Shakespeare in Voronezh

VIBRANT VORONEZH

THE 2ND SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL PROVES INCREASINGLY

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By Stephen Wilson

The Second International Educational and Theater Festival 'Shakespearia',

held in the Russian city of Voronezh , from the 14th to the 27th May, turned

out to be an unprecedented success. There was certainly something special

about the events. An Italian Theater group performed 'Romeo and Juliet ' in

the old original English on the very streets of the city, young children had

the opportunity to write and see their plays performed by professional actors

at the Voronezh Academic Drama Theater and there were countless opportunities

for children to take the stage by singing, dancing or acting out a play. Professional

actors from Britain and Italy were on hand to share their tips about how to

perform Shakespeare's plays in English. The festival emphasized the three

themes of Education, Drama and Charity. I think the actor, Alex Dower, spoke

for us all when he declared: " I'm so happy there is such a positive energy

coming from the city". The events were crowned with a rich variety of events

in one of the most beautiful sights in the city : Park Dynamo.

I had been invited to the festival to provide a storytelling workshop to children

in the park. But before leaving from Moscow, I almost missed my train. I

managed to shuffle through the train's corridor to my compartment meeting a

bemused Englishman . He turned out to be a professional actor and drama

teacher from England called Jonathan Salwey. We were to share the same

compartment. I was very lucky to meet him. Jonathan had happened to have

founded the first English Theater company in Moscow who presented plays in

English such as 'Educating Rita' and a more recent dark comedy concerning

the taboo of suicide. His theater has achieved immense success and is often

fully booked. Jonathan did not anticipate such positive success. So it is not

surprising that he has been living in Moscow for 6 years. He loves working in

Moscow. We spoke about how so many people are still scared of coming to

the city because they fear being harmed. Jonathan told me : " I invited a very

good black actor from Britain to Moscow . He was worried he might have

problems such as racism . But when he went out he met a skinhead who

spoke to him and even warmly embraced him when he left the place. The actor

told me he had a great time in Moscow and liked the people."

We spoke a lot about Shakespeare . I asked him : "What do you think of the

view that Shakespeare did not really write his works ? " Jonathan answered

"Some people may have collaborated with him in writing the plays. I know

people can become very passionate about this issue. But does it really matter?

The main point is that we have those works!"

I was later to take part in one of his workshops which turned out to be very

useful. The Russian teachers, and actors apparently enjoyed reading out the

lines from Shakespeare which he had handed out to them. He told us that:

'There is nothing cryptic about Shakespeare. Except for around 6 lines which

professors are at a loss to explain, the meaning of his words are clear". And

"It is important to focus on the meaning of the words and the beat behind

them...... When I was a young school student I asked myself why Shakespeare's

plays were in verse. I wondered whether people in the 16th century spoke to

to each other in verse. Later , I understood that poetry is still close to natural

speech." Jonathan warned the students that even professional actors have been

defeated by the text of Shakespeare . He told me that actors should never ignore

the punctuation in his lines because commas in the lines indicating pauses are

of profound meaningful significance. He offered students advise on how to

find the important cues in lines and how to 'color words' by expressing a particular

word in different ways. The students relished acting out the 'insults' which had

been written by the playwright.

I also made the acquaintance of Alex Dower, who also gave workshops and had

been teaching drama to prisoners in Britain. It turned out that we had shared the

same student from a Glasgow prison called Toe Eliot. I felt I was going back in

time. He had met Toe Eliot in 1989 and I, later, in 1992.

I witnessed the plays written by young children as part of the Class Act Project,

held at the Voronezh Academic Drama theater, on May 26. The plays often

concentrated on dark themes, such as secret abortions, drug addiction, murder,

and suicide. It reminded me of the problems we encounter in Glasgow. One

dark play mentions a visitor, posing as a journalist to interview a prisoner who

has murdered his wife. He asks the prisoner to reenact the very murder but

while he is doing it the visitor murders the prisoner because : "You murdered

the woman I loved".

The local people treated us very well . We were given many excursions around

the theater and the city. The guide informed us that : "Our city can boast of

4 Noble prize winners." In deed, we learnt that famous writers such as Bunin,

Andrei Platonov and Marshak were born here. That is to name but a few!

The people seemed very kind, generous and hospitable. The city is very

beautiful. I spent many hours wandering around it just admiring the architecture.

People often asked me : "Are you Polish? " I had to disappoint them by confessing

I was Scottish but had Polish friends in Glasgow.

At my storytelling workshop I was amazed when one woman told me how her

grandfather had served in a punishment battalion during the Great Patriotic War.

She told us that her grandfather had worn a belt with the 91st psalm inscribed on

it. This psalm was reputed to act as a protective charm during battle. That is no

bullets could injure you if you wore this charm. Well it worked! He survived the war.

But that was not the end of the story. The soldier passed on this belt to his relatives.

One day, a man was carrying in his coat a huge fortune in order to buy an apartment.

He also wore the belt just in case he had problems. Unfortunately, he was stopped

by the police and they searched him. The police could not find his money. So he was

free to go and could go on to purchase his apartment. He was stopped in 1998.

The story was told by Anastasia about the soldier Grigori Nikolai. I had read a few

stories about such cases but this was the first time I had heard a first hand

account.

We were quite sad to leave the city of Voronezh. It is a poignant city which no one

leaves before it has set its mark on you. It 's a pleasant shock!