Last week we returned to the Gogol center for one final performance. We saw the show Mitya’s love. This show easily made it into my list of the top three shows we’ve seen in Russia so far. This show tells the story Mitya. After being sent the country by his lover, Katya, he questions his love for her. After deciding that he does love Katya, he receives a call in which she tells him that she has met someone else and that he should never try to contact her again.
One of the most distinctive parts of the show was the set. The entire show took place on a wall with pegs in the side to allow the actors to move around. The primary lighting came from one lamp which the actors were able to turn on and off. It was supported by other lights to make the lighting even, however it was the most visible. On the wall there was an old Record player that doubled as both that and the telephone. At the top of the wall if there was a receiver for the telephone as well as a cup on a string that was used once in the show. At one point the lights went black and there was also a train which ran across the top of the wall. Although minimal, the actors used all of the set pieces to great effect and made it clear how they were using them. Even set pieces that were only used once, such as the cup on a string, was used to great effect. It gave the implication of time passing as it was bad back-and-forth by the actor. It was a clever and easy way for to demonstrate passing.
It was incredible how mobile the actors were in the space. They were easily able to move about and make their 2-D space appear 3-D. It is also a testament to their acting that even those who do not speak any Russian on the trip were always able to figure out where the actors were and what was going on in the story. There were only two actors in this show, with the male actor playing Mitya and the female actor playing his mom, Kyta, the old man, and the woman he sleeps with in the village. Despite the number of characters she was playing, we were always certain who the actress was pretending to be and what they were saying. One effect which was really funny to watch what is her transformation into the old man. In addition to switching from her normal voice into a deep voice, she would also gather up her skirt and shove it into her crotch. She perfectly understood stereotypical mannerisms of this character. In other shows, the times when somebody playing multiple characters would fall flat. There will be a few flush out characters, and a few characters who did not feel like full people. That was not the case with this actress. Each one of her characters felt like a fully fledged person to existed in that world. Those characters were hilarious to watch. And it was also clear that the Russian audience thought that this character in the play as a whole was funny as well. This was the first play where we really heard the audience laugh at the jokes. Although, that also could just be the fact that it was a small theater space and there were a lot of us.
There was not a lot of sound design but it was used effectively. The record player played a few songs at the beginning which helped to set the stage of what was going on when the actors were together as lovers. After that, there was very little in the way of music until the very end. During the middle of the play, the only sound effect was when Mitya was traveling to the country and the train noise was playing. Then, at the end of the play he receives the call from Katya where she tells him that she’s leaving him. This call was turned into a song where she sang to him. It was a beautiful moment and the use of song added to its emotion. It did a great job at capping the comedy on a serious note. My only criticism of the play is the lack of sound in the middle. The play worked fine without music, but it also highlighted that some of the sound design was not necessarily needed. The actors could carry the whole thing on their own. Although small, I think that this play could benefit from a more consistent sound.
All in all, this was a fantastic show to end our trips to the Gogol center. All of the separate parts combined to create a fantastic show.
One of the most distinctive parts of the show was the set. The entire show took place on a wall with pegs in the side to allow the actors to move around. The primary lighting came from one lamp which the actors were able to turn on and off. It was supported by other lights to make the lighting even, however it was the most visible. On the wall there was an old Record player that doubled as both that and the telephone. At the top of the wall if there was a receiver for the telephone as well as a cup on a string that was used once in the show. At one point the lights went black and there was also a train which ran across the top of the wall. Although minimal, the actors used all of the set pieces to great effect and made it clear how they were using them. Even set pieces that were only used once, such as the cup on a string, was used to great effect. It gave the implication of time passing as it was bad back-and-forth by the actor. It was a clever and easy way for to demonstrate passing.
It was incredible how mobile the actors were in the space. They were easily able to move about and make their 2-D space appear 3-D. It is also a testament to their acting that even those who do not speak any Russian on the trip were always able to figure out where the actors were and what was going on in the story. There were only two actors in this show, with the male actor playing Mitya and the female actor playing his mom, Kyta, the old man, and the woman he sleeps with in the village. Despite the number of characters she was playing, we were always certain who the actress was pretending to be and what they were saying. One effect which was really funny to watch what is her transformation into the old man. In addition to switching from her normal voice into a deep voice, she would also gather up her skirt and shove it into her crotch. She perfectly understood stereotypical mannerisms of this character. In other shows, the times when somebody playing multiple characters would fall flat. There will be a few flush out characters, and a few characters who did not feel like full people. That was not the case with this actress. Each one of her characters felt like a fully fledged person to existed in that world. Those characters were hilarious to watch. And it was also clear that the Russian audience thought that this character in the play as a whole was funny as well. This was the first play where we really heard the audience laugh at the jokes. Although, that also could just be the fact that it was a small theater space and there were a lot of us.
There was not a lot of sound design but it was used effectively. The record player played a few songs at the beginning which helped to set the stage of what was going on when the actors were together as lovers. After that, there was very little in the way of music until the very end. During the middle of the play, the only sound effect was when Mitya was traveling to the country and the train noise was playing. Then, at the end of the play he receives the call from Katya where she tells him that she’s leaving him. This call was turned into a song where she sang to him. It was a beautiful moment and the use of song added to its emotion. It did a great job at capping the comedy on a serious note. My only criticism of the play is the lack of sound in the middle. The play worked fine without music, but it also highlighted that some of the sound design was not necessarily needed. The actors could carry the whole thing on their own. Although small, I think that this play could benefit from a more consistent sound.
All in all, this was a fantastic show to end our trips to the Gogol center. All of the separate parts combined to create a fantastic show.
Comments
Post a Comment