Two Tagankas became one theater again - without Lyubimov and Gubenko

Angelica Zaozerskaya

The ironic critic Dmitry Savelyev, reacting to the announcement of the appointment of the director of the theater on Taganka, Irina Apeksimova, as the director of the neighboring theater of the Commonwealth of Taganka Actors, caught the essence of the event:

"Two Tagankas again under one roof - in any case, managerial: Irina Apeksimova Now director and friendly Taganka too . If this cultural theatrical stock in framework process back to the USSR , then further must , by idea , Moscow Art Theater and Moscow Art Theater back merge friend from friend", - suggested Dmitry Savelyev.

In fact, the two theaters, divided in 1993 into two completely independent and in no way similar, have one roof - a single building. Only earlier, before the death of Nikolay Gubenko, the founder and permanent head of the theater Commonwealth of Taganka Actors, his theater had the so-called "roof" - of the communists, and the Na Taganka theater had the roof of the democrats. Nikolai Gubenko fought with a great admirer of theatrical art Yuri Luzhkov, went through 27 courts (in his own words), endured all sorts of sanctions, non-payment, but thanks to his authority, including the post of the last Minister of Culture of the USSR, deputy chairman of the Moscow City Duma, not only kept, but and developed the theater in the direction that corresponded to his tastes and beliefs. I will note that the theater had its own audience and its own unique repertoire. Together with Nikolai Gubenko, they left Yuri Lyubimov - masters of theatrical art, and in terms of directing and acting, the Commonwealth of Taganka Actors Theater kept a high standard.

After Nikolay Gubenko left, the Taganka Actors' Theater showed the premiere - "The Career of Arturo Ui" staged by the famous German director Siegfried Kohn, and dedicated it to the memory of Nikolai Gubenko. Nikolay Nikolaevich, shortly before leaving, officially recommended to appoint the head of the theater - his like-minded person, an experienced actor and an experienced manager Vladimir Zaviktorin. Indeed, Zaviktorin remained in charge of the theater and, judging by the premieres, the atmosphere in the team, he coped well with this. Nikolay Gubenko has repeatedly said that he is categorically against the unification of the two Taganoks. He explained his opinion by “the discrepancy between aesthetic ideas about the theater, views on many values, and the past wars with Yuri Lyubimov”, which were far from fictional. Split theaters even formed the basis for the film "Children of bitches" by Leonid Filatov.

Irina Apeksimova became Acting director, and then director of the legendary Taganka Theater in the last week of Sergey Kapkov's leadership of the Department of Culture of the Moscow Government - in March 2015. The appointment of Apeksimova for the theater community came as a surprise. Even the most knowledgeable in such matters as the rector of the Moscow Art Theater School (at that time) Anatoly Smelyansky frankly told "VM":

"There is a secret in the appointment of Irina Apeksimova, which is unknown to me. She left the post of director of the theater Roman Viktyuk with a scandal, and suddenly she was chosen as the head of the theater on Taganka", - Anatoly Smelyansky commented.

For five years of managing the theater on Taganka, Irina Apeksimova went through numerous trials with actors, and her five-year plan was not without scandals. The last emergency with the participation of Irina Apeksimova was the call of the Rosgvardia detachment to the theater in October this year in order to force the viewer out of the building, who had not put on the mask incorrectly. As for the appointment of Apeksimova as the director of the Sodruzhestvo Taganka Actors Theater, it was dictated by economic considerations, as stated in plain text on the website of the Department of Culture of the city of Moscow:

Irina Apeksimova was appointed director of the theater "Commonwealth of Taganka Actors". She is also the head of the Taganka Theater.

“The decision of the City Department of Culture will allow to consolidate the management of two theater buildings, which were originally one whole,” says Irina Apeksimova. “Now it is possible to ensure efficient management of this unified theater complex with all its technical and administrative complexities. As for creative issues, the plans for the season in both theaters have already been approved".

You don't need to be a great specialist in theatrical management to calculate - it is more profitable and more effective to maintain a single institution than two independent ones. Inevitably there will be staff cuts and downsizing of the troupe. Nikolai Gubenko also understood this, which he openly spoke about in an interview when the Na Taganka Theater was being renovated:

"Yes, of course, it would be easier to repair one knowledge than two different ones. But the theater is not only walls, but also a stage, also a repertoire, and people, and they are different with us from the Taganka theater".

Over the 27 years of the theater's activity, the Commonwealth of Taganka Actors, one could understand that "it is more profitable to have one theater with one building than two different ones." But for some reason they understood this and took action only after the death of Nikolai Gubenko, who created his own theater. Both theaters were originally the most political theaters in the country - both in terms of repertoire politics and ideological orientation. The appointment of Irina Apeksimova as director of the Sodruzhestvo Actors Taganka theater suggests that "the communist party in Russia cannot do anything at all". The communists meekly gave up the beloved brainchild of their comrade Nikolai Gubenko, and this, of course, is a sign of the death of the Communist Party.

Information about the creation of the theater Commonwealth of Taganka Actors from the official website:

The history of the State Budgetary Institution of Culture of the city of Moscow "Theater" Commonwealth of Taganka Actors "is very dramatic.

Since its founding in 1993, the theater has struggled for 15 long years to survive in the absence of funding and a legal war for the right to be independent. The team won a victory in twenty-seven courts (two of them are the Supreme Arbitration Courts), but the case did not move from dead center for a long time.

However, the young creative organism, less than a year after its creation, proved its right to life with the triumphant premiere of Chekhov's "The Seagull" directed by Sergei Solovyov. Such masters as Nikolay Gubenko, Leonid Filatov, Natalia Sayko, Nina Shatskaya, Victoria Radunskaya were involved in the performance...

Now the theater's repertoire includes about 40 performances. These are musical and poetic compositions, continuing the best traditions of the old Taganka, and classical Russian and foreign drama, and plays by contemporary authors.