Galina Volchek is a Soviet and Russian theater director, actress and teacher, who in 1989 received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. In the theatrical environment, she is, following the example, called the "Iron Lady" - they idolize and fear, respect and bow. Galina did a lot in her life to raise culture to a high level, for which she became a holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.
Galina Volchek was born in the early 30s in Moscow, in a family that was directly related to the stage and cinema. Galina's mother, Vera Maimina, is a Soviet screenwriter, and her father, Boris Volchek, is a famous director and cameraman who filmed Soviet hits Pyshka, Thirteen, Lenin in October and others.
As a child, Galya loved reading, so the girl rarely spent her free time without her favorite book in her hands. Seeing his daughter's interest, his father pushed Galina to enter the only Literary Institute named after him in the Union. But it is unlikely that a child who has absorbed the acting and directing life from the cradle would have chosen a different path. Galina entered the Moscow Art Theater School, where she studied until 1955.
Theatre
The theatrical biography of Galina Volchek is full of significant events from the very beginning. A year after graduation, Galina Volchek, together with Lilia Tolmacheva, founded the new Studio of Young Actors, which would soon turn into the cult Sovremennik Theater.
And if in the late 50s Volchek appeared on stage as an actress, then in 1962 Galina Borisovna began directing, which will go down in the history of Soviet and Russian art. Looking ahead, we note that in 10 years Galina will become the chief director of the theater, and in the late 80s she will head the theater as an artistic director.
In 1984, Galina Volchek plays Martha in the production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and this role becomes Volchik's last appearance in the theater as an actress. Since then, the artist has been focusing on her directing career.
Volchek's first directing experience brings tremendous success. It was a production of William Gibson's play "Two on a Swing", which did not leave the stage of Sovremennik for more than 30 seasons. Two more significant works of the director are "An Ordinary Story" based on the novel and the play "Three Comrades" based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The first of them brought Galina Volchek the State Prize of the USSR, and the second in 1999 "raised Moscow on the ears" and made a splash.
Galina Volchek was the first Soviet director to break through the cultural blockade between the Soviet Union and the United States. She staged several performances of Russian classics in American theaters, including the famous Broadway, where the Russian troupe played for the first time since 1924. And these were not just performances "for show". Volchek's tour was marked by one of the most prestigious US national awards in the field of drama theater - the Drama Desk Award, which was awarded to a non-American theater for the first time in the long history of this award.
The famous director shared her experience with the new generation, and she taught mostly not in Russia, but abroad. For example, recently Galina Volchek gave a course of lectures and practical exercises at New York University.
Galina Volchek's latest production today was William Gibson's Two on a Swing in 2015. This is the same work that started Volchek's directorial career. Fans see this as a mystical and cyclical meaning and note with sadness that the first work can be chosen by the director to be staged specifically in order to be the last.
Movies
On the screen, Galina Volchek made her debut in 1957 in the film adaptation of the Spanish classic novel Don Quixote, playing the role of a strong maid Maritornes. Then there were roles in the films Sinful Angel, A Bridge Under Construction, King Lear and others.
Sometimes the actress appeared only in episodes, but she made them bright and unforgettable. For example, in the tragicomedy Beware of the Car, she simply played a buyer of a tape recorder in a store, but managed to attract the attention of the audience in ten seconds.
In the fairy tales "About Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Little Mermaid" Volchek has the negative roles of the mother wolf and the sea witch, but in them the actress perfectly realized her own talent. The films "Autumn Marathon", "Unicum" and "Tevye the Milkman" were also successful.
In 1996, the actress stopped acting in feature films, but began to appear annually in documentary projects.
In the new millennium, Galina Volchek starred in a number of films dedicated to her colleagues: “The Life of Desdemona. ”,“ Unknown ”,“ . Frantic actor”, “Three loves”, “. From hate to love”, “. A man with a past” and others.
The actress also starred in the multi-part documentary projects “To Remember”, “Idols” with and “Film About the Film”, where she also talked about her colleagues, and not about herself. So far only books have been written about Galina Borisovna herself: “Galina Volchek. In an absurd and tragic mirror” Gleb Skorokhodova, “Galina Volchek. Usually outside the rules” and “Galina Volchek. By itself” by Marina Raikina.
Galina Volchek also tried herself in cinema as a director. True, for a long time she simply filmed her best theatrical performances "An Ordinary Story", "Hurry to Do Good", "The Cherry Orchard" and many others. But she also had experience in filming according to original scenarios, for example, the heavy psychological dramas Echelon and Steep Route.
Galina Volchek on the set of the series "Mysterious Passion" In 2015, Galina Volchek suddenly returned to television as an actress in a feature series. The actress played herself in the drama "Mysterious Passion", an adaptation of the novel of the same name. The series tells about real creative people of the last century, who, for the sake of the artistry of the story, have fictitious, but easily decipherable names.
Personal life
Officially, Galina Volchek was married twice. The first husband of the actress is the famous actor Yevgeny Evstigneev, with whom she lived for 9 years and gave birth to a son. The son of Volchek and Evstigneev also could not leave the world of cinema and became a director. The child did not save the acting marriage, Volchek and Evstigneev separated.
Volchek claims that it was she who initiated the divorce from Yevgeny Aleksandrovich. Despite subsequent relationships, the actress no longer had children, the son from Evstigneev remained the only child of Galina Volchek.
Galina's second husband is the Soviet scientist Mark Abelev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, who taught at the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. Their union also did not last long, and the couple divorced.
The third marriage of Galina Volchek was civil, lasted almost 10 years, but the director prefers not to remember this period. In her own words, she "had two husbands, several affairs and one misunderstanding." After these relationships, she did not try to create a family anymore, believing that it was impossible to devote herself completely to theatrical activities and at the same time be a happy family man.
The main hobby of Galina Volchek, as the director likes to say, is “making stars”. Of course, you can’t argue that thanks to Galina Borisovna, the world learned about a huge number of artists. But if we talk about hobbies, then it is worth noting that Volchek is not bad at modeling clothes and has created a number of memorable outfits.
In 1995, Galina Volchek agreed to put forward her own candidacy for the elections to the State Duma and entered the federal list of the All-Russian Socio-Political Movement Our Home is Russia electoral association.
For four years, the director sat in the State Duma and worked as a member of the Committee on Culture, but in 1999, by her own decision, she left the walls of parliament.
Galina Volchek now
Recently, the health of the 83-year-old star began to fail. The director often ends up in hospitals, the last time Galina Volchek was on March 21, 2016 with suspected pneumonia. After the state of health of Galina Borisovna stabilized, the director returned home.
Today, Galina Volchek moves in a wheelchair, but details about the director's health were not disclosed. The press did not come to a consensus on this matter: some argue that Galina Borisovna is confined to a wheelchair and no longer walks, others adhere to an optimistic theory that the director is simply trying not to burden himself and give the body a rest.
At the same time, the wheelchair does not prevent Galina Volchek from organizing creative evenings, meeting friends and attending social events.
April 28, 2017 Galina Volchek received the title of Hero of Labor of the Russian Federation with the wording "for special labor services to the state and people." Also in 2017, Galina Borisovna celebrated a double theatrical anniversary: 60 years as she has been working in Sovremennik, 45 of them as the main director.
Filmography
- 1970 - "King Lear"
- 1975 - "Waves of the Black Sea"
- 1977 - "About Little Red Riding Hood"
- 1979 - "Autumn Marathon"
- 1983 - "Unique"
- 1983 - "Black Castle Olshansky"
- 1985 - Tevye the Milkman
- 1992 - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
- 2008 - "Contemporary"
- 2010 - "Catherine III"
- 2015 - "Secret Passion"
VOLCHEK GALINA BORISOVNA
(born in 1933)
A well-known actress, director, artistic director and chief director of the Moscow Sovremennik Theater. People's Artist of the USSR (1989), laureate of the State Prize. The first Soviet director invited to the USA to stage the play "Echelon" by M. Roshchin (1978). She was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, for her outstanding contribution to the development of theatrical art. Productions: "An Ordinary Story" (1966), "Echelon" (1975), "A Steep Route" (1989), etc.
Galina Volchek belongs to those women who surprisingly combine the tough principles of a leader with charm and exquisite charm. After the departure of Oleg Efremov, the legendary creator of Sovremennik, to the Moscow Art Theater, the responsibility for the theater fell on her shoulders - the pride of the sixties, a breath of freedom in our recent history. Since then, she has lived only the life of Sovremennik. Oleg Efremov headed it for fourteen years, Galina Volchek has been in charge for more than thirty. Now in this sense in Moscow only Y. Lyubimov in the Na Taganka Theater and V. Andreev in the Yermolovsky Theater are comparable to her. “I consider myself a happy person, although I have lived a very difficult life, and in the theater too. But I lived in the same house. That is, I worked in other theaters as a guest director, but I never knew life in another theater. Maybe somewhere better. But I lived my life here - all the hardships, all the joys, all the good and bad, I lived in my house, ”says Galina Borisovna.
Galina Volchek was born in a cinematic family. Her father, the famous cinematographer Boris Izrailevich Volchek, is known for his work on Romm's films Pyshka and Lenin in October. Cinema was a life for little Gali, a daily reality in which she grew up. The terms "frame" and "close-up" she heard from morning to night. The most famous actors throughout the country were for her "relatives, people pulling pigtails." “Uncle Borya Chirkov promised, when the war was over, to take me to the Moscow Zoo. Uncle Misha Zharov, who had no children of his own, took me by the hand for walks with Aunt Lyusya Tselikovskaya. I'm not talking about the Romms, in whose house I just grew up, ”recalls G. Volchek. But the closest person to her was her father. “My dad and I had an intense internal connection,” says G. Volchek. - He was a wonderful person, I did not understand this with an adult consciousness - he did not exist yet, but there was only an intense feeling and, most importantly, delight, which I could not formulate then ... I loved my mother very much, but I am my father's daughter. My father was a unique person - very kind, simple, without any ambition. My father treated his VGIK students as if they were his own children.” Mom G. Volchek, according to the recollections of those who knew her, was a wonderful woman, but she was distinguished by "an absolutely authoritarian attitude both to life and to people." “Mom, whom I certainly love, was not as close to me as is usually the case. She and I are just different people. For some reason, it seemed to her that a child should be brought up in severity. I experienced all her rules: you can’t walk in a capron, you can’t study poorly, you can’t come home late. All this, of course, gave rise to a feeling of protest in me, with which I lived all my life. Until now, I can react to some things not just sharply, but even stupidly and unjustifiably, ”recalls Volchek.
When Galya was 13 years old, her parents divorced. By her own decision, she stayed with her father. It was her first serious life choice. In addition to her father, Galina was raised by a nanny who was closer to her mother. She also nursed the son of Galina Volchek and Evgeny Evstigneev, Denis, who later became a famous cameraman and film director who made the films "Limit" and "Mama".
Boris Volchek always wanted his daughter to enter the Literary Institute, but from childhood she dreamed of becoming an actress, although she always hid this desire in herself. “I was very shy about my dream and never told anyone about it. When my strict mother left the room where I studied, I pulled out the hidden Chekhov from under the textbook. And dad was so busy filming that he didn’t know anything, ”recalls Volchek. Growing up, Galina did not change her childhood dream and entered the Moscow Art Theater School. In her strong course (I. Kvasha and L. Armoreva studied nearby), she was considered the most capable. Teachers appreciated her early skill, the peculiar nature of the dramatic acting talent - "on the verge of the grotesque." During her studies, Galina simply raved about the Moscow Art Theater - one whose legends were still alive. She hardly suspected then that a year after graduating from the Moscow Art Theater School, fate would offer her to become one of the creators of a new legend - the Sovremennik Theater, which would be a symbol of the "thaw" of the 1960s. Hardly Galina Volchek realized then that, having become at the origins of the newborn theater, she makes her second and decisive life choice. Here, in Sovremennik, her whole life will pass. Here she will play her first role as Nyurka the bread cutter in the play "Forever Alive". Here he will stage “Two on a Swing”, “An Ordinary Story”, “At the Bottom”, “Three Sisters”, “The Cherry Orchard”, “A Steep Route”. Here she will become a People's Artist of the USSR. And this theater will be headed after O. Efremov leaves for the Moscow Art Theater.
Among the brilliant ensemble of the early Sovremennik, Galina Volchek stood out not only for her bright acting abilities, but also for the clear character of the leader. Some official of that time, among other reproaches to Sovremennik, once said to Oleg Efremov: “In general, Oleg, you have solid Jews there. There is one real Russian woman - Galya Volchek.
When Yefremov announced his retirement in 1970, the Sovremennik troupe experienced a real shock due to the loss of its leader. And before the "real Russian woman" Volchek again faced the question of choice: to leave for Efremov or stay at Sovremennik. She stayed and two years later became the head of the theater. Volchek did not follow Efremov, despite the fact that he has always been and remains the only Teacher for her. “The rest influenced me. And Tovstonogov, and Vaida, and Fellini, who, I think, influenced everyone. But there was only one Teacher - Efremov. He was and remains my teacher, the man who created not only this house called “Sovremennik”, but also all of us, its “residents”. He was tough, even cruel, often using profanity. But I could neither be angry nor offended by him. Usually it was a second prick in the heart, and the next thought was: no, it’s not Efremov, it’s someone instead of him ... In the Steep Route, which I staged, there is a character - little Anya. She has already been sentenced, she is in prison, but she still thinks: no, this is not Stalin, these are others ... apparently, I thought the same way. I forgave him and forgave everything,” says G. Volchek. She did not follow her Teacher, perhaps because, according to her, the main thing that she appreciates in people is the gift of fidelity: fidelity to the word, fidelity to duty, fidelity to deed: “I value loyalty most of all and avoid people, capable of betrayal, no matter how it is expressed.
Volchek never hid that the change of fate that befell her after the departure of O. Efremov deprived her of happiness for a long time. “There is no happiness in the world, but there is peace and freedom,” – this is how Volchek could say about himself after Pushkin. When fate decreed that Efremov left, it seemed to the orphaned "contemporaries" that the earth had collapsed under them. “Now it is remembered as some kind of distant dark spot - with a touch of sad pathos. Actually, it was a big problem. Who were we in 1970? Yes, we existed for 14 years in the love of the viewer, in stroking the head by critics - they say, how young and perky ... But all the playwrights left with Efremov, the artists gradually began to leave. Therefore, no matter how much we quarreled for this life with Igor Kvasha and Lilya Tolmacheva, but in extreme moments, I think, just like they do to me, I am ready to forgive everything. Because we are the only ones left who were in Sovremennik from the first day,” G. Volchek says bitterly.
The pain multiplied many times when Efremov began to take away the leading artists of Sovremennik: Myagkov, Voznesenskaya, Lavrova, Vertinskaya, Tabakov ... It seemed that the theater was completely drained of blood .... But Volchek managed to breathe life into her theater again. At first, she guessed in the little girl, who played amazingly in the performance of A. Efros "The camp site" on the stage of the Moscow City Council Theater - in M. Neelova, the actress who will determine the existence of the theater in the last thirty years. In the next generation, Volchek discovered M. Khazova and E. Yakovlev, then Ch. Khamatova and P. Rashkin. Wise Volchek continues to form a troupe today. The enormous will to create the theater permeates all its activities. And also devotion to the idea and some special responsibility for everything she does. It was thanks to her “hypertrophied” responsibility that Volchek, with her maximalism and, as many believe, her difficult character, managed to hold out for so many years in the theatrical field. “I have an abnormal sense of responsibility. Overpriced, says the actress. - I paid for my theatrical fate with my health. True, I must honestly say that for me the most terrible stress is not when they attack from outside, but when something starts to collapse inside the theater. Theater is a complex mechanism, and different, not always pleasant things happen inside it. Volchek is very worried that the theater for artists today has ceased to be the main business of their lives. Earning money, that is, shooting in serials and TV shows, became paramount. Volchek is not a hypocrite and understands that life is difficult, but in order to continue to love her actors, she never watches a single series, not a single program with their participation. “I don’t want to see them in this capacity,” she says, preferring to see her wards on her native stage. "Sovremennik" is a "star" theatre, where people go "to Neelova", "to Kvasha", "to Yakovlev", "to Gaft". Volchek herself does not like the word “star” and calls those who really deserve honors “talented artists”: “It is no longer possible to hear the word“ star ”in our country. The titles “great”, “outstanding”, “star” are appropriated by whoever comes across, sculpt them for themselves, like Turkish hotels - stars. The artists of Sovremennik are so wonderful that I would not like to call them replicated words. She has special feelings for her actors. In this regard, the words of O. Tabakov are indicative, who said: “She is the only director in my life who stopped work on the play, where I was busy as an actor. Stopped rehearsals because I had a heart attack. And she resumed work only when I recovered from a heart attack. I was twenty nine years old. It was an act that, of course, has no analogues.”
Galina Volchek is not just a director, she is the creator, builder of Sovremennik. So, after a bright and controversial version of Mary Stuart staged by the famous Lithuanian director R. Tuminas, Volchek invites two young directors, K. Serebrennikov and N. Chusova, to work in his theater, who for the whole season turn Sovremennik into the most popular theater in Moscow. Then Chusova puts on the stage of Sovremennik an unusual Thunderstorm, and it seems that Volchek likes Chusov's "hooliganism". She likes to invite a wide variety of directors, and geography is not a limitation for her. Following Chusova, an old friend G. Volchek, an outstanding Polish theater and film director A. Wajda, began rehearsing "Demons". “I am endlessly looking for young directors, not because I want to be ahead of the rest in this. I have been looking for her since I became the head of the theater, because I believe that a theater that does not infuse young blood and young ideas cannot but turn into a museum. He can be alive only in the struggle of opposites, only in the union “if youth knew, if old age could””. With what courage and determination, ignoring the hostility and long-term prejudice of the theatrical environment, Galina Volchek builds her theater! This ability to move, to preserve the core of Sovremennik, to attract bright directors speaks of yet another quality of Volchek - her gift for artistic direction, which allows Sovremennik to be what it is: not only a phenomenon of the first fifteen years under Efremov, but also the next thirty-odd - under G. B. Volchek.
The fate of Sovremennik, like the fate of its leader, has never been easy. From the very moment Efremov left for the Moscow Art Theater, critics began vying to predict a quick death for the theater. Despite the fact that the theater released Valentin and Valentina, Balalaykin and Co., Echelon, Twelfth Night, a cycle of Chekhov's performances, these "oracles" do not stop today, exhausting the soul of the theater group. “Criticism in the person of some of its “influential representatives” has been nailing our theater into a coffin for more than thirty years. It is difficult to work with such accompaniment,” says Volchek. Her native theater went through different times, but always Galina Volchek accepted his fate as her own: rejoicing and sad, succumbing to her own weaknesses and not betraying her own strength. So, as if fulfilling a high mission. And the theater for G. Volchek has always been and remains precisely the mission. The generation that grew up with Sovremennik was lucky. Conceived and created as a protest against official art, which arose with a claim to become the ruler of thoughts, the theater suffered this power, strengthening it over many decades. In the old days, the theater had to fight for the release of each performance. On the delivery of "Echelon", "Provincial jokes", "Climbing Mount Fuji" the commission came fifteen times, it was a record that cannot be compared with three attempts in sports. Galina Borisovna then bitterly joked that the officials had invented a new sport: “Every time we fought for the release of performances. It took half a lifetime." When the very concept of “ruler of thoughts” lost its integrity, Volchek was almost the only one who tried with all his might to keep this power over the minds. Evidence of this is her performances: "An Ordinary Story", "At the Bottom", then "Sharp Turn", "Three Comrades". All of them became true events in the history of the Russian theater.
Directing is a non-female profession. No wonder the word "director" is masculine - it is quite natural. But Galina Volchek proves with her whole life that a woman director is in no way inferior to a man. She recalls with a smile: “In my distant youth, the wonderful actress Vera Petrovna Maretskaya, meeting me at a rest home in Ruza, asked: “Galya! They told me you were going to direct. Are you really going to walk around in a man's suit and with a briefcase under your arm all your life? Such was the stereotype of the director's profession, which I, apparently, subconsciously terribly feared. And I promised Vera Petrovna that for each premiere I would sew a new dress and never wear a men's suit and take a briefcase. Based on her professional and life experience, Volchek deduced a profession formula in which she constantly has to prove her individuality: “The director combines a psychologist, a psychotherapist, a psychic, and a hypnotist. The energy with which we are able to infect a partner is not based only on intellect. Speaking and reasoning ingeniously, you will achieve penetration only into the rational “floor” of the artist. Do not break through to his nature, to his impulses, to his inner temperament. Eisenstein brilliantly called the film director "a volcano spewing cotton wool."
Volchek is one of those few theater directors who are recognized on the streets. Adults of all generations watched the film with her participation "Autumn Marathon", and the children - "Little Red Riding Hood", where Volchek played the Wolf. The roles are not very large, but Volchek, an actress of the widest range, could always elevate even an insignificant episodic role to the level of a symbol. She herself categorically does not want to remember her “acting component”. "All! I won to the end, there is no acting consciousness in me! And there was no struggle, I did nothing for this. It so happened. When they say to me now: “Play this role, it’s right for you!” - I'm surprised: what idiots, but I play these roles a year for a hundred pieces. Every role that the actors play in my performances, I play with them. This is how I work, this is my nature as a director…. Maybe that’s why acting didn’t remain a thorn in my side, ”says Volchek.
She devoted her whole life to the theater, she almost did not have enough time for her family. “All my life I have led myself to the fact that the family has become impossible for me. This is the natural state of a person who sold himself into slavery to the theater. The theater has ground me in its meat grinder to such an extent that it would be unnatural to combine it with something else. And it was predestined to me by fate, I am convinced of this. The first husband G. Volchek, a brilliant, spontaneously gifted actor E. Evstigneev is a separate chapter of her memoirs: “He was a nice person, Zhenya. Extraordinary talent, element, man-planet. When I, a girl from a prosperous professorial family, said that I was marrying him and brought him into the house, thunder struck. Against the backdrop of my successful suitors from MGIMO, a man in a lilac Boston suit, made to grow, with long sleeves, in a knitted bob shirt and a crepe de chine tie over it, looked incredible. He had one long nail on his little finger, expressing his ideas of chic and intelligence ... This is how, in his understanding, a real metropolitan lion should have looked. Contrary to popular belief, Galina married Evstigneev. They often worked together as an actor and director and did many roles. Evstigneev always had a lot of fans, and once Volchek, having heard another gossip about her husband's new hobby, could not stand it and filed for divorce. “I can't be second. And I can't even do the first one. Only one, says the actress. - We had a surprisingly warm relationship with Zhenya. After, probably, 25 years after we broke up with him, shortly before his death, he suddenly began to tell me how I ruined his life, what a maximalist I am. And that with her maximalism she could not forgive something, but she had to.
Her second husband was M. Abelev, a professor at a construction university. He himself speaks of his marriage to the actress as follows: “I lived with her for almost ten years, and all these ten years were completely different. It was hard to know what to expect. Galya is multi-layered, she is big. Like a head of cabbage - one leaf, another leaf. Everyone sees only the top pair of sheets, and only after living with her for many years, one can understand how big and interesting a person she is. She is very woman, in everything, in plastic, in conversation, in the way she dresses. I don't know why Galina and I broke up. Probably, there came a period when I, as a person, ceased to be interesting to her. Little is known about Volchek's third common-law husband. They say that he was a highly educated person, he held a high state post. The 10-year history of their relationship ended in a break.
In recent years, Galina Volchek has been living alone, her home, her family is Sovremennik. When Volchek was asked what she would wish for her theatre, she replied: “Only one thing - for Sovremennik to be alive to the end. I want successors to be found and not allowed to pull the theater apart for various enterprises. For me, the biggest compliment was once said by Zinovy Gerdt: “There are two places where they never deceive. This is the Conservatory and Sovremennik. Perhaps this is the most valuable thing in our theater - that we never lied. Even when they could not tell the whole truth to the end, they never deceived. People trust Sovremennik. And there is no need for a greater reward.
As a true professional, Volchek is concerned about the fate of not only his native Sovremennik, but also the Russian theater in general. Alas, her forecasts are horrendous: “Today the theater is just one of the entertainments. Ever since I entered the studio at the age of 16, I have been living to the accompaniment of words about the theatrical crisis. But he never was. I tell you this, a man who has lived in the theater for a long time. But today the crisis has really come, and very deep. What is happening now is agonistic convulsions. The theater is dying. It is expressed in everything! In relation to the theater, in the amount of lies around it. The entreprises have spoiled the taste of the viewer, corrupted the brains ... The theater will surely die ... Not Sovremennik, but the theater in general, in the sense in which we found it. A lot of time will pass, spent on all the emptiness and nonsense that will be called a theater, and then ... on this ashes there will be some kind of artistic rebellion, from which a real theater will be born ... However, I don’t know what it will be like.
For many decades, Galina Volchek, with her strong character and masculine profession, has been doing the primordially feminine business - she keeps the fire in the hearth, whose name is "Contemporary". The flame sometimes burns unevenly, sometimes flashing, sometimes scattering sparks, but the fire does not die out. Its keeper Galina Volchek is a happy person. She is happy because she has a son, she had and still has friends - G. A. Tovstonogov, A. Vaida, A. Miller, V. Redgrave. “God gave me the best “human collection” in the world as a friend! I know how to take care of my collection. I need them not when I need it, but when they need it. They probably feel it,” says Volchek. She is also happy because she has Sovremennik, which is still loved by the audience. When Galina Borisovna meets people on the street, they tell her: "God bless you." How do they know that this strong and at the same time so vulnerable woman needs these warm wishes so much? “I feel a “good field” around me and my theater. I have lived all my life in the House, which I built together with my comrades. But my fate is difficult, says Volchek. – If I start to remember my happy moments, I understand that I didn’t know how and I don’t know how to keep them for a long time. After all, a person always runs, flies for a sense of harmony. And only it seems to him that he felt it, as it disappears. But there have been feelings of absolute happiness in my life. The birth of a son. The morning after the premiere in Houston, where I, the first Soviet director, was invited to the production. That morning I understood what victory is. Or Broadway. Tormented by our criticism, which has been trying to destroy me for so many years, to prove that I am mediocre and ruined Sovremennik, I came to America. Despite the excellent reception of our performance, I was waiting for reviews ... When it came out positive, I burst into tears. I cried with happiness."
The happiest of women, she does not stand still, continuing to run through life. And as she herself admits with a smile: “If it were not for physical shortness of breath, she would have run even faster ...” Her life is in constant motion, in the process of work, in the same rhythm with the theater, which remains the most dear to her. “I live for the theater to live, including after me,” says Galina Volchek. “Otherwise, why work?”
From the book Toasted drinks to the bottom author Danelia Georgy NikolaevichGALYA VOLCHEK The first actress who starred with me. (She played Varvara in the educational work Vasisualy Lokhankin.) In Marathon, she also plays Varvara. I believe that this is the best role of the leading theater director and actress of Russia Galina Volchek in the cinema. But she is with me
From the book Evgeny Evstigneev - People's Artist author Tsyvina Irina KonstantinovnaGALINA VOLCHEK Vitaly Alexandrovich Lebsky, director of the Gorky Theater School, told me how one day in 1947 he came to the cinema and waited for the show to begin. In the remaining time, he decided to occupy himself looking at announcements, reading reviews of past films.
From the book by Valentin Gaft: ... I gradually learn ... author Groysman Yakov IosifovichGALINA VOLCHEK In her, thick, subtly combined: Love for art and commissions! (To the performance "Echelon") Not with a suitcase, not with a wagon, To America - so with "Echelon". Already export - so "Echelon". Why else would you need
From the book Vaclav Dvorzhetsky - dynasty author Groysman Yakov IosifovichJulius Volchek HOW HUMAN IS ORGANIZED4 In the life of Vatslav Yanovich Dvorzhetsky, two different rhythms clearly appear: the rhythm of "doing" - with overexcited nerves, with victories over fatigue, with the excitement of endless improvisations - and the rhythm of "contemplation", when haste becomes
From the book ... I gradually learn ... author Gaft Valentin IosifovichGALINA VOLCHEK In her, thick, subtly combined: Love for art and commissions! (To the performance "Echelon") Not with a suitcase, not with a wagon, To America - so with "Echelon". Already take out - so "Echelon". Why else would you need
From the book My "Contemporary" author Ivanova Ludmila Ivanovna"Sovremennik" by Galina Volchek After Efremov's departure, for two years the artistic direction of "Sovremennik" was carried out by the artistic council, and Oleg Tabakov became the director of the theater. But then we came to the conclusion that this is wrong, the creative process should be led by one person, and
From the book Red Lanterns author Gaft Valentin IosifovichThree sisters (G. Volchek) And tomorrow they will be gone - In the morning the lights will go out, They will be told about them as a miracle, And there were only three of them. Suffer, endure, be silent, don't cry, Don't lie to yourself, don't lie to others, Endure in heat, frost and sleet, Not knowing why, but knowing... Everything will be
From the book by Ilya Repin author Chukovsky Korney IvanovichGalina Volchek 1 In her, thick, subtly combined: Love for art and commission shops! 2for the performance "Echelon" Not with a suitcase, not with a wagon, To America - so with "Echelon". Already take out - so "Echelon". Why else would he need it? 3 on the project of G. Volchek to stage in Sovremennik "War
From the book Contemporaries: Portraits and Studies (with illustrations) author Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich From the book Pushkin and 113 women of the poet. All the love affairs of the great rake author Schegolev Pavel EliseevichVII. NATALYA BORISOVNA NORDMAN On the previous pages, the name of Repin's second wife, Natalya Borisovna, is mentioned more than once, who, at the time when I met him, occupied a very prominent place in the Penates. In those years, in 1907 - 1910, she and Repin were inseparable: the artist
From the book Four friends of the era. Memoirs against the background of the century author Obolensky IgorSvyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya Nadezhda Borisovna Nadezhda Borisovna Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya (1812–1909), daughter of Nadezhda Fedorovna Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, ur. book. Gagarina - sisters V. F. Vyazemskaya, L. F. Poluektova and the master of the horse, head of the Moscow stable yard
From the book Tablecloth by Lydia Libedinskaya author Gromova Natalya AlexandrovnaEchelon Directed by Galina Volchek We met in 2000 at the funeral of Oleg Efremov. It seems that all the legendary actors and directors of our time gathered at Novodevichy to say goodbye to Oleg Nikolaevich then. When it was all over, Galina Borisovna and I wandered
From the book Strong Women. men were afraid of them author Medvedev Felix Nikolaevich From the book Love and Life as Sisters author Kuchkina Olga AndreevnaGALINA VOLCHEK: CLEAN WORKS ON CLEAN POND - Dear Galina Borisovna, I have heard about, and in fact I have seen, that it is not the poor who go to your theater, but those who are wealthier, more bohemian. This is true? And is it good or bad? - Different people walk. But I think that
From the book Free Love author Kuchkina Olga AndreevnaBUTTERFLY IN AUTUMN Galina Volchek "Contemporary". There we spent our youth. There we thought and felt, experienced delight and tenderness, wept and laughed, suffered and loved. It was the theater of Oleg Efremov. The theater of Galina Volchek became. * * * - In your youth, did you want to become happy or
From the author's bookGalina Volchek An old woman near the church On the birthday of Oleg Efremov, on the holiday that Galina Volchek arranged when he was no more, a butterfly flew over the stage of the Sovremennik Theater. Biologists said that this could not be: autumn - first, the light of spotlights, where it should
Published on 12/19/18 10:06 PMPutin came to Sovremennik to congratulate Galina Volchek on her anniversary.
Today, December 19, the legend of theater and cinema, Galina Volchek, celebrates her 85th birthday, 60 of which she gave to her beloved Sovremennik theater. Volchek personally congratulated on the anniversary among many friends and acquaintances, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
vid_roll_width="300px" vid_roll_height="150px">The Russian leader arrived at the historical building of the theater on Chistoprudny Boulevard, which is opening after reconstruction. Volchek replied to the president that congratulations were not needed, but he did not agree with her.
“Absolutely necessary, because this is an opportunity intkbbee and to sum up some results, and say thank you for your contribution to national culture, and to world culture as well,” the President said, handing her a bouquet of flowers, a picture and a book.
Putin also asked if there were any comments on the reconstruction of the building. The artistic director noted that so far there are no comments, but first you need to move and get comfortable. Volchek also invited Putin to watch a play at Sovremennik.
It should be noted that today in the play "Two on a Swing" at the Sovremennik Theater, Kirill Safonov plays with Kristina Orbakaite, who replaced Chulpan Khamatova. As Volchek shared, she was dumbfounded by the behavior of the actress, because of which the performance, which was gathering a full house, almost closed, Kommersant writes.
The thing is that some time ago Chulpan approached Volchek and said that she "had an accident" and she was temporarily unable to continue working in the theater for medical reasons for at least six months. At the same time, she vowed not to act anywhere, asking for permission only for concert activities in order to somehow live.
"But less than a month later, I found out that Chulpan was rehearsing in one theater in Moscow, then I found out that she was rehearsing in Riga at that time, and somewhere else ..." Volchek said.
From such deceit on the part of the famous actress, the director was simply numb.
“It didn’t just offend or hurt me. I realized that I had to say goodbye to this performance, and that’s all. Then I thought:“ No, I have no right, since the audience believed so and went like that ... And Cyril ... Well, how in general ... No, it's impossible. "But who will play? I understood that replacing Chulpan Khamatova is not just difficult, it's very difficult..." Volchek concluded.
It is noteworthy that, unexpectedly for everyone, the performer showed such a strong acting talent that Galina Borisovna herself, who had seen everything on stage, was moved to tears.
“It was the first time in my theater ... I suddenly burst into tears and I can’t stop,” admitted Volchek.
These and many other questions are being answered by people who have noticed drastic changes in both the appearance of the actress and artistic director, and her lifestyle. the site tried to understand the situation and will give an argumentative answer to the question "Why in a wheelchair."
The state of health of Galina Volchek
In fact, you should not panic, a woman feels quite self-sufficient. There are many health problems, but at her advanced age, this is normal. Yesterday, December 19, the artist turned 85 years old. She managed to survive the old-timer of Sovremennik, among whom we remember Oleg Efremov, Nina Doroshina, Oleg Tabakov ... Moreover, Galina Borisovna is older than all those who started her acting career many years ago: Valentin Gaft, Liya Akhedzhakova, Marina Neelova ...
Consequently, Galina Volchek devoted her entire life, her entire creative career to the theater, which was opened back in 1956. She was one of the founders of the cultural institution, and after the death of Oleg Efremov, she took his place, becoming the artistic director of Sovremennik.
62 years of faithful and devoted service for the benefit of the theater and the audience could not but affect the health of the People's Artist. Recently, she has been moving in a wheelchair, but Galina did not give any information about why she ended up in it.
However, JointInfoMedia editors have become aware of the reasons why the artistic director spends most of his time in a vehicle. For the first time, Galina Borisovna was noticed in a wheelchair in 2017 in the Kremlin at an awards ceremony. At the same time, rumors of the “paralyzed” type began to emerge, but everything turned out to be completely different.
Galina Volchek can move freely with all her limbs. The only reason she uses a wheelchair is her back problems. She was diagnosed with a herniated disc. Given the weight of the body and the constant physical stress, it is extremely difficult for the artist to walk without support due to pain. At the same time, the theater noted that since 2014 the pain has been intensifying. For a long time she struggled with her condition, then decided to save herself and her health by moving into a wheelchair.
Usually such situations require prompt intervention. However, given that spinal surgery is considered one of the most dangerous, the artistic director refused it, especially since no one will give a 100% guarantee anyway. She also refused because of a heart condition, and the intense and stressful work in the theater for so many years also affected the nervous system, because of which she also began to have problems with her lungs, and later led to hypertension.
Nevertheless, despite the entire “track record” of illnesses, Galina Volchek, at the age of 85, continues her creative activity, she knows what the audience needs and how to convey the idea to the actor, in which, undoubtedly, her experience as the main director helped her. And even skirmishes with Chulpan Khamatova did not unsettle one of the best Russian artists, both of the past and present century.
Cheating Chulpan Khamatova
The other day, Galina Volchek shared with the press a story that happened to her and Chulpan Khamatova. It turns out that in the play "Two on a Swing" Kristina Orbakaite plays one of the leading roles for a reason. She replaced the talented Chulpan Khamatova.
The performance, which was a success, almost closed due to one incident. Chulpan came to Galina Borisovna and said that she needed a creative break for six months. She can't rehearse, she can't perform, she can't play, nothing. Volchek entered the situation and, of course, as one of the best actresses of her theater, she allowed her to take a break. But with agreements that the actress with Tatar roots will not take part in productions anywhere for these six months. Meanwhile, the star of "Moon Dad" disobeyed her boss and simultaneously took up other work in other theaters.
As a result, on reflection, Galina Volchek decides to take on the role of Chulpan, whom she has loved since the release of the film Scarecrow. And according to the artistic director, she made the right decision, as Pugacheva's daughter is doing an excellent job with the new role.
It should be noted that Galina Borisovna does not hold a grudge against Chulpan, moreover, she continues to assert that Khamatova is a very talented artist, but, of course, this is not done.
Main photo: about.theatre
A huge bouquet of flowers was presented to the birthday girl by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. I did not miss the birthday of my close friend and Alla Pugacheva.
The celebration in honor of the birthday girl was arranged within the walls of her native theater Sovremennik, which Volchek has been directing since 1972. Galina Borisovna was handed a telegram signed by the first person of the state.
“Faith in the high purpose of art, a responsible attitude to one’s vocation, love for the native theater and spectators have been fully embodied in your inspired work, in serving Russian culture, people, and the country, and have earned you unquestioned authority and great respect,” the message quotes Russian President's press service of the Kremlin.
Kristina Orbakaite congratulated her director and teacher, who recently plays the main role in Galina Volchek's performance "Two on a Swing". And Alla Borisovna Pugacheva prepared a heartfelt speech for her dear friend. The legendary women have been in close contact for many years and often appear together at various events. Looking at the photo, many did not fail to note that at 85, Galina Volchek looks no worse than Alla Borisovna Pugacheva, who is preparing for her 70th birthday.
The director moves mostly in a wheelchair, but this does not prevent her from leading the theater productively.
Galina Volchek stood at the origins of the formation of the Sovremennik Theater. Together with a group of young artists led by Oleg Efremov, she created a troupe that brought a breath of fresh air into the musty theatrical world. Galina Borisovna staged her first performance when she was only 29 years old. It was to her that the theater staff entrusted leadership when Oleg Efremov was offered to head the Moscow Art Theater.
The first husband of Galina Volchek was the famous artist Evgeny Evstigneev. In this marriage, their common son Denis was born. The family union lasted only nine years. Evstigneev had a romantic interest on the side, and Volchek herself packed a suitcase for him. Soon Galina Borisovna married Doctor of Technical Sciences Mark Abelev. He was a smart and subtle person, but he was terribly jealous of his star wife. Nine years later, this marriage broke up.
Now Volchek relies on the help and support of his son in everything. Denis Evstigneev has had a successful film career as a director, cameraman and producer.
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