. For example, our bassist, Oleg Filipchik, who plays Pakhom, had never played bass before; he's a guitarist, but he had to master the specifics of the instrument, especially such a unique one, on the spot.
— Why a garage and not a main road, like Nekrasov’s?
"I think it's directly related. The garage, where a philosophical debate takes place, and the road are one and the same. We have a well-worn track through the garage, and cars are constantly driving into it. Metaphorically, it all fits together. The industrial park garage is a modern highway, a meeting place for people."
Nekrasov's peasants were looking for a lucky man—a priest, a landowner, a tsar. Has the "list of candidates" changed for your modern heroes?
"We were stunned by one discovery. We were doing verbatim with a modern priest from the Leningrad region, and he recounted exactly the same things as Nekrasov's priest almost 200 years ago. A similar story unfolded after a conversation with a real government official. This was very important for us in terms of research. We spoke with modern prototypes, and the whole team reflected on what happiness is and what is necessary to live a free and joyful life in Rus'."
— Do you have a personal answer to the question of who lives well in Rus'?
"In Nekrasov, at the very end of the poem, this question becomes an affirmation, a prayer for everyone to live well, a hope that someday everyone will be happy and at ease. Nikolai Alekseevich doesn't put a period or a question mark in the title. So it is with us: having asked this question at the beginning, we ultimately come to the hope that someday things will be good. So there is no answer. But there is hope."
Artem Kazyukanov: "If the audience doesn't argue after the performance, it's not our performance."
— Artem, you almost completely reworked Nekrasov's poem into a modern play. How did you work with the language?
"A colossal amount of work was done. The songs were retained—the music was composed, but the lyrics were based almost verbatim on Nekrasov's work; they were completely original and familiar. But the main characters' parts were translated into modern language. From the language of poetry to the language of prose."
Initially, when we were dissecting Nekrasov's text, we studied the peculiarities of the peasant language of that era. Now, as we were creating a modern analogy, I was delighted to find interesting words and expressions in overheard conversations, which I later conveyed to the characters in our play. This profound work with language is one of the two most important aspects of this production for me.
— And the second aspect?
"An attempt to answer the question of who lives well in Rus'. I don't want to and can't give an answer because it's still oscillating around the median. And it's not a given that it will settle on a single position. If it does, it means we haven't nailed something down."
It's symbolic that Nekrasov didn't finish the poem. It left something unsaid—not in the sense that half the poem is missing, but in the sense that there's room for reflection. For me as a playwright, for Dmitry as a director, and, most importantly, for our audience.
I can say for sure: if after a performance by director Dmitry Mulkov and playwright Artem Kazyukanov, the audience leaves without arguing, then it wasn't our production. This dialogue, this debate, these questions are important to us.
Oleg Filipchik: "Time goes by, but the problems remain. It's so interesting!"
Oleg, Nekrasov literally describes your character Pakhom in one word: "old man." How did you develop the role?
"It's a curious thing. I love working with this company because our director is 25 years old and sees things completely differently. That's wonderful. The very fact that he's taking on Nekrasov's work, which today would require coercion to be read, even by schoolchildren, is already an act of courage. I have a feeling very few people even understand what this poem is about."
— What do you think it’s about?
"In short, people dreamed of revolution and fought for freedom. When serfdom was abolished, it suddenly became clear that things had actually gotten worse. The book is about that. It's about how revolutions and radical changes in the Russian Empire don't always produce immediate results."
And Nekrasov lamented this: it's bad for the landowners, and for the priests, and for the ministers—for everyone, because any upheaval for Russia is a disaster. Perhaps he didn't finish his poem because he had reached revelations that he, a lifelong revolutionary, was ashamed to voice. But the most remarkable thing is that time passes, and the problems remain. This is so interesting, so amusing, and it gives food for thought.
— Did you have to learn a new instrument for the role?
"Yes, I became the bass player in that rock band. Many of the guys had to relearn, or learn it for the first time. Danila Kazakov, who plays Luka, is a self-taught drummer. It was fun, albeit noisy: after a five-hour music rehearsal, you're sitting there with your ears ringing."
— What should the audience expect from the performance?
"I understand that many will be shocked by this garage, our singing. I'll say it right away: we scream songs like cats in March for the first 15 minutes. Don't worry, after that, everything will be fine, more or less classical theater."
You have to come with an open mind, understanding that this is food for thought. Mitya created these wonderful workers—steelworkers and metallurgists. I want to live in that atmosphere, closer to the earth.
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