Every director who takes the first steps in art can envy her career. She puts on phenomenal performances in the theater, and dresses beautifully, and expertly teaches her actors the wisdom of acting. And Vragova Svetlana founded the amazing temple of Melpomene, which created serious competition for her metropolitan "brothers." Well, who does not dream of this from the directorial milieu? Surely, everyone. Vragova Svetlana herself made her way into the profession, she did not have influential patrons in art. Principle and exactingness in work turned it into a wise and authoritative director of the theater. What was remarkable in the creative career of a woman director? Let's consider this question in more detail.
The dream of the "sublime"
Vragova Svetlana Aleksandrovna (nee Gyurjyan) - a native of the city of Yerevan. She was born on March 31, 1953. The future star of directing, brought up in strict foundations. My father had a high and responsible rank of general of foreign intelligence, and my mother worked as a translator and simultaneously provided editorial services.
It should be noted that Svetlana Vragova, already at a young age, began to show interest in great art. But she didn’t want to be a director. On the contrary, the girl considered this profession secondary in comparison with acting. Svetlana dreamed that someday she would come out to act on the stage, and thousands of spectators would applaud her with delight. However, the girl’s parents did not share her passion for theatrical art, predicting her a “mundane” and, if possible, “money” profession.
Studying acting
And yet Vragova Svetlana disobeyed her father and mother. Having received a certificate of maturity, she firmly decided to go to Moscow and enter GITIS. So she did. Moreover, having successfully passed the competitive selection. The girl was immediately enrolled in the second year. Svetlana was somewhat surprised that she was “assigned” to the directing department. She got into the workshop of Y. Zavadsky.
Gradually, she developed a taste for the director's profession. Already in her student years, she staged "test" performances. When the time came for graduation, Vragova Svetlana Aleksandrovna was intensively preparing for her graduation production: “The Fifth Ten” (according to A. Belinsky). The work is successful. Soon, the girl receives a document on the graduation from the directing department of GITIS.
Carier start
After studying at the legendary university, the girl worked for some time in the Youth Theater of the city of Kirov, and then got a job at the Moscow Theater . A.S. Pushkin. On its stage, Svetlana Aleksandrovna begins to stage debut performances in the style of retro avant-garde (a specific perception of the past). After some time, she works on the play “Waiting for a Man” (R. Solntsev), where the representative of the working class appears in the image not of the master of the Land of Soviets, but of a meek element that can be easily manipulated. Naturally, such a vision of the play provoked indignation among party officials responsible for "introducing art into the masses." The performance “We are waiting for a man” was ultimately deleted from the repertoire, and the director Vragova was offered to look for another place of work.
New Horizons
After that, Svetlana Alexandrovna had a break in her work, which lasted two years.
In the early 80s, a female director was invited to the New Drama Theater. And again, Vragova begins to stage performances, interpreting their plot in her own way. Naturally, at first they were difficult for the audience to perceive, but over time, many connoisseurs of her work were found. In parallel with the directorial activity, Svetlana Alexandrovna began teaching acting at the theater school. Schepkina.
My Melpomene Temple
Having become an authoritative specialist in staging performances in the late 80s, a graduate of GITIS decided to create her own theater. And there were all the prerequisites for this: Svetlana Alexandrovna was respected by her colleagues, and she herself had the makings of a leader whom she would follow and believe in. But in order to organize his temple of Melpomene, Vragova and her wards had to work hard.
The director was allocated an old building for the theater on Spartakovskaya Square, which was originally a grain exchange. A dilapidated house left much to be desired not only from the outside, but also from the inside. It took a whole year to transform the interior of the future church of Melpomene, which was called: "Studio Theater on Spartakovskaya." But the rehearsals did not stop even during the repair work. The debut performance was an unprecedented success with the viewer.
Svetlana Vragova directed the play “Dear Elena Sergeevna”, participation in which glorified aspiring actress Oksana Mysina throughout the country. With the above performance, the troupe of the Studio Theater on Spartakovskaya went on tour "overseas", and the American audience praised this work by Vragova. The repertoire of the theater gradually expanded. And then Svetlana Aleksandrovna decided to stage the play by Leonid Andreev “Katerina Ivanovna”, about which Stanislavsky himself spoke critically. But she succeeded in this experiment, perhaps because she was unconventional in her productions. Katerina Ivanovna is a tribute to Russian Art Nouveau.
Modern
And then “Theater Studio on Spartakovskaya” was renamed. The brainchild of Vragova was called the Moscow Drama Theater "Modern". The woman director came up with this name for a reason: in an original way, she emphasized her commitment to the retro avant-garde style.
Soon the Moscow Drama Theater Modern will celebrate its 30th anniversary. His diverse repertoire today satisfies the needs of not only adults, but also children.
Leaving the theater
In 2016, Svetlana Vragova was forced to leave Modern. The initiative for dismissal came from officials of the Department of Culture of Moscow. As the reason for termination of employment, they identified repeated violations of financial statements and serious flaws in economic activity.
Currently, the ex-artistic director of the Modern Theater wants to implement new projects in art. In particular, Svetlana Vragova intends to try herself as a film director. Does she have a family? Is Svetlana Vragova married? The personal life of the ex-artistic director of the Modern Theater is hidden from prying eyes. It is known that earlier she was married, which broke up.