The Yakub Kolas Theatre in Vitebsk offered a new interpretation of the poem "Symon the Musician"
Creations of the Belarusian classic appear infrequently at the theater that bears his name. The last premiere based on Yakub Kolas's poem "New Earth" was in 2001, although there are periodic discussions about a play based on the People's Poet's work becoming the Kolas Theater's signature production.
It was once the case. For several seasons, "Symon-Muzyka," staged in 1976 for the theater's 50th anniversary by then-artistic director Valery Mazynski, opened the season. For this play, the director and the performer of the title role, Sergey Shulga, were awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize of Belarus. Then, for a couple of years, Mikhail Krasnobayev played Symon, and years later, having become a director, he dreamed of bringing the Kolas poem back to the stage.
On the eve of the premiere, the director admitted that he had approached this work several times but couldn't find the right approach. Finally, he found it by reading the first edition of the poem, which the author later masterfully revised, but in the process, some original essence and raw tragedy were lost.
In the version written in the first post-revolutionary years, the ending is more dramatic – the hero falls into a death-like sleep in the cemetery where his beloved is buried, with the hope of an eventual awakening.
In later versions, when the process of Belarusianization began, which allowed the poet to believe in the revival of his native land, language, and the construction of an independent Belarus, the author awakened Symon, who, with his magical violin playing, brought Hanna – the living embodiment of Belarus – back to life.
Mikhail Krasnobayev proposed an even more tragic finale than Kolas's first one. According to the director, it is inspired by the harsh realities of modern life, where pragmatism reigns, and a person with a sensitive, open soul cannot find their place in society. Their heart breaks like the strings of a violin broken by soulless people.
There is no point in retelling the plot of the production. It is conventional. The emphasis is on the internal conflicts experienced by the main character, who overcomes the trials that have befallen him.
The director invites modern young people to read the poem and make their own choice. This conventionality and symbolism are supported in the artistic image of the performance, created by the theater's chief artist, Svetlana Makarenko. A large wheel occupies the central place on the stage; it transforms into a clock mechanism, a table in a tavern, a chandelier in a prince's castle, hangs over, collapses like misfortune, rolls, imitating the passage of time, stops, and turns inside out.
The minimalism of the scenery and costumes, which only indicate the signs of the era, is complemented by video content. On the large screen installed on the backdrop of the stage, handwritten lines of the poem appear, serving as a subtext for the action.
However, sometimes the visuals are too literal. When it is said that Symon turned out to be a bad shepherd, a wolf attacking sheep appears on the screen. Such video prompts are superfluous for a symbolic production.
In Mikhail Krasnobayev's production, Symon sings a lot. The performance turned out to be musical, but the transitions from poetic narration to songs sometimes seem rough. Perhaps it is because the theater has poor equipment? Sound fluctuations prevent concentration on the text, which is very important in this production.
Interestingly, the music for the play was written by Mikhail Krasnobayev's son, Artyom, who was born at the time his father was performing "Symon the Musician" on stage.
So, this work by Yanka Kupala is significant for both of them. As it is for People's Artist of Belarus Tadeush Kokhtysh, who was involved in Valery Mazynsky's production in the past and is now playing four roles: the Old Man, Kuryla, the Beggar, and Grandpa Danila. In addition, he embodies the image of Symon himself in old age, who guides the new young hero, played by Dmitry Kovalenko, through his destiny.
The actor still lacks stage experience, but has a great desire to grasp the emotionality and depth of meaning of Kupala's words.
Anastasia Revchenko-Lukyanova faced a difficult task – to combine the images of the beloved and Belarus in her role. Therefore, perhaps, her words sound somewhat detached and, alas, unfeeling. But this is fixable, and over time the performers will gain skill. And the potential for this is there.
It is difficult to predict what fate awaits "Symon the Musician" on the Kupala stage. The premiere was well received, with a full house. But, unfortunately, there are few spectators today who come to the theater not for entertainment, but to think, to touch the high word of the classics with their soul. And this is also what the broken string cries about.