For me, work on a play always begins with immersion. Immersion in the era, atmosphere, biographies, historical context - everything that can help create a living image and play a role not on stage, but inside yourself first of all. And when it comes to Vienna of the 20s, Art Nouveau and Gustav Klimt, needless to say, I was happy to work on it.
The script was written by Andrey Potseluev - subtly, boldly, and sometimes with irony. The love story of Klimt and Adele in his interpretation is not just a biography of the artist, but a living canvas of feelings.
The director of the play was Nikita Patuev – brave, modern, young, but with some amazing inner wisdom and an interesting director's view. He was not afraid to take risks and trusted the actors.
But the heart of this project is Lilia Ranevskaya. She didn’t just “organize the process.” She has an amazing talent for seeing people, as if she were molding them herself, and suddenly it turns out that everything is in its perfect place – the casting, the team, the rehearsals, the atmosphere. Lilia led us from the first reading, when we were still a little lost in the texts and looking for our heroes, to the bright premiere, where everyone was already shining like gold in Adele’s portrait.
Meanwhile, we, the actors, didn't just rehearse, we lived with this material before and after the rehearsal. My partner Andrei Zlobin, who played Klimt, endured all my improvisations, philosophical monologues in the dressing room, and slaps in the face during rehearsals. For this, he is eternally grateful.
Special thanks to Gogo Rushanyan, the artist who introduced us to Klimt's world not just as if we were in a museum hall, but as if we were visiting a friend. With him, we understood how one can not only draw, but breathe painting.
The love story of Klimt and Adele is complex, subtle, and, I dare to hope, recognizable. After all, who among us has not encountered crazy, inspiring and a little destructive love?.. Well, Adele too.
Adele is my heroine. And a little bit myself. That's why I jokingly called the play "My Dear Gustav Klimt" "My Beautiful Adele". And I love her with all my heart.
Thank you to everyone who was a part of this process! It was beautiful. It was talented.
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