It’s interesting that for Elena Yakovleva, who played in “Intergirl”, this role is like a continuation of the film: many years later, “intergirl” Dasha (it is not indicated, however, whether the heroine of the play was a prostitute in the past) opens a brothel, but her business goes bankrupt , and she is forced to pay off a huge debt while working as a nurse for an American of Russian-Jewish origin, Stephen, who lives in a luxurious house on Rublyovka. Stephen is sick with something, so the third hero of the production is a young doctor, Yegor, who is saving money to go to America. Both Yegor and Dasha live in the same house and endure the antics of their eccentric owner.
The play is worthy, it seemed to me that I was watching something from Neil Simon, but with a Russian (and Jewish) slant and simpler, since this play was not written by Simon, but by Sergei Bodrov Sr. (co-authored by Ganna Slutsky) . Bodrov Rossiyushka is a place where you can find some things that you won’t find in America (this is not about a brothel, there is something more serious there), and it seems like hello from the 90s, but why not, underground brothels are still around exist. There is a story there that is not entirely clear to me, it seems that he wrote the script a long time ago, but then his son died tragically, and the original play called “Nurse” has now turned into “Paper Marriage”.
The direction of Alexander Ogarev is excellent, you can feel that the three actors and the director worked together and gave their best. There are not three actors, Dasha is always played by Elena Yakovleva, Stephen is currently played by Sergei Makovetsky and Alexander Yatsko, and Egor is played by Daniil Spivakovsky and Ilya Bledny. I watched the production with Yatsko and Bledny. I couldn’t help but imagine if I were Yatsko Makovetsky, how he would have played, and what intonations he would have used, but I liked Yatsko. Makovetsky is soft, and Yatsko is tougher, drier, and his eye burns with a crazy light; Steven, even though he is sick, has a huge drive. Ilya Bledny fits perfectly into the trio of actors much older than him; he is both handsome and in excellent physical fitness(breakdance!), and plays well. Well, the prima here is Yakovleva. Well, this is a tragicomedy, there is a lot of comedy, her Dasha flaunts in ridiculous outfits, as if smelling of mothballs (thanks to the costume designers for the crazy veil sticking up), wittily parrying Steven’s remarks, but this funny middle-aged heroine is very sincere, therefore it evokes both a smile and sympathy.
All three characters are absolutely unhappy. However, the ending of the play is almost fabulous, although the tragedy from the tragicomedy has not disappeared. But the heroes became much happier, some not for long due to circumstances, and for others the door to new life. And what is very captivating is the unexpectedly touching, sincere, pure quality in people who have gone through difficult times in their lives and are sometimes prone to cynicism, but still something unspent remains.
Amor omnia vincit - love conquers everything.
In the beginning there was a script called “Nurse”. And the fate of this scenario was surprisingly smooth: the magnificent director Sergei Bodrov, known for his films throughout the world cinematic community, winner of a lot of prizes at the most prestigious festivals; it was planned to invite American star John Malkovich, Ingeborg Dapkunaite and Sergei Bodrov Jr. The project was moving towards launch. But something terrible, unfair, irreparable happened... Sergei Bodrov Jr. died during the filming of his new film. It became impossible to continue the project. Even thinking about this failed film brought a bitter lump to my throat. Time passed, and Sergei Bodrov himself suggested returning to this story. This is how the play “Paper Marriage” was created. It is almost impossible to accurately determine the genre of this play - a bitter comedy or a funny drama? Maybe there is no need to strictly divide plays into genres, just as life itself does not fit into any framework, where tears, smiles, hope, and despair are so intertwined. But the story is simple. An American of Russian origin, Stephen lives in a luxurious villa near Moscow and is being treated for an unknown illness. Or he doesn’t get treatment, but simply pretends to at least a little justify his disgusting character. A nurse and a doctor live with him in the house. Stephen is obnoxious, capricious, and the nurse is planning to run away from this lucrative but unbearable job every day. The doctor is more tolerant, he will soon leave for the USA to become an American doctor, and there he will quickly forget about this last work of his in his homeland. Gradually we understand that no one needs all three of them in this world, and only in this house, like on the sinking Titanic, can they support each other for some time.
Paper marriage order tickets.
Buy at performance Paper marriage tickets Worth it for anyone who likes to think about life. The play for this performance was written by Sergei Bodrov Sr., and it was originally planned that his son would play in it. However, bereavement stopped the production of the production. It is difficult to define its genre unambiguously - the comic is too closely intertwined with the tragic.
It is likely that one should not try to distinguish genres, since life is inherently too contradictory. Buy tickets for the play Paper Marriage A must see for anyone who wants to reflect on life together with famous actors. Starring Valery Garkalin/Sergei Makovetsky, Elena Yakovleva, Ilya Bledny/Vladimir Pankov/Daniil Spivakovsky.
Steven's Cloudy Days
As for the main character, he is a wealthy American of Russian origin who lives in one of the villas near Moscow. A nurse and a doctor live with him in the house. Stephen is obnoxious and capricious, so every day the nurse plans to run away from this lucrative but unbearable job.
The doctor is more tolerant: with the money he earns, he is going to go to the USA. Gradually we understand that no one needs all three of them in this world, and only in this house, like on the sinking Titanic, can they support each other for some time. Order tickets for the play Paper Marriage you can do it as simply as possible on the VipTicket website.
Tickets for the play Paper Marriage.
“Paper Marriage” is a play, reviews of which, with their contradictory nature, only fuel interest in it even more. At the moment it is performed on the stage of the Taganka Actors' and Taganka Actors' Theaters.
Creators
“Paper Marriage” is a performance that is a joint creation of a group of very talented people. First of all, Ganna Slutsky had a hand in its creation. This talented screenwriter is the daughter of the famous Soviet director Genrikh Oganesyan, who directed the famous comedy “Three Plus Two.” She is the author of 5 plays and scripts for 3 dozen films, most of which are works that have earned praise from viewers and critics.
The play “Paper Marriage” is one of the successful brainchildren of Sergei Bodrov Sr., an Oscar (two-time) and Golden Globe nominee. He is known not only for his directing, but also for his acting and scripts.
Most of these actors are stars of modern Russian theatrical art. Their mere presence on stage makes the play “Paper Marriage,” about which most viewers have the best impressions, interesting and worthy of attention.
The performance through the eyes of the spectator
“Paper Marriage,” reviews of which are presented below, begins with a quarrel between Dasha and Stephen over orange juice. It ends with a brawl and Dasha’s statement that she is tired of this life and is going to leave him. Enough for a long time the audience does not understand what is happening, and only by the second act it becomes clear to them who the heroes are and how they relate to each other.
The rich have their own quirks, so Stephen invites Dasha to enter into a “paper marriage” with him. The nurse demands $10,000 for her consent. Since the American is Jewish, the wedding takes place in a synagogue. Then begins " family life”consisting of constant scandals. At her “wife”’s birthday, Dasha makes a toast, wishes him a long life and that he will always torment those around him, and also apologizes for the fact that she does not have a gift for him. In response, Stephen says that her consent to the marriage was the best present for him. The woman realizes that she loves her former ward. Things are even starting to get better for them living together. One day, when Dasha is already expecting a child (Steven may not even know about it), the American leaves, leaving a note. Dasha becomes furious and tears her to shreds. Then a voice is heard, and she finds out that Stephen did not go to the USA, but died. Dasha's only consolation is that when she asked whether he knew about the child, she received a positive answer.
The play “Paper Marriage”: reviews
The audience's opinion about the performance is diametrically opposite. Most of those who have already seen the performance note that it is permeated with deep philosophical meaning and touches on very relevant issues of human loneliness in our time, regardless of his social status and profession. Among the comments about the production, one can hear negative reviews regarding the stage design and costumes, looking at which it is difficult to imagine that we are talking about a person living in a luxurious villa. In addition, many are hostile to the somewhat vulgar jokes and slang words that liberally pepper the dialogues of the main characters.
It’s interesting that for Elena Yakovleva, who played in “Intergirl”, this role is like a continuation of the film: many years later, “intergirl” Dasha (it is not indicated, however, whether the heroine of the play was a prostitute in the past) opens a brothel, but her business goes bankrupt , and she is forced to pay off a huge debt while working as a nurse for an American of Russian-Jewish origin, Stephen, who lives in a luxurious house on Rublyovka. Stephen is sick with something, so the third hero of the production is a young doctor, Yegor, who is saving money to go to America. Both Yegor and Dasha live in the same house and endure the antics of their eccentric owner.
The play is worthy, it seemed to me that I was watching something from Neil Simon, but with a Russian (and Jewish) slant and simpler, since this play was not written by Simon, but by Sergei Bodrov Sr. (co-authored by Ganna Slutsky) . Bodrov Rossiyushka is a place where you can find some things that you won’t find in America (this is not about a brothel, there is something more serious there), and it seems like hello from the 90s, but why not, underground brothels are still around exist. There is a story there that is not entirely clear to me, it seems that he wrote the script a long time ago, but then his son died tragically, and the original play called “Nurse” has now turned into “Paper Marriage”.
The direction of Alexander Ogarev is excellent, you can feel that the three actors and the director worked together and gave their best. There are not three actors, Dasha is always played by Elena Yakovleva, Stephen is currently played by Sergei Makovetsky and Alexander Yatsko, and Egor is played by Daniil Spivakovsky and Ilya Bledny. I watched the production with Yatsko and Bledny. I couldn’t help but imagine if I were Yatsko Makovetsky, how he would have played, and what intonations he would have used, but I liked Yatsko. Makovetsky is soft, and Yatsko is tougher, drier, and his eye burns with a crazy light; Steven, even though he is sick, has a huge drive. Ilya Bledny fits perfectly into the trio of actors much older than him; he is handsome, in excellent physical shape (breakdance!), and plays well. Well, the prima here is Yakovleva. Well, this is a tragicomedy, there is a lot of comedy, her Dasha flaunts in ridiculous outfits, as if smelling of mothballs (thanks to the costume designers for the crazy veil sticking up), wittily parrying Steven’s remarks, but this funny middle-aged heroine is very sincere, therefore it evokes both a smile and sympathy.
All three characters are absolutely unhappy. However, the ending of the play is almost fabulous, although the tragedy from the tragicomedy has not disappeared. But the heroes became much happier, some for a short time due to circumstances, and for others the door to a new life opened. And what is very captivating is the unexpectedly touching, sincere, pure quality in people who have gone through difficult times in their lives and are sometimes prone to cynicism, but still something unspent remains.
Amor omnia vincit - love conquers everything.
Healthy
“May great happiness be sent to you, and may it be immediately taken away” (eastern curse).
The play “Paper Marriage” by the theater agency “Art-Partner XXI” on the stage of the “Commonwealth of Taganka Actors” theater, in my opinion, is about exactly this situation. Yes, the tragic ending is softened, the heroine is showered with benefits that she receives instead of love, but does this cancel her loss?!
At the same time, by the will of the director, Alexander Ogarev, from the very beginning the production is perceived as a comedy, towards the end - as a farce, and only the finale - a tragedy, again, a light one.
To be honest, it all seemed unreal to me. Maybe because I know how terminally ill people really die. Everything is not so easy and bright. But even if we abstract from the truth of life and believe that the hero is able to love and strive to be close to the woman he loves, the meaning and form of the production strongly contradict each other, only arriving at something unified towards the end. And at the end the performance really becomes touching. That is, you begin to watch it as a story of people, and not as a sketch for KVN.
I really liked the solution to the scene of the hero’s departure, such a dissolution in one’s own note. Great. The rest of the set design is simple, without any frills. However, the enterprise format probably does not allow the use of complex scenography.
To be honest, I went to the performance mainly for Elena Yakovleva and in hopes of Sergei Makovetsky. But the main male role was played by Alexander Yatsko... and it was great. I love Sergei Makovetsky very much, but after 15 minutes I simply couldn’t imagine anyone in this role except Alexander. This is how it happens - the one from whom I expected a lot was disappointed (I’m talking about Elena Yakovleva, it’s not that I didn’t like it at all, but I wasn’t impressed, in my opinion, she overacted), and the one I didn’t expect at all was liked more than the others. His hero, an American millionaire of Russian origin, was truly believable. He aroused sympathy with his desperate attempts to find at the end of his life what he could not get before - love and intimacy. Yes, he is trying to do it in a clumsy and familiar way - to buy. But you can forgive him; he won’t have time any other way. Yes, he doesn’t know how, and he won’t be able to do it any other way. He is humanly contradictory, but deep down he is kind, unhappy and loving. In general, I really liked it, I’m glad that I saw Alexander Yatsko on stage.
In general, only three actors are involved in the production, and it would be unfair not to mention the third - Ilya Bledny in the role of a doctor. I got the same impression from him, I liked him, although he didn’t excite me with enthusiasm.
Overall, I am pleased that I saw actors on stage whom I had previously only seen on screen; it’s always interesting. In addition, I got a wonderful place, almost ideal for this hall, the middle of the fourth row of the stalls. There is a good rise in the fourth row, so you can see great.
I got the impression that this is mainly why it’s worth going to an enterprise - to see famous actors. Because I saw Alexander Ogarev’s performances in the repertory theater - it’s completely different. And here it seems that the director also decided that people would come to see the actors, and not the performance; there was an obvious flirtation with the public, and not at all with the help of something exquisitely theatrical. The wedding scene just pissed me off. Well, okay, the bride got drunk, everyone admired how Elena Yakovleva plays a drunken woman, but why didn’t she sober up by the morning?.. And the people in the hall laughed. The public was pleased. And that terrible, inappropriate veil! I suspect that in the theater the same director would have staged this play differently, more poignantly and touchingly.
But one way or another, I also satisfied my curiosity, which I’m glad about.