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"My granny loved the theatre. Small wonder - she was a dancer in her young days. Last time I could give her the pleasure of going to the theatre was in 1989 when Peter Brook brought his production of Chekov's "Cherry Orchard" to Moscow and gave several performances at the Taganka Theatre. I worked for the company as a translator. To be more exact, I translated for the technical stuff. That experience was extremely interesting. The Americans were really fantastic at work and communication. We lived like one family during that month - the Americans and us, the Russian stuff.
As for Brook's production there was an opinion it was not at all Chekovian. Indeed, it looked somewhat strange when at the very beginning of the show one could hear loud American speech followed by an appearance of a group of energetic Americans wearing costumes of the 19th с. Russian aristocracy. Ranevskaya (played by Natasha Pary, Peter Brook's wife) is lightly carrying a travel bag on one shoulder (I don't think that was the19th c. aristocratic style in Russia), someone drags a huge suite-case and all of them are artificially lively and talk in a brash American way. They rather looked like a group of disguised foreigners from "The Metropol Hotel" in Moscow before a may-ball. However, that production - quite unexpectedly - seemed to be just my granny's taste. My mother also liked a new approach to Chekov. "So dynamic, not boring at all, not dragged!" granny exclaimed after the show. I sighed with relief - I was afraid granny would not understand, would condemn such an interpretation of the famous play. But granny turned out to be a person free from banal cliches and obtrusive criticism. She actually had her own opinion of things anyway and it was pointless to even try to argue with her.
For me, however, the most important thing was to see her enjoy the show and the whole theatre "adventure", so to speak. Such an event was a rare going out during her last years - a lot of new impressions , "airing my brain" as she called it, although back in 1989 she still felt quite strong.
During the break both she and my mom were interviewed in the foyer. As granny rapturously told me later a foreign correspondent asked my mom whether they liked the performance, if the simultaneous interpretation was in the way and where my mom worked. My mom answered the last question evasively saying that she was a scientist. Which was, of course, true, but in fact, she worked for a scientific research institute and was not supposed to tell foreigners about it. The year of 1989 was the very beginning of perestoika when we were still afraid of everything. As for the first two questions they both said they were enjoying the performance very much, the simultaneous translation was not at all in the way, moreover the play was so well-known.
I sat with the American technicians at the very height of the theatre in front of a huge glass screen and translated: "Light cue 125... Stand-by... Go!" The best translators were chosen to work for the technical stuff while students interpreted for the actors. That was the decision of the Theatre Union. Quite a correct decision. For if a translator gives a piece of wrong information to the actors during their excursion around Moscow this will pass away smoothly, but if one gives a wrong command during the show and instead of a light cue the technician will give a black out that would be a disaster. From above I could see the whole stage and the house. Down there in the best seats of the pit stalls sat my mom and granny who was wearing her woolen scarlet cardigan pinned by a mother-of-pearls brooch in the form of an elegant leaf. I suddenly felt so great about their being there. All the translators and the technicians knew that my people were watching the show that night. "Now, where are they? Show us!" they kept asking me. I showed. Looking at their backs it was difficult to guess what they thought.
The Americans, however, seemed to be happy when I told them that my people liked the show - for them it was a real recognition if the Russians liked their performance. "And at our "Sovremennik Theatre" they're howling Chekov, just howling - so boring. Just a depression," granny commented later. That's how, unexpectedly for myself, I gave joy both to my mom and granny. I was so glad I had invited them. I don't remember whether I offered going to the Taganka myself or they asked me to take tickets. I think, it was granny who said she would like to come, I answered that the performance was equivocal, but granny said she would like to see it anyway, "insisted", as she used to say. But anyhow things worked out well that night and we were all glad and happy with the performance and each other."
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