Superb Acting Dazzles in ?€?The Gentleman?€™ Revival

The notion of Yevgeny Kamenkovich directing “The Gentleman” at the Sovremennik Theater would seem to be someone’s weird idea of a joke.

The play is a totally forgotten comedy about the excesses, dangers and cruelty of wealth by the once-famous, now rather obscure, actor and playwright Alexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin. Written in 1897, it has rarely been revived since.

And who would have thought that the company at the Sovremennik, known primarily for bringing modern works to life, would fit this old play so well?

But there you have it, one of those moments when brilliance comes blowing in out of the blue. Kamenkovich’s production of “The Gentleman” is one of the finest shows I’ve seen this year.

Every member of the cast of 14 turns in an excellent performance. This is quality acting on a level you dream of seeing, but rarely do. That goes for the kids playing the go-fer and the mysterious opera singer and the leads playing roles that are as meaty as any I’ve seen all season.

As I watched these actors work their magic, I had the feeling I was watching people have an absolute blast doing what they were doing, that they knew everything they possibly could about their characters, and that they had total trust in one another.

In short, this show is a dazzling display of teamwork coupled with outstanding individual accomplishments.

Kamenkovich took a play that is big and sprawling, and he pumped it up even larger. Working with designer Pavel Kaplevich, he set it in a cavernous but elegant hall that suggests a palace designed in the style of art nouveau. Incongruously huge alabaster statues of elephants and a glistening black chandelier against a vast mesh of sparkling white arches create the impression of opulence and overload, but also of taste.

The costumes are radical in conception and gorgeous in execution.

All the characters emerge initially in extraordinarily detailed garb reminiscent of 16th-century court wear. It is a hilarious and scintillating expression of these individuals’ willingness and ability to indulge their every whim. By the time the final scenes arrive, Kaplevich has incorporated 19th- and 21st-century styles into his exquisitely designed garments.

Sumbatov-Yuzhin’s play emerges as a rediscovery of the first rank.

We are accustomed to marveling at the insight with which Alexander Ostrovsky captured the Russian character in his 19th-century plays. But on the strength of “The Gentleman,” I am moved to wonder how it is that Ostrovsky completely pushed Sumbatov-Yuzhin out of the picture?

In this comedy, he tells the story of a constellation of wealthy, powerful and power-hungry people who come together on the occasion of the wedding of Larion Rydlov (Artur Smolyaninov) and Yekaterina Goreyeva (Marina Alexandrova), and who keep crossing one another’s paths as the marriage falls apart before being resurrected in a completely new form.

The personalities are varied and richly drawn. The smart, arrogant Larion and the beautiful, intelligent but overwhelmed Yekaterina are just the start of it.

There is the fun-loving, voluptuous Emma (Olga Drozdova) who rarely lets herself be bothered with such things as scruples. Yegor (Shamil Khamatov) is a sharp, shifty young man who plans to start up a newspaper to amass wealth and power as quickly as possible. Count Osterhauzen (Alexander Berda) is a haughty, absurd man who settles his financial woes by marrying Rydlov’s wealthy, calculating sister Lyuba (Darya Belousova), then finds himself living a life hardly better than that of an indentured servant. Yekaterina’s almost-but-not-quite lover Ostuzhev (Ivan Stebunov) is as romantic as he is devious.

Usually remaining in the background, but wielding more power than anyone, is Rydlov’s imperious mother Olga (Yelena Kozelkova). In the end, she may be Yekaterina’s savior or she may be the one who caps off the young woman’s destruction. Which of those is true depends on your point of view.

“The Gentleman” takes on an array of topics that, under Kamenkovich’s direction, couldn’t possibly be more timely and fashionable. These involve images of a corrupt and fawning press; wealth convincing mediocre people that they are extraordinary; a society buckling under the weight of lies, hypocrisy and ignorance; and the pressure on women to play the roles of seamstresses in the parlor and whores in bed for the pleasure of brutish husbands.

“I’m a gentleman in public,” Rydlov barks as he paws his horrified wife, “can’t I be natural at home?!”

Kamenkovich’s production of “The Gentleman” is a delightful surprise and a triumph of theater.