World of hobbies

Dmitry Skvortsov: "Thoughts about the stage have always accompanied me"

As you know, the Chamber Theater-Laboratory "Kvadrat" unites talented residents of Dubna. Creative activity here is more than a hobby, it becomes a profession. One of the leading actors of the theater is Dmitry Skvortsov that works as a technician at the Laboratory of High Energy Physics. The service to the theater has been going on for more than 10 years and today, Dmitry is involved in 22 performances. He has invested not only a lot of effort, time and talent in art, but also literally in the arrangement of the theater. The stage itself is made with his hands. On 4 June, Dmitry Skvortsov turned 50 years old. And we want to introduce the audience to Dmitry as a person whose life path is florid but brought to the stage and as an actor that has a deep understanding of his work.

Dmitry, you came to theatrical activity at the age of 39. And what did you do before?

"What will aunt say?", Kleber Carlier

"I've had a long journey. In 1992, I entered the Orekhovo-Zuevsky Pedagogical Institute. I really liked biology and I prepared a lot for entering the Institute. Later, I worked in the village as a school teacher of chemistry, biology and physical education. After some time, I changed my activities - I set up computers. I was the shift supervisor at the Michelin tire factory. I tried real estate, worked with the legal database for the Consultant Plus company... And in 2015, I was hired at JINR as a laboratory assistant. I made temperature sensors based on kilooma resistances with my own hands. I still work at JINR, currently, my specialty is listed as a technician.

How do you unite these two "roles": JINR employee and actor of the theater "Kvadrat"?

"My routine is very simple. Workweek 5/2. After the end of the working day, I have evening meal, afterwards, I go to the evening rehearsal that lasts several hours. Later, time to sleep and tomorrow again to work. Friday evening, after work, I play in a performance. On Saturday and Sunday, I play in two children's and two adult performances. Working at JINR gives me stability and the means to do my favorite theater. It feels like two kinds of work. In addition, there are no service personnel in our theater, we ourselves are engaged in arrangement, props, cleaning...

Your career story seems to miss the parental phrase: "First get a proper profession and afterwards, do what you wish." At what point in life did you realize that you wanted to be an actor?

- As a child, I was very struck by our Soviet film "Pinocchio". I was less than eight years old. I watched and thought - wow, the children are filming, playing and I also want it that way. And there was also "Eralash," where children played. I asked my dad how I could get into the cinema and he answered with a typical phrase: no way, because the actors have their own children that will be hired for this job. And that's it. Afterwards, I took part in two school performances. One of them was a parable about the fact that bread is the head of everything and I remember - I liked to go on stage. After that, thoughts about the scene always accompanied me. It's funny, but when the shows "Comedy Club" and "House 2" appeared on television, I thought about whether to use this chance to become an actor. I also thought about entering a theater university, but never got to that point.

Is there a play "Pinocchio" in the repertoire of the theater "Kvadrat"? It seems that this is a special material for you and the favorite fairy tale of quite a lot of preschool children...

- You guessed it, this performance really is in the plans. It is assumed that I will play the role of Karabas but I would also like to try the role of the cat Basilio. As a child, I liked Pinocchio himself, of course. I was surprised how he made makeup. His nose was so long but quite like the real thing. I also tried to glue such a nose and fastened a maple seed.

How did you become an actor of the theater-laboratory?

- In 2014, through friends, I was invited to try the theater - they said that people were needed for one performance and the director is now making a set. Of course, I was afraid, since I had never played seriously but here some kind of casting... I came with the words that I always felt craving for acting and would like to try. If I like it, then I am ready to study. If not, then I will take it calmly and with understanding. It was December, in the theater "Kvadrat", reading and rehearsals of the play "Khanuma" started. It all ended with that I was adopted. Over time, I got involved in theatrical business and already on 4 June, I celebrated my 40 years in the company of theatrical colleagues and the director, the wonderful Yuliana Kukarnikova.

Who makes up the troupe of the theater, how do new people appear in it?

- Theater participants are from schoolchildren to pensioners. For participation, the main thing is desire. The casting here is symbolic. Few stay, since everything goes free of charge, yet a lot of work and time must be invested.

What was your first role after you were accepted into the troupe?

- There is a whole story with unexpected turns. When they called for tests, they said that it was necessary to play some old man. It turned out that the play "Khanuma" is being staged. Before the distribution of roles, the director asked who we would like to play. I wrote: Kote (hero lover), Hakob is also a love hero, but older one. He also signed up for the prince. And she suddenly says: let's play grandmother Anush! I looked, there is little text, literally a few sentences, she appears on the stage a little. I think it's good to start. For outing. But then everything was replayed and I still got the role of Hakob. But the fact that I can play grandmother, everyone remembered. And later, the play "Baba Chanel" by Nikolay Kolyada appeared. We call it: "It was something". And there all the roles are female and one male. We usually do not have enough male actors but here it turned out that there was not enough grandmother during the distribution. Thus, I could not avoid the role of grandmother. And for 10 years now, I have been playing Kapitalina Petrovna.

"Khanuma", Hakob Gurgenovich

Having been accepted into the theater, did you start taking acting lessons?

- Everything related to acting skills has been given to us and is given by our director Yuliana Kukarnikova. Reading, sketches, working with diction, working with voice, getting into the image according to the Stanislavsky system...

What is your favorite role?

- Probably, these are several of my roles in large and mass performances. For example, the milkman Tevie in "Memorial prayer". I am very grateful to Juliana for giving it to me. She said that she immediately saw me in this role. Hakob in the play "Khanuma" that has long been our hallmark. Later came "Carnival in Verona, Carnival!" based on the Gorin play "The plague on both your houses", in which he described his vision of the continuation of the story of Romeo and Juliet after their deaths. The play opens with a scene at the funeral and more squabbles begin. This is a tragicomedy where I play Antonio Borozdin in the play "Eternally alive". But in general, for so many years of playing in various performances, all the heroes have become my favorite ones. I have invested a lot in these roles and on stage, you already feel like them to some extent. Sometimes, after the performance, on the one hand, I understand that I was on stage and on the other hand, I can't remember many things that I did there. They tell me, but I didn't even notice.

"Carnival in Verona, carnival!", Antonio Naples

What is most valuable to you in acting?

- Trying on the image of another person. I'll never be anything else, like a scoundrel duke or a lame adventurer. True, at first, it was hard for me to enter such images and grope for them, since in life, I am a modest and quiet person. But in the end, I managed and liked it. On stage, I feel satisfied that there is an opportunity to scroll through the life of my hero and to be with him.

Does the theater affect character and life?

- To some extent, yes. The theater helped me to cope with excessive modesty. Sometimes, in life situations, acting talent is very useful. The situation can be played or translated into a joke. I had a funny case once. Someone began to behave aggressively and defiantly. And I have a friend, a paratrooper, a big guy, you look at him and understand that if something happens, sorry, he will just "give it to the turnip". And I somehow adopted this image, took this self-confidence, intonation, said a couple of phrases and immediately reassured the person. I didn't even expect it myself.

It is always interesting to know the secrets of the profession. For example, how do you tune into a role, get involved in an image?

- You use your imagination as much as you can to imagine the surrounding circumstances that occur in the play. I also think over what the heroes have outside the play. Something that is not on stage. They had some kind of life up to this point. It helps a lot to get into character. If you manage to catch this state, then you no longer need to think about how you will walk, what gestures to make, it all appears in itself. Each time it will be different, yet each time, it will still be a gesture of this character.

Is there any ritual before going on stage?

"Yes, there is. We become in a circle, holding hands and director Yuliana says the opening remarks accompanying the upcoming performance. It helps to direct thoughts in the right direction. To switch and to understand that we are now, for example, not people, but animals in a fabulous forest. Then for a few minutes, we are just standing focused to disconnect from everything external and unnecessary and immerse ourselves in the performance.

Do you have a creative dream? Maybe a role or a play you want to do?

- At the very beginning of my acting career, there were such dreams of roles. Now, I look around and understand, a lot was out of stupidity, out of inexperience. But I never had this position: "oh, I won't play it". By and large, I have already played the roles that many artists do not even play in professional theaters. After all, in the theater, you can stay on the sidelines for a long time because the main roles are difficult to get. In this sense, I already have everything well and I have a lot of experience. More than 1,000 stage appearances. Therefore, my dream is very simple now. I want to come shortly before the start of the performance to the theater, to the stage, where the scenery, stage clothes, curtains have already been prepared. Take your costumes, make up, tune in to the role for five minutes, play, change clothes, make up and... go home straight away. By the age of 50, I began to feel tired of the additional work of preparing and cleaning the stage. And tribute should be paid to the new young actors that took some of this trouble off me.

Have you ever suggested your ideas for performances?

- Yes! And one of my creative ideas was realized. In the 1990s, I discovered the works of Daniil Kharms. He has one-sentence-long stories. The story "The Old woman" in volume is like an ordinary short story. And this brevity that is the sister of talent, struck me. When I read, it was so unusual, so interesting and funny that I did not understand how such things can be written! And now, being in the theater, I remembered this. I had the idea to read Kharms' stories from the stage with musical accompaniment. I invited our city bard Eldus Seyfulin to play music. I consulted with Yuliana, asked her to help making this performance beautiful and interesting. And today, we already stage a performance in which I appear as a stage designer. I shoveled the whole Kharms, picked up the works - it turned out four hours. Then we edited everything, put it together and made it more dynamic - about two hours. In the play, we have the text of Kharms and small biographical inserts, the memories of contemporaries about him.

What happens today in the life of the theater "Kvadrat", what are the plans and events?

- In summer, we leave for a short break. But rehearsals go on. In September, we will open the 8th theater season. Our repertoire already has 40 performances. And currently, we rehearse two more new comedies. One by the 18th-century author Goldoni would be called "The innkeeper". And the other is a Spanish comedy of situations, where a husband, a wife, a servant and a boyfriend are jealous of each other and think who is cheating on whom. Such a classic comedy plot. The title of the play is still working. And on 28-31 August, we will hold the fourth International Theater Festival "Bridge". Theater troupes from other cities come to our chamber stage with their performances. We have a special jury and a prize. In the year of the opening of the Dubna bridge, we launched our Festival. The "bridge" is a symbol of the connection between cities, creative visions and victories. Every year, we choose a new topic: "Half a century-long bridge", "Bridge to wonderland," "Bridge uniting hearts". And this year - "Victory bridge" dedicated to the anniversary of the great event. Our theater will open the Festival by showing the play "Forever alive" based on the play by the wonderful author Viktor Rozov. This performance is especially dear to me - it is important, relevant and interesting for any generation.

What advice or parting words would you give to people who just think or start to engage in acting?

- If there is a feeling that acting and theater is yours, then you should definitely try, otherwise, you will not know. Often in life it turns out that there is an opportunity but it is all postponed and postponed. I've been looking for myself for years. And it turns out that only by the age of 40 I found it. Sometimes, I regret that it's so late. I would have understood and felt it earlier. But I also think that fate still leads me and everything has its time. Who knows, maybe I would have come to the theater at the age of 20, then I would not have stayed. After all, you need to understand that going on stage is only the tip of the iceberg. And before that, there is a long work, rehearsals, memorization of the text. If this is a big role, then the volumes are large and there should be a certain motivation... When a person comes to play and he seems to want to, perhaps, the very first work with the text will scare him away. But gradually, everything will come back to its place.

Maria KARPOVA,
photo from Dmitry Skvortsov's archive