Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
On May 3, the People’s University Theatre “Glagol” of SPbPU hosted the premiere of the musical and poetic composition “Shards of Silence”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
In the performance, staged by the artistic director of the theater by Konstantin Gershov based on poems about the war and memories of front-line soldiers, brought together actors of different generations – from experienced masters who graduated from the Polytechnic in the 80-90s of the last century, to first-year students. This musical and poetic performance became an immersion, a kind of bridge between the past and the present.
“At the end of March, when the repertoire of “Glagol” was being put together until the end of the season, an idea was born to do something dedicated to the anniversary of our Victory,” says Konstantin Gershov. “I buried myself in poetry and documents. As a result, a script for a musical and poetic composition appeared, and during several rehearsals, the play “Shards of Silence” came into being, which intertwined poetry, music, songs, and the memories of front-line soldiers. Conventional theater intertwined with newsreels, familiar songs of the war years became visible. Parallel dramatic stories unfolded within them. The play was glued together from different genre “shards,” moods, conditions, and atmospheres. Those who had the opportunity and desire took part in the play. As a result, several generations of Glagolits and four first-year studio students came together in the common work, which makes me very happy as the theater’s artistic director. We dedicate the play “Shards of Silence” to our ancestors. This is their Victory. And our memory of this Victory.”
Poems by Vladimir Agatov, Olga Berggolts, Vladimir Vysotsky, Semyon Gudzenko, Yulia Drunina, Mikhail Isakovsky, Boris Kovynev, Mikhail Kulchitsky, Boris Laskin, Vasily Lebedev-Kumach, Mark Maksimov, Alexey Markov, Alexander Mezhirov, Bulat Okudzhava, David Samoilov, Boris Slutsky, Konstantin Gershov, Sergey Slesarev, Alexander Tsirlinson and other poets were recited from the stage.
The audience heard excerpts from letters and memoirs by Pavel Kogan, Alexey Panteleyev, Boris Polevoy, Vasily Subbotin, and Nikolay Chukovsky.
The musical accompaniment included music by Nikita Bogoslovsky, Matvey Blanter, Dmitry Shostakovich, Vladimir Vysotsky, Frederic Chopin, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Maria Bulat and other composers. The songs included “A Girl Sees Off a Soldier at the Position”, “Blue Handkerchief”, “The Morning Paints with Gentle Light”, “Three Tankers”, “Dark Night”, “Katyusha”, “It So Happened That the Men Left”, “How Disturbing the Memory is the September Evening”.
Stasys Krasauskas’s engravings from the “Forever Alive” series, Sergei Larenkov’s photographs from the “Blockade Leningrad” series, and fragments from the film “Two Fighters” fit organically into the performance’s design.
The production designer is Lyudmila Radchenko. Musical director is Maria Bulat. Sets by Dmitry Afinogenov and Lyudmila Radchenko, costumes and props by Lyudmila Radchenko. Assistant directors are Master’s student of IPMET Irina Smirnova (she is also a lighting designer) and ISI-2021 graduate Kirill Molev (he is also responsible for sound and video together with 3rd year IE student Mikhail Denisov).
After the premiere, the actors shared their impressions of working in the play.
Tatyana Mironova, 1995 GTF graduate, performer of the role of Woman: It can’t be called excitement, it’s something else, to the point of ringing in the ears, as if you’ve gone through a portal and feel everything differently. Thank you for the opportunity to be in such a project, to pronounce the names of grandfathers from the stage, for the memory, for the dedication, for this special energy!
Darya Nonina, FEM-2001 graduate, performer of the roles of Woman and Mathematician: Those who went through the war, talked little about it. People avoided the topic. They were silent… Over time, they began to talk little by little. With fragmentary memories. Short. Sharp. The silence began to look like a panel of fragments. This composition, which we showed to the audience on May 3, is assembled from small and not so small details. Poems. Songs. Photos… I want to keep quiet after that Saturday. Although no… I want to say that the rehearsals went on as usual. Every now and then we would get a lump in our throats. But we managed. And then we got to the rehearsal of the finale. And I had to talk, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t say that my dad was a prisoner of a concentration camp. Because in the composition I also got a small role of a fascist mathematician, who had to dryly tell about the profit from each prisoner. On Friday evening it seemed that the composition was falling apart, crumbling, not fitting into a mosaic. And then Saturday came. What happened to us overnight? I don’t know… But all the participants suddenly connected with an invisible strong string, rallied, gathered, clenched into a fist. And the panel became voluminous, bright.
Irina Gumarova, a 2016 graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Humanities, performer of the roles of the Woman in Black and the Singer: It was a time of unity, open emotions. I have never seen the audience applaud so unanimously, with tears in their eyes. It was clear that this applause was intended for those whose lives fell on the terrible years of the war. It seemed that all our ancestors were standing next to us.
Dmitry Fedorov, a first-year student at the Polytechnic Institute of Secondary Vocational Education, who plays the Soldier: Preparation for “Shards of Silence” was very interesting, educational and intensive. I learned a lot about the life of a Soviet soldier: how to wear a tunic, how to properly handle a carbine. I watched Soviet films about the war, about the horrors of those years. Many viewers cried that evening, which means that we were able to reach the hearts of the public.
Igor Samoilov, student of the Institute of History and Culture, performer of the role of the Soldier: Work on this performance advanced my understanding of the Great Patriotic War, I began to treat this topic more seriously and responsibly, I began to understand more clearly what ordinary people with ordinary human souls actually went through in the forties, what a severe test our ancestors withstood. Now, I think I understand how it felt. The performance, composed by Konstantin Valentinovich, gives an opportunity to look into that time and experience it together with the characters of the production.
Alina Buyanova, first-year student at the State Institute of Theatre Arts, performer of the role of the Girl: I am glad that my debut on the Glagol stage fell on such a performance. I never went backstage during a single rehearsal, I always stood behind the stage and watched. And every time – both during the rehearsals and during the performance – I was shivering from head to toe. Many episodes were chilling. In “Shards of Silence” I had the role of the Girl, a weightless and intangible image, a part of which lived in the soul of everyone during that harsh wartime, this is such a sincere and strong hope, a peaceful blue sky and tenderness. For me, this image is a contrast to the horrors of war.
Pavel Sobolev, third-year student at the Institute of Theatre Arts, performer of the role of the Soldier: I could not even imagine that I, being a studio member, would take part in the premiere. The feelings before going on stage are frighteningly opposite: scary and incredibly interesting. There is a feeling: “The performance cannot be stopped! I will have to play, and there is nowhere to go!” And at the same moment comes a burning desire to go out and start playing my role. After the performance, feelings of joy and euphoria did not leave me, despite such a morally difficult production on an important topic. My heart was filled with a feeling of gratitude to the generation of people whose lives were affected by the war. It is important that we do not forget our heroes. It is nice that my family was present in the audience, who were touched by what was happening on stage.
Tatyana Amirova, 3rd year student of the Institute of History and Culture, performer of the role of the Girl: My grandparents, great-grandparents were participants of the Great Patriotic War, I have heard stories about them since childhood. The war scared me (and still scares me), but the feat they accomplished delighted and amazed me to the depths of my soul. I could not imagine how they managed to survive this and preserve the human being in themselves. Thank you all for this performance. I am glad that I am part of such important work.
From audience reviews
Svetlana Viktorovna Tkacheva, foreign language methodologist at the State Budgetary Institution IMC of the Kalininsky District: The performance grabbed the hearts of the audience with a strong hand at the very beginning and did not let go until the end, and even the victorious march that sounded at the end did not make this grip easier. Because the fragments of war keep flying and flying, piercing our hearts and minds. The performance ended in an unusual and touching way – each performer, addressing the audience, named their grandfather, uncle, relative, who fought for Victory. I am sure that at that moment, each spectator mentally remembered their war hero…
On May 10 and 17, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the People’s University Theatre “Glagol” of the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University will present the play “Thirteen Women of Sergeant Major Vaskov Between the Premonition of Great Love and the Expectation of Sudden Death.” The play is based on the story by Boris Vasiliev “The Dawns Here Are Quiet…”.
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