“All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players”, said Jaques, character of William Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It”. In spite of this subtle remark, even in the 21st century, it is more customary for us, usual residents, to come there where it is absolutely clear – these are actors and these are spectators.
The playgoers of Vologda are rejoicing – the 12th International Theatrical Festival “Voices of History” has been opened. The Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve has first become one of its venues. It means that residents of Kirillov got a wonderful opportunity to see marvelous performances without leaving their native town.
William Shakespeare was mentioned at the beginning not by chance. Firstly, the year 2014 that is rich in different events is announced the Year of Shakespeare because it marks the 450th anniversary of the great classic’s birth. Secondly, the Vologda Drama Chamber Theatre presented the play “Shakespeare-Russkiy” in Kirillov on June 29. Many spectators could already understand what theatre director Jacob Rubin meant by this title.
The play “Shakespeare-Russkiy” was added to the repertoire of the Vologda Drama Chamber Theatre in the new season. Its first night took place in early June. They worked on this performance for over a month.
It is based on such plays of Shakespeare as “Romeo and Juliette”, “Hamlet”, “Macbeth”, “King Lear”, “Antony and Cleopatra”, and “Richard III”. But moreover, separate and the most famous scenes of these plays are intertwined with the fragments of the Russian writers’ works – Alexander Pushkin, Anton Chekhov and Nikolay Leskov. Regardless of the pessimistic suppositions, the performance is staged in such a way that spectators don’t lose the general idea of the narration. On the contrary, they find out suddenly that the English and Russian classics have much in common. This common can be found not only in the mentioning of Shakespeare in some cues, but also in the single spiritual source. Probably, this is the reason why people in Russia like the great master of drama so much.
Even if the residents of Kirillov thought whether they should go to see the play or not, they brushed all their doubts aside. The weather certainly favoured it. The day was sunny. There were even children among the spectators who watched the performance very attentively. It lasted for more than two hours without any breaks. The people gave a standing ovation to the actors, they had no doubts – Shakespeare was “russkiy” (that means Russian).
The next play will be presented in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve within the framework of the International Theatrical Festival “Voices of History” tomorrow, on June 1. Guests from the Perm Territory will visit Kirillov. The Berezniki Drama Theatre will stage the play 
“My Distance Carriage” based on the novel of Anatoly Pristavkin.
