Evidence of the British invasion was everywhere to be seen on the third floor of the Maly Theater.


Wednesday's Moscow premier of Harold Pinter's "Old Times," by the Theatr Clwyd from Wales, was still 24 hours away, but actors, assistants and various other essential personnel had already made the oldest dramatic theater in Russia their home.


Behind closed doors, director Lindy Davies was huddled with her cast and a Russian translator, going over every line of text, searching for that elusive perfect translation. On another side of the theater, a British stage manager was directing Russian stage hands as they moved the pieces of Julian McGowan's faintly surrealistic set into place.


So overwhelming was the incursion that the elderly Russian woman stationed outside the rehearsal room was cowed into absolute silence when members of the British troupe whisked by. Only when things cleared out some did she venture to express astonishment that "that gorgeous, young actress in there" could possibly have starred in a hit movie made back in 1965.


She was talking about Julie Christie, whose interpretation of Lara in "Dr. Zhivago" probably remains her best-known role, even though her illustrious career has seen her give memorable performances in many other films.


Christie, who has not worked on the stage in some 25 years, is a key reason why this particular production of "Old Times" came together as it did. She agreed to perform the wife in a married couple whose tranquil life is upset by a visiting female friend, only on the condition that Davies would direct. Davies, 49, an Australian director and actress, has been Christie's performance consultant on film for the last five years.


The Moscow trip is not a first for Christie (she performed here in the Royal Shakespeare Company's "A Comedy of Errors" in 1965), although it is for Davies.


An articulate woman with a pleasant, engaging manner, Davies readily admits that the historical Maly Theater, founded in 1824, has impressed her.


"I can't tell you the feeling I got when I walked into the hall. I could feel the history. My heart started pounding and I lost my breath."


All its grandeur aside, one might expect that the 950-seat hall could create some problems for a three-actor chamber piece, which painstakingly explores the uncertainty of truth and memory. But the director isn't worried about that. After opening at the Theatr Clwyd, the show most recently played to rave reviews on London's West End at Wyndham's, which has a capacity of 800.


Of more concern to Davies is how Russian audiences will respond to a play they probably don't know, in a language that most do not command. There will be a simultaneous Russian translation through headphones, but the director has fashioned a delicate production built on nuances.


Moreover, in a play written by one of the acknowledged masters of contemporary English, the director has given equal importance to the pauses that separate Pinter's carefully chosen words. Not surprisingly, London's Plays International magazine writes that, "Julie Christie is uncanny in her ability to muse through silence."


But "Old Times," as the London critics unanimously agreed, is no one-woman show. The Independent called Leigh Lawson "splendid" as the husband plunged into doubt, while the Daily Mail wrote that Harriet Walter's "cold sensuality appears exceptionally convincing" in the role of the friend-turned-intruder.


The unusually high praise for the acting ensemble is due in large part to the careful work of the director. Davies abhors "codified ways of acting" and values spontaneity and intuition above all. In her productions, she says, "you don't get the feeling that the actors have decided in advance how they're going to say something, because they haven't."





"Old Times," a production of the Theatr Clwyd, under the auspices of the Maly Theater and the British Council, plays Oct. 5 to 7 at 7 p.m. at the Maly Theater, Teatralnaya Ploshchad. Tel. 923-2621.