Ageless love story in the play "Games of the Lonely" Vakhtangov Theater

MOSCOW. On the small stage of the Vakhtangov Theater, the premiere of the play “Games of the Lonely” staged by director Mikhail Tsitrinyakov based on the play by the famous American author Neil Simon took place. The original play by Simon is called "Chapter Two", however, according to the director, since her text was more like a screenplay, he required a lot of alterations - they reduced something, added something. The result of this work was the original author’s version.

“The Games of the Lonely” is not the first work of Mikhail Tsitrynyak with the troupe of the Vakhtangov Theater, in his creative baggage there is already Medea, in which Julia Rutberg plays the main role. The play of the new premiere was also selected for a specific actress, Elena Sotnikova, who became the leading woman. Although the director is well acquainted with the actors of the theater, it was not easy to choose the cast of the production. The result was the appearance in the play of Olga Tumaykina, Andrei Ilyin and Andrei Zaretsky.

The plot of the play is a story familiar to many about the meeting of two mature, successful people with their own habits, their own life experiences. The complexity of these relations is compounded by the fact that both main characters are people of creative professions. She is an actress, he is a writer, each has his own creative ambitions.

Trying to forget the tragedies that happened in their life, two weeks after they met, they are married, but a month later it turns out that the euphoria of feelings at the meeting did not help to consciously find the compromises of life together. Even the angels that appeared in the play thanks to the director’s imagination are powerless in trying to save the relationship of the heroes. Only heroes themselves can save love if they can understand the need for tolerance for each other.

Ludmila Trautmane