For the first time, the play "Romeo and Juliet" will be staged in Belarusian in Vitebsk
On Thursday, May 22, the Yakub Kolas National Theatre invites you to a premiere. The famous Shakespearean play "Romeo and Juliet" was staged by the renowned Russian director Valery Belyakovich.
The founder of Moscow's Theatre on the South-West, People's Artist of Russia, admitted that he had long dreamed of staging a play in our country.
– I am Belarusian, my father is from the Pinsk district. In childhood, I often visited the village where my ancestors lived, I heard the Belarusian language. It is very tender, poetic. I haven't been to my homeland for a long time, but national self-awareness is genetically ingrained in me. I really want to bring the Vitebsk play to Moscow, so that they can hear how Shakespeare sounds in Belarusian there, – said Valery Romanovich, whom we met on the eve of the premiere.
The director initially decided to stage "Romeo and Juliet" in Vitebsk. "Romeo and Juliet". He has worked on this play with theatre troupes from different countries, but each time it turns out to be a new author's production. The director highly praised the Kolas actors:
– The troupe is excellent, it exceeded my expectations. The young actors have a great intuition, the older generation of actors are hard workers, without vanity. Any director can only dream of such actors!
The main roles in the play are performed by young actors Yulia Tsiviki and Roman Solovyov. The production features Honored Artists Tatyana Likhacheva, Tamara Skvortsova, Vyacheslav Grushov, as well as Viktor Dashkevich, Elena Sherepchenko and others, representing the two warring families of the Montagues and Capulets.
– When I was rehearsing the play, I recalled the events in Odesa. Where does such enmity come from?! Today, Shakespeare's words sound as relevant as they did hundreds of years ago. Turning to this 16th-century author, one can find parallels in modern life. Shakespeare is the theatrical Bible, I feel him, and it's easy for me to stage him, – noted the director.
Valery Belyakovich has over 30 productions of the great Englishman's plays to his credit. For the cycle of performances "Shakespeare at the Turn of the Century" he was awarded the Russian Federation Government Prize in the field of culture. The director's productions of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet" are immensely popular in Japan.
– There is a Shakespeare garden in almost every city, and there are figures of his characters. He is an author for all peoples and for all time. There is no question in life that the playwright has not touched upon, – Valery Romanovich is convinced.
Theatergoers will soon find out how Shakespeare will sound in the interpretation of a Russian master on the Kolas stage. In less than two months, at the "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" festival, they will be able to see another work by the director – the play "Fools" performed by actors from the Theater on the South-West. The program of "Theater Meetings" at the festival also includes a production by the Moscow troupe, staged by Oleg Leushin, a student of Valery Belyakovich – "Love and Doves".
Tatyana Pasternak, "Vitebskiye Vesti"