The Small Festival of Theatres “Christmas Candle” came to an end yesterday, on January 13. It was held in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve during a week. The event was opened with the children’s play “Father Frost and a Magic Mirror”. Little spectators and their parents liked the fairy story about the adventures in the residence of the winter magician that was presented by the Youth Fringe Theatre-Studio “Sonnet” (Vologda).
Artists of the Literary Theatre and soloists of the Cherepovets Philharmonic Society appeared on the scene in the evening of the same day. The music and poetic performance “Recollections of Christmas” included the verses of Alexander Pushkin, Boris Pasternak, Osip Mandelstam, and Joseph Brodsky. The poems and songs were intertwined with classical music. Even a person who was far from the classics could easily recognize all melodies that were associated with Christmas or New Year anyhow.
The Theatre studio “Tale” of the Sunday school in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery performed on January 8. First Father Superior of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Ignaty addressed all people in the conference hall and wished them a Merry Christmas. Then young actors presented the Russian folk tale “Father Frost”. Its colourful characters (it didn’t matter whether they were baddies and goodies) made spectators smile.
The burst of emotions was given by the performance of the Vologda Drama Chamber Theatre “It’s Me - Edith Piaf!”. The story of the world-famous French actress and singer presented in the one-man play really amazed the audience and even made people cry. The narration about the difficult fate of Édith Gassion (the real name of Piaf) was miraculously intertwined with her most popular songs, including “Non, je ne regrette rien”. Honoured Artist of Russian Irina Dzhapakova sang them and the spectators’ reaction confirmed the fact that it was a 100 percent hit. They gave her a standing ovation at the end of the performance.
The Folk Theatre “Candle” from Belozersk presented the play dedicated to the children born in wartime. It was written on the basis of recollections of local people. “History of A Blue Writing-Book” begins in the present, gradually gets to the past and then returns to the 21st century. The story about the kids living in the Belozersk Children’s Home is just an episode of the war. But it reflects the whole essence of that time! The 70th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War will be celebrated in 2015. The performance of the young actors from Belozersk became the first museum event in the new year marking this date.
The festival was concluded on the Old New Year’s Eve during the first work-week of the year. But it didn’t prevent local residents from spending some free time to the museum, especially, when the Kirillov Folk Theatre (headed by Lyudmila Grot) performed there. “My Darling” based on the play of Hungarian playwright Miklós Gyárfás is known in Russia under the title “Wake Up and Sing!”
This story is about an elderly couple, their son and his girlfriend, a neighbour and her niece who came to Budapest from the province. The subject is simple and full of funny situations. Spectators constantly laughed. The actors of the Kirillov Folk Theatre aren’t professional, but they excellently coped with the task. They presented good spirits to the people and received a standing ovation. This was the result of the final performance within the framework of the “Christmas Candle” Festival.
