ONLY MEN GO INTO "BATTLE"

The ninth season of the UNS arts theatre has started in Baku with a production of "Phaedra" based  on the poetic drama of the same name by Marina Tsvetaeva, staged by Moscow's Roman Viktyuk Theatre. This has become a real present for the residents of Baku who are interested in the theatre, because this production has been a stunning success, not just in professional circles in Moscow. Roman Viktyuk defined his production's genre as a "Mystery of the Spirit". The musical score and choreography are also by him incidentally.

This is not the first time that the producer has staged Tsvetaeva's extremely complex "Phaedra". In the 1980s, he put on a production with Alla Demidova in it, and later on made a television film "Phaedra-related Passions in Roman Viktyuk's Four Dreams". Now the director has presented a completely new reading of "the most feminine of Russian plays" with an all-male cast, which he believes will be to the taste of even the most sophisticated theatre-goer.

About Phaedra

Phaedra was the daughter of Minos, the king of Crete, and Pasiphae and the sister of Ariadne. At her father's wish, she became the second wife of the Athenian King Theseus who had been married to the queen of the Amazons, Antiope, until that time. Antiope had a son, Hippolytus from this marriage. On her father's side, Phaedra was the grand-daughter of Zeus and Europa and on her mother's side the grand-daughter of the sun-god Helios and the sea nymph [Oceanid] Perseis. From a modern point of view, she was a girl with the right connections, as they say!

But no connections could help her, as she became the play thing of fate, turning out to be a tool in the conflict between the goddess Aphrodite whose love had been spurned [by 

Hippolytus] and the goddess Artemis. The two goddesses were locked in an irreconcilable conflict, selecting mere mortals as their tool. Phaedra has fallen in love with Hippolytus, but understands that she is committing a sin and tries not to give in to her feelings. But Spirit of the Night (played by Merited Artiste of the Russian Federation Dmitry Bozin) takes possession of Phaedra's mask and urges her to commit the ultimate sin.

Her passion for her stepson gets the better of her common sense. Only death can put an end to these torments. Phaedra seeks help from Hippolytus, suggesting that they should die together. But disgusted, the stepson spurns her love, calling her a repulsive person. Unable to survive this experience, Phaedra dies by hanging herself from a tree. Hippolytus also perishes. It is only then that we learn that the tragic ending is a punishment visited on Theseus by Aphrodite for leaving Ariadne to the god of love, Apollo, on the island of Naxos. Ariadne's appeal to Aphrodite to punish Theseus for his abandonment of her turned out to have a tragic ending. Theseus understands this and therefore at the end of the act he says: "No-one is guilty. We are all guilty."

On the production

Viktyuk's production does not deal with the tragedy of King Theseus. It deals with the tragedy of unrequited love. Love is the motive force of the entire process of living on Earth. There is nothing without love, including life. This is a study of a deluded mind and the truthfulness of feelings. What is happening to Hippolytus (played by Igor Nevedrov) who is not attracted by the female body? Why is it that only sporting games and hunting attract the young man and what is it about female flesh that puts him off. Alexander Dzyuba who plays Theseus explains this by the fact that Hippolytus's mother was an Amazon. This means she was a man-hater. Hippolytus was duped by games his mind plays on him, by chance and by his sub-conscious into becoming a woman-hater. But how can we really know? If it hadn't been for the conflict between Athens and Aphrodite, things would possibly have turned out quite different. And here Fate (played by Ivan Ivanovich) has a hand in Phaedra's affairs all the time, kindling her passion!

The producer introduces such characters as the mask of Phaedra. The mask is something standing between the character herself and the world. This is why we do not see Phaedra herself, but what has settled in her soul. This means that Spirit of the Night is hiding behind the mask of Phaedra. It is he who has taken possession of her thoughts, her wishes and passions, who has dragged from her sense of awareness what would not possibly have manifested itself if Spirit had not been there. Now Phaedra is paralysed by the will of Spirit. Here Fate whispers to her, directs her and helps her to make up her mind (just as Tsvetaeva's Nurse did to her). In short, poor Phaedra! She has been overpowered by her own nature which was unceremoniously pulled out of her own consciousness by Spirit.

Viktyuk did not miss the opportunity to help the actor Alexander Dzyuba recall the passions of Tsvetaeva herself in the auditorium. Very tactfully reciting several excerpts from the poetess's letter written before her death, he either justified or mentioned with irony the subject of her phrase "How boring it is to love only men!" Perhaps this is self-irony on the part of the author and producer? This is a rhetorical question… 

The actors are performing half-naked like Egyptian priests wearing clothes on their lower body in the form of two aprons with pleats along the belt, like a skirt with splits on both sides. The chorus is wearing this costume over trousers. All of the clothing is white so as to underline the importance of this solemn occasion. Only Spirit, who has donned the mask of Phaedra, Fate and Hippolytus appear in copper-, gold- and brown-coloured clothing. This is because they are executors not of their own will, but of the will of higher, divine forces.

Hippolytus will moreover also be dressed in white later on… For them it is the moment when they need to make a choice -whom they should be and with whom they should be - fore-ordained from on high. The chorus becomes the interpreter and accompaniment of the will of higher forces: in synchronised plastic movement, the actors become a single sculptured body which is capable of expressing the storm of emotions, passions and anxieties. Dmitry Bozin is the idol of Moscow audiences, the star of Roman Viktyuk's theatre, and a striking figure in the world of theatrical stars, who gives a brilliant performance of the irrational behaviour of the dark force of Spirit.

The musical score of the act put together by the production's producer allows the characters to move away from the subject of love and enter a relatively symbolic plane. Alexander Dzyuba, who plays King Theseus, is on the stage all the time. He is behind the striking installation at the back of the stage. He provides the sound for the entire movement pattern of the act. These are just theatre props, like a tambourine with ribbons in the hands of the artistes.

The style of acting allows the director-producer to make use of the entire arsenal of his skills and knowledge involving elements of dance, the bio-mechanics of Meyerhold, melodeclamation [poetry recited to the accompaniment of music], and a virtuoso grasp of the methods of theatrical performance. His actors, whose technique is irreproachable, know how to turn the act into a genuine artistic phenomenon of high art. For the director they are the means of realising his ideas. The actor who is a means is not puppet actor however. This is subject which demands particular study.