The performance "Ornifle" in the Satire Theater is on the main stage and has been enjoying great success with the audience for more than one season. This is not surprising, because in the main role is the master of Russian comedy, Alexander Shirvindt himself.
But the audience goes to the production, not only because of the popular occupation of a popularly beloved artist in it, but also because of the performance itself.
What is the performance about?
The play of the French playwright Jean Anouil “Ornifle” was not accidentally staged by the Satire Theater. Like the rest of the works of this author, it is full of subtle humor "on the verge of tears", that is, the genre affiliation of the production is a tragicomedy.
The plot is quite interesting and even dramatically controversial. The characters' characters are deep and meaningful, which is usually not characteristic of comedic productions.
The main character is Ornifle, an aging lovelace, a poet shining with wit, but exchanging his talent for the sake of material life values, which, however, does not prevent him from continuing to be a favorite of women and their subject of adoration.
At first glance, it may seem that Jean Anouil writes about the crisis of a creative personality or about the experiences inherent in aging men. But everything is completely wrong. The intrigue does not twist around the poet himself, the plot tells only about the life situation.
The main character unexpectedly meets his own son, the presence of which he did not even suspect. However, the history of this meeting does not entail funny situations, however, as well as tragic ones.
The “Ornifle” of the Satire Theater is a lyrical and slightly sad story about human destiny, which could have been, but did not happen. She leaves room for thought and causes a slight smile. After watching this production, there is a strong desire to walk along the autumn alleys or sit by the window, looking at the rain and reflect on the paradoxes of life.
This is a very bright, kind and full of positive statement, but completely devoid of optimism. If you read about Ornifle, the Satire Theater, reviews of the performance will surprise you with its meaningfulness and the presence of philosophy, viewers do not evaluate, but reflect. Phrases like “laughed to tears” about this production cannot be found, but there are a lot of detailed, verbose comments on social networks and in theater forums about this performance.
Who is on stage?
The main character, the poet Lovelace Ornifl, of course, is the brilliant Alexander Shirvindt.
But the play “Ornifle” could not be given by the Satire Theater for so long and with unchanged full houses, if there were no other artists on the stage. In addition to Alexander Shirvindt, the following are in the production:
- Nikolai Penkov;
- Natalya Karpunina;
- Oleg Vavilov;
- Vera Vasilieva;
- Alexander Chevychelov;
- Svetlana Ryabova and other wonderful actors.
Of course, the Ornifle Theater of Satire would never have been presented to the public without a director who had invested part of his own soul in this production. The fact that the performance enjoys constant success and looks at one go is the merit of Sergei Artsibashev, the director.
How long does it take? Are there any restrictions?
The production time is 2 hours and 20 minutes, not counting the interval. The performance is in two acts, one break, but long enough. When going to the theater, you need to count on 3 hours of time.
On the posters of the performance “Ornifl” and in the theater program, the age qualification “16+” is indicated. Probably, this restriction is connected with the rather serious dramatic content of the play, since there are no other reasons for not allowing younger spectators to enter the hall. There is no frivolity and ambiguity on the stage, no frank episodes, as well as profanity.
What do they say about the performance?
Satire Theater and Ornifle reviews are thoughtful. Spectators who watched this performance do not write general phrases, such as “liked”, “funny” and the like. Everyone takes something out of the audience and wants to share it, tell about it, and not at all appreciate the artists' play, direction, quality of light or the freshness of sandwiches in the buffet.
As for the opinions of professional critics, all of them, as one, point out the dramatic nature of the performance, its controversy with respect to its consistency with the comedy genre. Many theatergoers doubted the viability of this production after its premiere just because of the sense too deep for the comedy.
However, the performance has been successfully delivered and sold out on the main stage of the theater for more than one season, and the audience invariably leaves detailed reviews after viewing, among which there are none from disappointed or dissatisfied people.