The clock beats on you: about the play “Solo for the knocking clock” at the Mossovet Theater

A person – not even for happiness, but for life – needs little. Sometimes one thing is enough – not loneliness.

Life is hectic, so not everyone has time to fill it with people with whom it will be pleasant and safe – and to talk, be quiet and walk away day after day, watching the needles of the clock cut out circles on the dial…

Performance “Solo for clocks with combat” at the Theatre. The Moscow City Council is for those who did not have time. Director Pavel Parkhomenko made old people the main action characters for a reason. After all, it is in old age that the feeling of loneliness and the thirst for life intensify, there is a desire to profitably live the time allotted by God.

The director hardly set out to repeat the success of the performance of the same name, which in Soviet times was staged at the then united Moscow Art Theater. But he knew for sure that Oswald Zahradnik’s play, performed by real legends of the theatrical scene, would not leave the audience indifferent. Quality hardware is half the success of performance. The star cast is the second half of it.

And you don’t even need elaborate decorations. The stage space turns into a room in the apartment of Abel (Evgeny Steblov) – there is a table, many chairs, other furniture … A clock with a pendulum hangs on a wall white. Typical interior with a touch of retro. But the walls have an additional function – they periodically turn into giant screens.

Abel has friends who live in a nursing home, but every Friday they invariably come to visit him – to talk, to drink tea (or no tea), to reminisce about the past … And it seems that everything is fine well – not one of the old people are alone, they meet regularly, they have a familiar and favorite place for it… Now, in reality, each of them is abandoned by everyone and deeply unhappy.

Watchmaker Rainer (Anatoly Vasiliev) is so obsessed with the idea of ​​”restarting” the clock in the city’s main tower that he’s gone a little… mad about it. Now his friends are forced to take all watches out of his sight and talk like a little child.

Pani Conti (Olga Ostroumova) experiences the loss of her son – she thinks the heir is somewhere nearby, but in reality he seems to be long gone. Pani is followed everywhere by her companion Pan Khmelik (Leonid Fomin). He carries his heavy suitcase, having no idea what’s inside. He does not want to reveal this secret, he is completely satisfied with the role of “porter”. Despite their quirks, this company knows how to have fun – when they are together, laughter and clinking of glasses spread through the apartment, joyful conversations do not stop …

“Solo for a Spooky Clock”

Photo credit: Elena Lapina/mossoveta.ru

Against their background, Abel’s grandson Pavel (Aleksey Trofimov) and his beloved Dasha (Ekaterina Devkina) look gray, faded, lifeless… A couple of amoebas who hate old people for their desperate desire to live. Throughout the action, young people try to get Abel out of his apartment…

In the second act, the interior of the dwelling changes – bulky old furniture is fixed to the wall – the lovers “clear” the space for themselves. The same evening, the old people meet in the apartment – they celebrate Pani Conti’s birthday (we don’t know what number). Everything happening in parallel is shown in black and white on screen walls, helping the viewer to understand that these joyful gatherings are a thing of the past. Just like the old characters themselves. Their time is over, leaving only black and white images as a memory. The time of the young is coming – they are stepping on their heels, literally pushing the old people out, “ejecting” them from a comfortable and familiar space (I involuntarily remember another performance of the Mossovet Theater with a similar plot – “More away – Silence” by Anatoly Efros. Everything is (almost) the same, only the legendary Plyatt-Ranevskaya tandem is missing).

“Solo for a Spooky Clock”

Photo credit: Elena Lapina/mossoveta.ru

But on the tower of the city, the clock started to strike, which Rainer had given a second life. With a loud and distinct fight, they inspire Pavel and Dasha: “You will be in their place too!”

Selfish young people will hardly think who the cat is calling … the clock is ticking.

And they certainly won’t understand what’s going on with them.

Or will they understand?

The dates of the next performances are April 15 and 28. 16+.