The Sovremennik Theater has been pleasing the viewer with interesting performances for over 60 years. One of the best works of the last decade of his long-standing artistic director Galina Volchek was the production of a play by Donald Lee Coburn. The play “Game of Gin” in Sovremennik, the reviews of which are presented below, is a story about old people and their problems, but it will be interesting to every person who thinks about what awaits him in the future.
About the play and its creator
The author of this work is the American playwright Donald Lee Coburn. Oddly enough, the play The Game of Gin is his first work. He wrote it, being the 40-year-old owner of his own advertising business. The first pancake was not lumpy, and the "Game of Gin" received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 1978. In addition, her Broadway production won 4 Tony nominations.
In the USSR, "The Game of Gin" was first introduced to the viewer under the name "Playing Cards" in 1980. The director of this production was George Tovstonogov.
In 2013, the play by Donald Lee Coburn was presented to his viewer by the Sovremennik Theater. “The game of gin” (reviews see below) and today it collects full rooms, as the best artists of the capital are involved in the performance.
Content
The play takes place in a nursing home in the United States. Local residents have long called it the "House of Death", as the wealthy guests of this institution are very old and leave this world one by one. True, in their place new lonely old people quickly arrive, who were not needed either by relatives or society.
Once there, a rich businessman and a woman meet who worked as an ordinary manager before retirement. Both have behind them a life full of success, culminating in an inner void and the realization of their own uselessness.
A man offers a lady to pass the time for a card game. An elderly woman agrees, and the game begins, during which the old people tell each other about their lives.
The lady turns out to be an extremely capable student and unexpectedly wins gin from her new nursing homemate. Then her "rival" begins to tear apart conflicting feelings: sympathy for a friend in misfortune and the passion of an experienced gambler. Thus begins the struggle for victory in the game of gin between a woman and a hero, which lasts for several evenings.
At the same time, the viewer understands that these people, reaching for each other, could not meet in their youth, because they belonged to a different circle. However, old age put everything in its place, discarding all conventions.
About the production of "The Game of Gin" in "Contemporary"
Reviews from the audience show that although 4 years have passed since the premiere, interest in the performance does not wane.
Galina Borisovna Volchek managed to turn the “Game in Gin” of Sovremennik (see reviews and critics' opinions below) into a kind of ping-pong from verbal remarks full of sarcasm and disagreement. In her production, everything was mixed up, and explosions of laughter from the auditorium are constantly replaced by deathly silence. At such moments, everyone who watches the actors play thinks of old age, which sooner or later becomes the destiny of every person.
Spectators who have already seen the performance, as his strengths point to the excellent work of the artist Pavel Kaplevich and master of the world Damir Ismagilov. Together with the interior of the classic American almshouse, they created an unusual design that evokes thoughts of the decline and mortality of this world. Successful can be called a musical scale, which enhances the impression of what is happening on stage.
The first cast
Initially, the role of pensioner-businessman Weller Martin in the play “Playing the Gin” in Sovremennik (audience reviews are presented below) was played by Valentin Gaft, the favorite of millions of residents of the former USSR. The protagonist of the famous play by Donald Lee Coburn in his performance was a sarcastic, emotional and bile person, at the same time, capable of experiencing deep feelings in relation to another person who is his compelled “misfortune companion”.
His partner was Leah Akhedzhakova. The actress was able to create a vivid and memorable image of pensioner Fonsia, who at first appears as a sort of “decent woman”, in the philistine sense of the word, and a modest quiet, and then begins to be frank and talk about things and feelings that she even hid from herself.
Modern cast
After Valentin Gaft became seriously ill, it became clear that he would no longer be able to play in the play “The Game of Gin” (“Contemporary”). Reviews from the audience show that they approved the choice of a new artist for the role of Weller Martin, made by Galina Volchek. The actor of the Maly Theater Vasily Bochkarev, although it cannot be compared in popularity with Valentin Gaft, composed a wonderful duet with Leah Akhedzhakova.
The Game of Gin in Sovremennik: Criticism
Reviews in the metropolitan press that appeared immediately after the premiere were almost 100% positive. Critics noted the perfection of the stage partnership between Gaft and Akhedzhakova. According to their reviews, the actors felt each other's impulse, and they managed to realize Volchek's plan - to show that Weller Martin and Fonsia themselves were to blame for being left alone. After all, at one time they could not find a common language with the children and, apparently, had not enough love for them.
The opinion of the audience
Reviews of the contemporary play The Game of Gin are published after each performance. And this despite the fact that he is already more than 4 years old! Most of those who leave them behind are fans of Leah Akhedzhakova. They admire the play of their beloved actress, each appearance on the stage of which is a real lesson in acting in the highest sense of the word. Despite her considerable age, Akhedzhakova continues to amaze others with her energy and sparkling humor.
Many praises can also be heard about Vasily Bochkarev. The actor, who is dominated by a constant comparison with Valentin Gaft, was able to quickly "fit" into the already completed outline of the play invented by Galina Volchek. Of course, his Weller is different from what he was before, but this only added new colors to the production.
As for the production as a whole, many viewers note that they were very pleased with the evening spent at the Sovremennik Theater. They recommend that all theatergoers attend the production of the famous play by Donald Lee Coburn in order to be able to enjoy the magnificent game of eminent actors and think about universal human problems that will sooner or later affect everyone.
Now you know what the production of “The Gin” by Sovremennik is about. The audience’s reviews of the play are mostly positive, so at the first opportunity you should definitely visit it to enjoy the game of the incomparable Leah Akhedzhakova and Vasily Bochkarev.