I say horrible because Mukhina had no idea I was spying on her. But I could not pull my eyes off of her. One critic to my right was asleep. Another was checking her text messages. Still another was busy talking. A fourth on the other side of the aisle was watching everything but the show. Olga Mukhina, unarguably one of the best writers in contemporary Russia, was absolutely engrossed in what was transpiring on stage.
I could understand Olga. Rybkin's production was fascinating, bold and energetic. It was acted superbly and conceived with great care and imagination. One isn't surprised when critics miss this kind of thing. But, still, it was encouraging to see a writer of Mukhina's caliber getting the show right from the beginning.
After the performance, I asked Olga if she would mind sharing some of her thoughts about Chekhov, "The Seagull" and Rybkin's production. Below is the video of Olga's brief monologue. For those who do not understand Russian, here are a few of her comments translated loosely:
"This production of Chekhov by Rybkin is a very Russian story. It's filled with Russian culture and Russian theater. It's filled with all the archetypes of the Russian people. They live in us. This is our culture. These people are like family to us."
"These are our Russian myths. We know all about Kostya and Masha. It's like in ancient Greece. They would come to the theater knowing the myths. But they came to find out what the director would have to say to them on that particular day."
On Nina Zarechnaya: "This girl dreamed of being an actress. She became an actress. And still she cries! [Laughter.] That's the actor's profession for you! Actresses cry no matter what. Marilyn Monroe cried. Brigitte Bardot cried. And Nina Zarechnaya cried."
"Chekhov wrote in an impossible style. You can't write that way. But by doing so, he gave us the right to write in impossible ways, too."
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