REALITY TALE

The Samad Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre has performed Love Virus, a joint project with the Academy TV reality show. Aleksandr Sharovsky and Brilyant Dadasova have shown that by joining forces the drama theatre and the TV show can move audiences with a harmonious blend of different genres. 

Vladimir Neverov's script, specially written for the project, mixed dramatic action with many musical interludes. To be honest, it looked from the publicity as if the show might turn into a kind of student review or at best a concert brightened up by an unusual master of ceremonies. The plot could have got lost. But the first night showed that there was no cause for concern. It worked really well: a musical with beautiful songs and an interesting plot, complementing one another.

Who's the second criminal?

The scriptwriter's clever use of the detective genre holds the piece together well. The viewer is kept in a state of anticipation right up to the end: who is the second criminal and how will it all finish? Although the crime - spies spreading the fantastic "love virus" which inspires a powerful feeling of love in people - in the end turns out to be a good deed. The author even joked in the finale that this "biological weapon of mass destruction" should be used in the Middle East.

The action takes place "in a southern state", on a yacht which is a set for shooting film clips. The maritime theme suits the summer season, when the show premiered, and at the same time is a grateful nod from the Russian Drama Theatre in the direction of the Sailors' Club, where the theatre is temporarily based while its home is renovated.

Six "academics", contestants from the Academy TV show, play young stars of the stage, i.e. themselves (their characters bear their own names), and sing new and old hits in Azerbaijani, Russian and English. The final number, performed by the whole cast, was written specially for the show using the lyrics of actor Aleksandra Nikushina. 

Even though the acting demands made of the "academics" were minimal, several of them showed enviable virtuosity. Each of them were interesting in their own way - the brave A. Cafarova, the subtle A. Osmanli, the delicate A. Mammadova and the manly C. Dadasov - different characters with their own repertoires. In their songs Sakir Mammadov and Xayam Mustafazada happily crossed the hypothetical line between pop and theatre. We wanted more from these talented young men - the romantic prince and heroic lover - but unfortunately their roles were limited to vocals. The two musical high points of the show were definitely the scorching Sex Bomb, performed by Xayam, and the tragic For Esmeralda from the musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, performed by Sakir (he managed to be three in one for this, Quasimodo, Frollo and Phoebus).

In one's own image

The Russian Drama Theatre actors appeared to take great interest in this unusual show and did not make any concessions to the musical's levity. Each character was stronger than the next. "Business woman" Suliko, producer of film clips (played by Lala Suleymanova), was the director's spiteful from the canon of images of Stalin - with his accent and pipe (she had two objects in her hand, either the pipe or the telephone). Master of comedy Mabud Maharramov took over the role of the hysterical director, Adik, from Safu Mirzahasanov, who fell ill before the first night. The "reinforced concrete" assistant director Kisa (Failya Orucova), who flitted about alongside Adik, was also memorable.

The womanizing, boozing captain of the yacht (Omar Nagiyev) and his sharp-tempered medic wife, the ship's doctor (Aleksandra Nikushina), made a magnificent double-act. Their daughter, the flirtatious Assol, was played by Rugiya Quliyeva. She directed all the dance routines in the show. Thanks to her, the Russian Drama Theatre's young actors, playing the role of fans, danced brilliantly in the "academics'" routines. Add to this the appeal and talent of the youngest stars, then the routines could make Eurovision even now. It is no surprise as the "academics" have received tough training from Brilyant Dadasova and the demanding Rugiya Quliyeva who has given no quarter to members of her own company or guest performers in rehearsing the dance routines for dozens of shows at the Russian Drama Theatre. Though it should be said that in rehearsals for this joint project there was no home company or guest performer, everyone was equal - there were just actors. 

Ship's boy Petrovich was full of surprises, like a suitcase with a false bottom. Emil Tahirov showed both acting talent and a rare flexibility in this role. Petrovich-Plesetskaya - it could not be copied. Only the magnificent Nikushina could be compared to him, a heroine who is a serious middle-aged lady, with no inclination for play-acting, who in a matter of seconds turns into an excellent rapper.

The scriptwriter paid tribute to many signs of the times: for example, Suliko's "love story", which she tells everyone during the finale, explaining why she decided to invent the love virus. If you look more closely, her story is a sharp parody of the touching, but false "success stories" with which the marketing networks regale their gullible, potential victims. But it's not Suliko's story that prompts real laughter, but the fact that during the course of the action this tall tale turns out to be true. 

The air of our times, not always refreshing, can be felt in other details of the script. The ordinary couples created in secret by the love virus include a same-sex pair - two girls who are fans of the young singers make their own creative and love duo in the image of Tatu (the charming Milana Mardaxanova gave an inspired, energetic performance as one of the girls, Nara). Teymur Rahimov gave an inspired performance in the role of another model type, hair stylist Tahircik. Tahircik is a streetwise young man, in the words of one of the characters, who clearly swings the other way, but the love virus transforms even him and gives him love for a girl. Sentimental, but on the whole optimistic, as the heroine of one of the contemporary youth comedies likes to say. The same description can be applied to the whole show. It will be performed only twice more before the end of the season.