The play "Mad Money": reviews, plot, genre, actors and roles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the best plays by the outstanding Russian playwright Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky "Mad Money" is currently being successfully staged in several metropolitan theaters at once. What this play is about, what are the similarities and differences between the performances, and how the audience responds to each of them - all this and much more later in this article.

Ostrovsky's play

The comedy "Mad Money" was completed by Alexander Ostrovsky by the end of the autumn of 1869, the first publication took place already in early 1870, on the pages of the journal "Domestic Notes". In the same year, the first performances of the play took place in two theaters at once. In the first editions, the play was called "All that glitters is not gold" and "Scythe on a stone".

The plot of the play "Mad Money" tells about the fate and life of completely different characters, who are united by one thing - the thirst for money, we alth and an idle life. Three types of imaginaryrich - the forty-year-old nobleman Telyatev, who lives in a big way, but only in debt, the sixty-year-old well-born gentleman Kuchumov, cruel and deceitful, whose we alth lies only in connections with his mother and wife, and, finally, the main character is the provincial Savva Vasilkov, whom, for fun, acquaintances represent him as a millionaire. No less greedy heroines are led to this bait - a marriageable girl Lidia Yuryevna, who dreams of a beautiful, comfortable life, and her mother Nadezhda Antonovna, who hides her dream to profit from her daughter's successful marriage behind the angelic face of good intentions. In general, all the main characters pretend to be naive and kind, while they themselves only dream of money. Savva Vasilkov falls in love with Lydia, and she reciprocates only after learning about his millions, which in fact do not exist. As a result, they turn out to be ideally suited people for each other, since for both the only value in life is money - marriage for them is nothing but a deal. That is why Lydia calmly goes to Vasilkov's housekeeper, hoping to later rise to the status - no matter how comical it may sound - the status of a wife. It is interesting that Egor Glumov, already known to readers (and viewers) from the comedy "Enough Stupidity for Every Wise Man", reappears among the heroes.

Ostrovsky's "Mad Money" can be called a comedic version of his own "Dowry" - all the same social problems will be raised in the next play by Alexander Nikolayevich, only in a dramatic way. The highlight of the play is the absence of positive characters in it - all the main characters, according to the ideaauthor should not evoke sympathy in the reader or viewer.

First performances

In April 1870, just a few months after the first publication of the play, Mad Money was staged at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the play was received rather coldly, as the newspapers later wrote: "The St. Petersburg public does not want stories about a simple life." The Moscow premiere took place in October 1870, on the stage of the Maly Theatre. Here, Ostrovsky's new play was well received, the performances were sold out. It is not surprising that the play is successfully staged in this theater to this day - albeit by different directors.

"Mad Money" at the Maly Theater

The performance has been successfully staged at the Maly Theater since the first premiere in 1870 for many years, but was withdrawn from the show at the turn of the century - the civil war and revolution required completely different productions. However, by the 1930s, classical performances began to return to the stage - especially Ostrovsky, who so coincided in his ideas with the ideas of the new, Soviet state. The first Soviet production of the play took place in 1933, on the stage of the Maly Theatre. The content of the play "Mad Money" in 1933 was as close as possible to the original source - the stage director Ivan Stepanovich Platonov did not tolerate gag in relation to the classics, and therefore absolutely all the remarks of Alexander Ostrovsky were observed. All the then geniuses of the theatrical scene were involved in the production. The role of Nadezhda Cheboksarova was played by the greatest Russian actress Alexandra Aleksandrovna Yablochkina. Her work was highly appreciated by both the audience and critics, as well as stage partners, although the actress herself said that she initially did not understand Cheboksarova and played her incorrectly in the first productions:

Before, Cheboksarova seemed to me a positive type, I saw only her great love for her daughter, excusing all her actions, justifying her actions. Later, I realized my delusion and began to play Cheboksarova as a negative image. I used to believe that Cheboksarova does not lie internally when she says: “You speak terrible words, Lydia: there is nothing worse than poverty. Yes, Lydia: a vice! - and therefore invested in these words the genuine emotion of a noble soul. But this is not true: Cheboksarova is hiding behind a screen of dignity and honesty. She is all in the power of calculation, her "dignity" is enough only for the desire to "observe decorum." In fact, this is a cynical, selfish creature, her love for Lydia is a desire to sell her more expensive, by any means to get a rich man for her

The role of her daughter Lydia was played by the no less brilliant actress Elena Nikolaevna Gogoleva, who was 33 years old at the time of the premiere. Thanks to her excellent external data, she continued to play the 24-year-old Lydia until the age of 48. The older and younger Cheboksarys performed by Yablochkina and Gogoleva are pictured below.

Among other famous actors of the play "Mad Money" in 1933 - NikolaiKapitonovich Yakovlev as Vasilkov, Konstantin Aleksandrovich Zubov as Telyatev and Petr Ivanovich Starkovsky as Kuchumov.

The next staging of the play on the stage of the Maly Theater was not only staged in 1978, but also filmed as a TV show. The directors of this production were Nikolai Alexandrovich, Vladimir Beilis and Leonid Varpakhovsky. This production also involved many stars of the screen and stage of the USSR, but already better known to the modern audience. So, the role of Lydia went to the star of her time Elina Bystritskaya - despite the fact that at the time of the premiere she was exactly 40 years old. The role of her future chosen one Vasilkov went to Yuri Kayurov, Irina Likso played Nadezhda Antonovna, and Nikita Podgorny played Telyateva.

Well, the first premiere of the play "Mad Money" at the Maly Theater, which is successfully staged at the present time, took place 20 years later - in 1998. The duration of this performance is 2 hours 45 minutes and it consists of two acts with an intermission. Age limit 12+. The cost of tickets for the performance is from 200 to 3000 rubles. The performance takes place on another stage of the Maly Theatre, which is located at Bolshaya Ordynka, 69.

The fourth - for the Maly Theater - version of the play was directed by Vitaly Nikolaevich Ivanov, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation, and Vitaly Anatolyevich Konyaev, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, became the main director. Cast:

• Vasilkov - ViktorGrassroots/Dmitry Koznov.
• Lydia - Polina Dolinskaya/Daria Novoseltseva.
• Cheboksarova - Aleftina Evdokimova/Lyudmila Polyakova.
• Telyatev - Valery Babyatinsky.
• Kuchumov - Vladimir Dubrovsky.
• Glumov - Mikhail Fomenko.

The Maly Theater even has a trailer for this performance with one of the cast. You can watch it in the video below.

At the Mayakovsky Theater

The play "Mad Money" is still very young on the stage of the Moscow Mayakovsky Theater. Its premiere took place in April 2017. The role of Nadezhda Antonova in this production was played by the famous Soviet and Russian actress Svetlana Nemolyaeva. She was born on April 18, 1937, and the authors timed the premiere of the play to coincide with her 80th birthday. But this is not the only reason why the performance "Mad Money" is special for Nemolyaeva - the fact is that in this production, her own granddaughter Polina Lazareva enters the stage with the great actress as Lydia. The zest to this information is added by the fact that the director of the production, Anatoly Shuliev, did not know about the relationship of the actresses when he distributed the roles. He simply decided that Svetlana Nemolyaeva and Polina Lazareva are similar in appearance, like relatives - and hit the nail on the head.

Other actors in the play "Mad Money" by Anatoly Shuliev were:

• Vasilkov - Alexey Dyakin.
• Telyatin - Vitaly Lensky.
• Kuchumov - Alexander Andrienko.
• Glumov -Konstantin Konstantinov.

The director himself designated the genre of the production as a "comedy of obsession" - after all, all the characters can really be called obsessed, which is why they find themselves in situations that are ridiculous for the viewer. The performance runs for 3 hours and 20 minutes, with one intermission and a 12+ category. The ticket will cost the viewer in the amount of 500 to 2700 rubles. Those who wish are invited to the main stage on Bolshaya Nikitskaya street 19/13. You can watch the trailer below before deciding whether or not to go see this show.

In the Theater of Satire

In 1981, on the stage of the Satire Theater, the famous actor Andrei Mironov staged this performance, and he himself played the main role of Savva Vasilkov in it. The play was staged for a long time at the Satire Theater even after the death of the actor, but, for unknown reasons, was filmed at the beginning of the 2000s. However, in 2013, the director, actor and good friend of Mironov, Andrei Zenin, restored the performance, completely repeating all the ideas of Andrei Alexandrovich and timing the premiere to coincide with his birthday. In reviews of the play "Mad Money", staged at the Satire Theater, those critics who knew and loved the previous production unsubscribed. They agreed that Zenin managed to keep the tragicomedic note invested in Ostrovsky's play by Mironov himself, and that all lovers of the "old" theater of Satire should pay attention to this production.

Following the example of Andrei Mironov, Andrei Zenin himself played the role of Savva Vasilkov. Other actors and roles of thisproductions:

• Lydia - Anastasia Mikishova.
• Cheboksarova Sr. - Valentina Sharykina.
• Telyatev - Alexander Chevychelov.
• Kuchumov - Sergey Churbakov.
• Glumov - Ivan Mikhailovsky.

Duration of the play "Mad Money" at the Satire Theater is 2 hours 30 minutes, there is an intermission. Spectators are invited to the stage "Attic of Satire", the address of the Triumph Square Theatre, 2. Tickets will cost from 450 to 1500 rubles.

At the Taganka Theater

Unusual in the performance of the Taganka Theater is that the whole plot is transferred from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. The director of "Mad Money" in the Art Nouveau style was the already successful actress and aspiring director Maria Fedosova. The duration of this performance is 3 hours 20 minutes, but the marking is higher than the previous ones - 16+.

Role performers:

• Savva Vasilkov - Vladimir Zavittorin.
• Lydia - Irina Usok.
• Cheboksarova - Anna Mokhova/Polina Fokina.
• Kuchumov - Mikhail Basov.
• Telyatev - Danila Perov/Dmitry Belotserkovsky.
• Glumov - Roman Serkov.

Tickets for this performance cost from 400 to 1000 rubles. The address of the theater is Zemlyanoy Val street 76/21.

At the Pushkin Theater

A rather interesting version of the performance was shown at the Pushkin Theater in Moscow from May 2010 to June 2013. She is interesting both from the point of view of director's ideas, and from the point of view of an unusual cast - in the list of actingfaces lit up Vera Alentova and Ivan Urgant. Rather eccentric, symbolic, and even with a touch of absurdity, director Roman Kozak approached the creation of the performance. He managed to make a very topical, modern and incredibly witty show out of Ostrovsky's comedy. The performance had a three-hour duration, but, judging by the reviews, it was watched in one breath.

Actors and roles of the play "Mad Money" at the Pushkin Theater:

• Vasilkov - Ivan Urgant.
• Lydia - Alexandra Ursulyak.
• Cheboksarova - Vera Alentova.
• Telyatev - Viktor Verzhbitsky.
• Kuchumov - Vladimir Nikolenko.
• Glumov - Boris Dyachenko.

This performance was closed more than five years ago, and it is not yet known whether it will return to the stage, and if so, will it be in the same composition and form? But fortunately, the full version of the performance is not difficult to find and watch on the net. And below you can see a small trailer that was timed to coincide with the premiere.

At the St. Petersburg Comedy Theater

The premiere of the youngest version of the play took place in February 2018 - this version of "Mad Money" was staged at the St. Petersburg Akimov Comedy Theater. This version turned out not only very close to the original, even somewhat refined, but also incredibly beautiful - a fresh look at the costumes and appearance of the characters, continuously falling snow, a combination of blue and black in minimalist scenery - all this attracts even those whoI managed to see all the existing productions of "Mad Money" and is not ready to be surprised. The performance was directed by Tatyana Kazakova, who is the artistic director of this entire theater.

Perhaps, the female look at the play affected, but in this version it will not work at all to sympathize with Savva and Lydia: inside Vasilkov, the viewer will feel a tragic note of self-denial, and in Lydia - glimpses of a tender, albeit deeply hidden soul. Between the characters, in addition to a practical union, it will be possible to feel the emerging love. Thus, Kazakova decided to turn the comedy into a kind of melodrama. Beginning actors appeared in the roles, performing on a par with honored and even people's artists:

• Vasilkov - Alexander Matveev.
• Lydia - Daria Lyatetskaya.
• Elder Cheboksarova - Irina Mazurkevich/Natalia Shostak.
• Telyatev - Nikolai Smirnov.
• Kuchumov - Sergey Russkin.
• Glumov - Dmitry Lebedev.

The performance runs for exactly three hours, tickets cost from 500 to 2000 rubles. Theater address: St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt 56.

Screening

In 1981, the first and only feature film adaptation of the play "Mad Money" was released on the screens - if you do not take into account the version of 1978, since it, after all, is a performance, albeit shown on TV. The film was directed by Yevgeny Matveev, actor of the Malytheater, which did not happen to take part in the theatrical production of the play, although he always dreamed about it. The film somewhat distorts the main message of the original source, making Vasilkov and Lydia not bad by nature, but, as it were, victims of the bad influence of others. Thus, the agreement of the younger Cheboksarova to become a housekeeper in the house of Savva Genadyich's mother (according to the film) does not look here as an abnormal whim for a he althy family, but as a way of correction, without which neither Vasilkov nor Lydia can do. The film is interesting for the participation in it of such actors as Elena Solovey and Yuri Yakovlev. According to numerous reviews on the net, many moviegoers and lovers of Ostrovsky's work agree that the film is worth watching just for the sake of the brilliant performance of these outstanding artists. Roles performed by:

• Vasilkov - Alexander Mikhailov.
• Lydia - Lyudmila Nilskaya.
• Cheboksarova - Elena Solovey.
• Telyatev - Yuri Yakovlev.
• Kuchumov - Pavel Kadochnikov.
• Glumov - Vadim Spiridonov.

Similarities and differences in performances

Despite the fact that all the performances of "Mad Money" have a common plot, the difference between them is huge. Each director still adds to Ostrovsky's original source his personal feelings and visions of the characters, just as each actor presents his character in a different way. For example, in the modern production of the Maly Theater, some share of the audience's sympathy will still be on the account of Lydia and Vasilkov. The director did not make them completely hopeless, deducingfrom the younger Cheboksarova, in some way, the heroine of Dostoevsky - cold, prudent, but still not completely lost. And Vasilkov does not seem to be such a provincial fool at all, there are, as it were, sincere feelings in him. In this, the production is very similar to the version of the Petersburg Akimov Theater - there, too, the director decided not to make such heartless monsters out of the main characters, but at the same time he observed all the main details of the original text, seasoning them with a bit of sincere and beautiful romance.

A completely different situation with the play "Mad Money" at the Mayakovsky Theater - here the directors created not just a comedy, but an eccentric one, and the viewer can not even dream of positive qualities or justifying the actions of the characters. Perhaps this production is not as accurate as in the Maly Theater, but the main message of Ostrovsky was preserved, which was not going to justify his heroes, and even more so their heartless thirst for profit. The director of the version of the Pushkin Theater approached the performance from approximately the same position - he brought the humorous component of the play to the grotesque, exaggerating the greed and vices of all the characters.

In the Taganka Theatre, as mentioned above, the most fundamental difference is the change in the time in which the characters exist. Otherwise, the director stuck to the source, according to some viewers - more than everyone else.

The performance, which takes place at the Satire Theater, was reproduced according to an earlier production by Andrei Mironov - that is why this comedy is filled with lightsadness inherent in every theatrical work of this actor and director. Here, too, there is no justification for the greed of the heroes, however, watching their lives, one wants not to punish them with laughter, but to quietly and sincerely regret - for the inferiority of their views and life principles.

Viewer Reviews

Reviews about the performances of "Mad Money", staged in different theaters, are also different, respectively. Almost unanimously, the audience names the production of the Maly Theater as the most accurate, despite the fact that here the play turned from a comedy into a tragicomedy, if not even a drama. But still, without changing the traditions of earlier productions, directors Ivanov and Konyaev adhered to the exact sequence, and also kept all the lines and actions of the characters practically unchanged. The audience writes that they were incredibly delighted with watching this performance on the stage of the Maly.

But the reviews about the play "Mad Money" on the stage of the Mayakovsky Theater were divided. Most of the audience really liked the freshness of the presentation of the classic play, the brilliant presentation and humor. Those who left a negative review agreed that the performance turned out to be too long and drawn out.

About the performance staged at the Satire Theater, the most interesting are the reviews from those who managed to watch the original version of Mironov (and with Mironov). It's nice to realize that these viewers also liked the new version of "Mad Money" - they saw here the creative presence of Andrey Alexandrovich himself.

Audience reviews ofThe play "Mad Money" of the Taganka Theater is very controversial - someone was delighted with the director's idea to change the time period and call the production the best reading of the original source. Other spectators, on the contrary, were outraged by such big changes and were categorically dissatisfied with the performance.

The youngest, St. Petersburg production of the play "Mad Money" was also not deprived of reviews - the audience, in general, spoke very warmly about this version of the classic play. Well, those who were dissatisfied wrote that they did not like the excessive romanticization of the characters and the loss of depth of meaning behind the visual effects.