Tsvetaeva's poetry, music, theater...

The independent St. Petersburg theater Vertumn was founded in St. Petersburg in 2011. For the first two years, the theater bore the modest name "Creative Association Hair on End." Producer Yury Bedrak told us about the life of the theater from its foundation to the present day.

Yury, let's start from the beginning - the name of the theater. Clarify, please.

- We confess, in addition to the artistic component, we wanted to be very different from everything that our colleagues in the workshop were doing then, among non-state theaters, of course. Since 2014, when touring Russia became our obsession, we had to change the name to the familiar Vertumn. This is the ancient Italian god of fertility, change, gifts of nature and changing seasons. For the past 12 years, we have been delighting viewers and listeners with first-class theatrical productions.

Please, tell us about what you have accomplished over the years. What are the creative results of the 12th anniversary?

-Musical play-performance "Escapes = poetry + music", today, it is called "Invisible, double, mockingbird...". This is the poetry of M. Tsvetaeva, accompanied by electronic music and saxophone. Literary and jazz performance "Pilgrim. Joseph Brodsky". Dramatic play "The Story of One Marriage" based on the diaries, memoirs and poetry of Akhmatova and Gumilev. Performances "The Glass Menagerie", "The Story of a Marriage", "Ceasefire", "Paoletta in the Land of Fairy Tales". As well as productions of "The Protected Zone" based on the writings of Sergey Dovlatov, an evening of acting reading "Time Travelers" based on the poetry of Fedor Swarovsky and "Women's Stories, or Big Little Deception" based on the stories of Lyudmila Ulitskaya. As you can see, the name of the theater fully justifies itself!

Where have your plays been mainly performed all these years and how did you become the most touring theater among non-state theaters and the most non-state theater among those on tour?

- So, let's start with St. Petersburg, with our cradle. Countless number of small and tiny cafes, restaurants, clubs, art spaces, terraces, cellars, etc. At the very early stage of our establishment as a theater, as a creative unit, we did not refuse any opportunity to show our creativity to the audience. There were some big wins very early on. But this is still a small hall. And then the Variety Theater named after A. Raikin appears. This is the first experience with 500 seats. Immediately after this, the first tour was to Veliky Novgorod, to the Philharmonic. I can't say that the halls were full. But we came to the Novgorod Philharmonic twice. Next comes defeat. In 2014. In early summer. Club ARtFAQ (probably doesn't even exist anymore). Zero audience on the first day, eight people on the second. Resentment and grief... And in 2015, something so incredible happened that it is very difficult to describe.

It's curious…

- It was the dance club "Sea". They let us in for one day to try it out. As a result, we couldn't start the performance for an hour, because the line for tickets stretched through all two floors of the building and went out into the courtyard. About 600 people, standing as if at a rock concert, listened to poetry and original jazz for an hour and a half. It gave us great strength and confidence that what we do is needed by people, they leave the hall with moist eyes, kind hearts and a pure soul. Isn't it the magical and healing power of art?

Then, inspired, you travelled to cities... Right?

- Yes, the preparation of a tour plan had already started for six months in advance. There were many cities and sites. It is interesting to mention how, after visiting the Russian Drama Theater in the city of Sukhum, we became residents of the Flacon1170 art space and launched a very ambitious and great project "100 Days of Theater" in honor of the Year of Russian Theater. There we showed 100 performances over 100 days. Incredible experience!

Vertumn has an interesting story and we are glad to be a part of it, because with a difference of only three months you show two of your performances in our cultural centre.

- We really love to return to where they wait for us. And your city, your hall is proof of this. According to our calculations, in total, over 200 plays based on I. Brodsky and 300 plays based on M.Tsvetaeva have been performed. Screenings in Dubna are among them. And it is also important to note that over the 12-year history of our theater we have collaborated with 30 actors and musicians. We have made the history of our theater together. A huge thanks to them all, of course. We are looking forward to the days until we meet the Dubna audience. On 17 February at 6:00 PM we will again appear on the stage of the JINR Cultural Centre "Mir"!

Eleonora YAMALEEVA,
Member of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation,
photo from the personal archive of Yu. BEDRAK