Warsaw melody l zorin. Warsaw Melody

"Warsaw Melody". Theater on Malaya Bronnaya.
Stage director Sergei Golomazov, director Tatyana Marek,
artist Vera Nikolskaya

"Warsaw Melody". Maly Drama Theater - Theater of Europe.
Artistic director of the production Lev Dodin, director Sergei Shchipitsin,
artist Alexey Poray-Koshits (based on an idea by David Borovsky)

At the end of the 1960s, two iconic performances based on L. Zorin’s “Warsaw Melody” were staged - in Moscow the play was staged by Ruben Simonov with Mikhail Ulyanov and Yulia Borisova, in Leningrad - by Igor Vladimirov with Alisa Freundlich and Anatoly Semenov, who was eventually replaced by Anatoly Solonitsyn . Almost 40 years later, the “Warsaw Melody” appears again in each of the capitals. It is difficult to resist the temptation of their “paired” comparison. What were the performances of the Vakhtangov and Lensovet theaters like, what did the play, which passed the censorship with great difficulty, sound like back then and, finally, why and what is “The Warsaw Melody” being staged now?

Zorin's play appeared in a very difficult, ideologically uncertain time. In 1964, Taganka was born, and Evg.’s “Heirs of Stalin” was still popular. Yevtushenko, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Solzhenitsyn. But the unrest in Tbilisi had already passed, the counter-revolution in Hungary and revisionism in Poland had been suppressed. In 1966, Sinyavsky and Daniel were tried. Censorship control is noticeably tightening. “Woe from Wit” by G. Tovstonogov is published in a clearly truncated version. “The Death of Tarelkin” by P. Fomenko at the V. Mayakovsky Theater, “Profitable Place” at the Satire Theater, “Mystery-Buff” at the Leningrad City Council are being removed from the repertoire; Efros’s “Molière” and “Three Sisters” are having difficulty making their way onto the stage.

But Zorin is also essentially a dissident. He signs a letter in defense of Sinyavsky and Daniel, he is summoned to the party committee, they demand repentance. And he proves obvious truths, repeats that the place of the writer at the desk, and not in the camp, speaks of the royal tolerance towards Saltykov-Shchedrin. A little earlier, his “Dion” (“Roman Comedy”) was removed from the repertoire, “Seraphim” was banned, and before that “Deck”.

“Varshavyanka” suffered the same fate as the previous plays. She was stuck in Glavlit. According to rumors leaked from the depths of censorship, Zorin was supposed to abandon references to the law of 1947, which meant the actual murder of the play. And Ruben Simonov, who had already started rehearsals, repeated: “I’ll still show the performance, and then let them do what they want. I have firmly decided that I will leave the theater.”

On December 28, 1966, a screening took place in the empty hall of the Vakhtangov Theater. Two deputy ministers and their staff hosted the performance. Something unexpected happened - he made an impression. Only now they demanded to change the name “Varshavyanka”: “This is a revolutionary song.” In mid-January 1967, the visa was received. But permission to play “The Warsaw Melody”—that’s what “Varshavyanka” was now called—was given only to the Vakhtangov Theater. Simonov, Ulyanov and Borisova expressed sympathy for Zorin, but all three were overwhelmed with joy from the upcoming premiere. Only after the premiere of the Vakhtangov cast did the play receive a general “visa”. In 1968, 93 theaters staged it in the USSR.

Zorin created a play that unmistakably captures the slightest vibrations of time - social, political, the time of human life. In "Warsaw Melody" love is in a terrible and secret conspiracy with the history of the country, with the soulless and thoughtless state-machine. Who is to blame for an unfulfilled life? Victor, who did not carry love through the years, or a regime that spoils life? The way exactly the director and actors explain/justify the impossibility of Helena and Victor’s happiness is a “litmus test” that reveals the perception of the time in which this play is staged.

...The central part of the stage of the Vakhtangov Theater was occupied by a small square box of the conservatory. Two people listen to music. Gelena - Yulia Borisova, a clear-eyed blonde with curls on her forehead and a coquettishly braided braid on the top of her head, seems to have merged with Chopin’s music, her hands, her eyes are the sounds themselves. Victor just can’t sit down, fidgets, and every now and then turns to look at his charming neighbor. Simonov's performance was a waltz, in the sounds of which one could hear the fate of Chopin himself, who left Poland forever in the middle of his life.

The meeting of Helena and Victor in Warsaw became the climax scene. Victor looked into Gele’s eyes and suddenly turned away abruptly, burying his face in the lamppost and clasping his head in his hands. For Victor-Ulyanov, “no” to all Gelena’s requests is, although painful, the only possible answer.

In the finale of Simonov's performance there was no sadness for lost love. Viktor Ulyanova believed: everything is for the better. There is never enough time for anything in life, it is always filled with things to do - and that’s good. Little is written about the ending of this “Warsaw Melody” in reviews, as if the last meeting of Geli and Victor in Moscow never happened. But, as if by agreement, the reviewers talk about the feeling of “satisfaction” with which the audience left the theater. "R. Simonov staged a performance full of artistry and grace. Not for a second - even in the most dramatic moments - does the feeling of joy from art leave us,” wrote Pravda correspondent A. Afanasyev*. It seems that in this case we will have to look Pravda in the eye. The Vakhtangov performance was truly a celebration of theatrical art, joyful and pleasing.

“Warsaw Melody” became for Ruben Simonov what “Princess Turandot” was for Vakhtangov - a swan song. And hence the mind-blowing and inexplicable rapture of the theater. There could be no minor notes in this “Melody”. It was sung as a hymn to life.

“The Warsaw Melody” by Igor Vladimirov is, from beginning to end, the complete opposite of Simonov’s production, which saved the play. But, despite this, this performance was much more Zorinsky. Artist Anatoly Melkov designed “Warsaw Melody” as a documentary drama. The action took place against the backdrop of photographs of the Polish and Russian capitals and their inhabitants. On the sides of the stage are photographs of many times enlarged human faces...

For Geli - Alisa Freindlich, the auditorium seemed to not exist. There was a degree of frankness here that, by definition, cannot be trusted to everyone.

Gelya-Borisova is a proud Polish woman, expansive and graceful. Her role seemed improvised. Helena-Freundlich is harsh and mocking. She is not at all tempted by the brilliance of life. Critics wrote that Gelena-Borisova was born to be an artist. The poor student dress fit her like an outfit from a fashionable tailor. Helena-Freundlich became a real artist, overcoming a lot in herself. The actress played not only the fate of a woman, but also the fate of an artist.

In Vakhtangov’s performance there was no place for war or the horrors of fascism. In the St. Petersburg “Warsaw Melody” this theme is almost in the foreground. Gelya Borisova seemed to have forgotten about the occupation, while Freundlich only remembered it. She showed how gradually and difficult Gelya’s fear of life and distrust of the world are replaced by the coming, if not love, then faith in love. But still, mistrust could not disappear completely. “... Gelya does not believe in happiness all the time, and when she learns about the law of 1947... she is not surprised. It was as if her worst expectations had come true.”*

* Rassadin S. The call of unfulfilled love // Theater. 1967. No. 11. P. 18-19.

The monstrous law is not fate or an order requiring unconditional obedience, but a kind of emanation in reality of hidden spiritual anxieties. Freundlich in “Warsaw Melody” played the tragic clash of disbelief in the possibility of happiness with an insane thirst for it.

In 1972, a small article was published in one of the St. Petersburg newspapers about the new performer of the role of Victor (before that he was played by A. Semenov). The introduction of Anatoly Solonitsyn changed a lot in the performance. Viktor now also expressed deep bitterness, the dull pain of loneliness. But still, in the finale of the Vladimirov performance, people who once loved each other so much could not overcome their disunity.

Theaters caught Zorin's “subconscious”: Simonov told a bright love story, the reason for the extinction of which is not in state decrees, but in the laws of life itself; Freundlich played Zorin's theme of distrust of happiness, largely turning a blind eye to what was then the main thing for the playwright - in the year forty-seven. Both theaters transferred censored political themes into the human “register”, at first glance going “across” the play, violating all its logic. In fact, they expressed the essence of the “Warsaw Melody”.

Almost forty years later, “Warsaw Melody” is staged in Moscow by Sergei Golomazov (2009), and in St. Petersburg by Lev Dodin (2007). It is noteworthy that both masters are artistic directors of productions. The directors, taking their first steps in the profession, are Tatyana Marek (Moscow) and Sergey Shchipitsin (St. Petersburg). And therefore, in both performances, both a rigid stage frame and youthful spontaneity are visible at the same time.

The melodies of love between Gelena and Victor in both performances strive not only to appear in sound, but to materialize themselves in space: on the back stage of Malaya Bronnaya, a family of “various caliber” strings froze in a row - from violins to cellos (artist Vera Nikolskaya). Unexpectedly, boldly and ominously, organ pipes are lowered from the grates and hang over the stage like a ridge of gutters - a recognizable image of the conservatory. But these are rather external, too obvious attributes of music. The main metaphor of “The Warsaw Melody”, inextricably linked with all the fateful moments in the lives of the heroes, are elastic threads that are at first completely invisible, but at the slightest touch come to life, from which, it turns out, the planes of the walls are “woven”. And right there, “inside” this philharmonic space there is another, “home” space - Helena’s room. All furniture has been discolored by time to a pale gray tone.

He is in military uniform, she is in a simple gray dress. They listen to Chopin together with the audience. This “Warsaw Melody” is about what can be heard in music or silence, about what is beyond words. And these moments of silence become almost the very “speaking” parts of the play. It seems that it takes an unforgivably long time for Gelya to put on her shoes, and the orchestra takes an unforgivably long time to play. Sergei Golomazov is not afraid of losing the audience’s attention; on the contrary, he fills seemingly static scenes with internal content and special theatrical energy. And therefore, not only Victor, but the entire audience for almost a minute of stage time cannot take their eyes off Gelya’s boots.

The main part of this “Melody” was given to Gela - Yulia Peresild. And that’s why the first title of Zorin’s play, “Varshavyanka,” suits the performance better.

Gelena-Peresild - with a European “ice” in her voice and manner of communication. She is older, wiser and at first even seems more cynical than Victor - Daniil Strakhov. But how happy he is with the gift! “What shoes!” - with a bizarre ending, Peresild strengthens the already noticeable Polish accent of Zorin’s heroine.

It's no secret that in the theater the same word can sound differently and mean different things. Yulia Borisova and Alisa Freindlich each colored the delight in the scene with the gift with their own colors. And if Gelya-Borisova, having received a gift, exclaimed “What shoes!” and in these words, as the critics wrote, one could hear “What love!”, then Gelya-Freundlich was happy with the shoes, for her it was an unprecedented luxury. You can hear the intonation of Alisa Brunovna in Yulia Peresild’s voice. Looking ahead, let's say that the intonation of the Polish Urszula Magdalena Malka in the MDT performance is also similar.

1947 Law prohibiting marriage with foreigners. Victor “couldn’t think of anything.” Meeting in Warsaw ten years later. On the empty stage there are only those strings that were in the back at the beginning of the performance. The feelings are still alive and for both of them they are corroding and burning everything from the inside. From the Warsaw date to Geli’s concert in Moscow - again ten years. She is at the makeup table, with her back to Victor, in profile to the audience, hastily applying makeup, changing outfits, one more extravagant than the other. Although he is wearing a tie, he wears a home jumper instead of a jacket. She is arrogant and cold with a completely different cold - the cold of an unforgiven insult. Victor sits down with the audience in the front row and listens to Geli’s song with us.

“Life does not console, but trims,” Zorin writes in his “Green Notebooks.” It is important for Golomazov that Viktor Strakhova does not become rude over the years and does not lose his spiritual subtlety. In Viktor-Strakhov there is no internal resistance either to time or to the Soviet regime, just as there is no humility in him with the “proposed circumstances.” He plays a man who accepted the time in which he had to live as a given. And that’s why love was reborn into the bitterness of the inability to change anything. And the pain never goes away.

The scenography of MDT (artist - Alexey Poray-Koshits, using the idea of David Borovsky) is also based on a musical theme: a music book, in which the staff is the lowered rows of bars, and the notes are music stands with scores attached to them. The heroes sit on the bars and also become notes.

Victor - Danila Kozlovsky, like Irina from Dodin’s Three Sisters, at the beginning of the performance - contrary to the text of the play - has no joy. Where does it come from? The war ended only a year and a half ago. Geli doesn’t have it either. Listening to Chopin, she cries for her Poland and misses it very much. Caking, with a haunted look. There is no coquetry in her, no excitement of seduction. A timid sparrow, she is not afraid of not being liked, and she doesn’t need it at all. There is not even naturalness in it. She is tense and wary all the time. Defends itself in the form of an attack. But there is a lot of rationality in it. She undertakes to direct the course of development of relations. And only when he sings a song does he relax, smile, and believe in happiness.

Time in the play is compressed. There is not even a light cut-off between meetings.

Date in 10 years. Both are reserved. Both have matured. But not from time, but from an unfulfilling life. Gelya-Malka has already stopped being afraid of life, but love is still alive and burning. Now Victor, a Soviet man, is afraid. His fear turns out to be stronger than his love. The canvas slowly creeps up, chairs and music stands fall helplessly. Only now, and not at all in the year of the ban on marriages with foreigners, everything is over between them.

After a performance in Moscow, Gelya bows painfully, as if she is about to fall. I'm dead tired. But not because of the crazy tour schedule, but because of the meaninglessness of life. She hasn't forgiven, but she loves. And he too. And it seems: Victor will come to her at the Warsaw Hotel. But no, he still finds the strength to tear the piece of paper with the number.

The anguish on Gele’s face does not disappear throughout the entire performance. The memory of the war and its horrors, distrust of life is a constant in St. Petersburg’s “Warsaw Melodies.” Moscow Geli are beautiful seductresses full of desire to live.

The current “Melodies” have much more similarities than differences. Just as the Moscow and Leningrad performances of the 60s are strikingly different, the performances of the 2000s are so close in philosophy and spirit. It is curious and symptomatic that the endings of current performances are decided in the same vein. Both in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Victor and Gelya, again dressed in the clothes of their youth, excited and happy, are waiting at the conservatory for the start of the concert...

At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, Zorin’s play breathed documentaryism. The events in question were too close. At the beginning of the 21st century, the theme of man and the state turns out to be a side party, sounds like an accompaniment that creates an entourage. Today “The Warsaw Melody” is a poignant, timeless and spaceless story with a sentimentally touching ending to destinies. There was no happiness in life, but there was lifelong love.

Moscow. December 1946 Evening. Great Hall of the Conservatory. Victor sits down in the empty seat next to the girl. The girl tells him that the place is occupied because she came with a friend. However, Victor shows her his ticket and describes the girl who sold him this ticket. In her, Gelya - that’s the girl’s name - recognizes her friend. During intermission, it turns out that Victor is here for the first time. He is trying to find out where Gelya came from - she speaks Russian with errors and with an accent that reveals her as a foreigner. Victor thinks that she is from the Baltic states, but it turns out that she is from Poland. He and his friend study at the conservatory. She is a singer. Gelya is angry that her friend chose a walk with a young man over a concert.

After the concert, Victor accompanies Gelya to her dorm. On the way, Gelya tells Victor about herself. Her father taught her Russian. Victor talks about his life. He is studying to become a technologist: he will create wines. He reads Omar Khayyam's poems to her. Victor wants to meet her again and makes an appointment.

Negotiation point. The hall is empty, Gelya is about to talk to Warsaw. While they are waiting for her turn, she tells Victor how she was sick for two days, how she was treated with tea with raspberries. Finally, Gele is given a cabin. When she returns, Victor wants to know who she was talking to, but Gelya laughs, going through the names of different young people out loud. It's almost midnight. Gelya wants Victor to accompany her to the dorm. But Victor doesn’t even think about parting with her and asks for tea.

Museum. Victor brings Gelya here because they have nowhere else to go: he himself is not a Muscovite. Gelya tells him about the Polish city of Wawel. The Polish Queen Jadwiga is buried there. She was the patroness of the university in Krakow, and all students still write notes to her asking her to help pass an exam or make studying easier. Gelya herself also wrote to her. So, while talking, Gelya and Victor walk around the museum, sometimes go behind the statues and kiss.

Dormitory room. Gelya, wearing a dressing gown, styles her hair in front of the mirror. Victor enters. Gelya scolds him that he came late: this way they might not be able to make it to their friends for the meeting of the New Year. Victor brought her a gift - new shoes. Gelya in return gives him a new tie and leaves for a few minutes to put on a dress. When Gelya returns, she sees that Victor is sleeping. Gelya steps aside and turns off the big light. Then he sits down opposite Victor and looks at him carefully. Silence. The clock slowly begins to strike. Twelve. Then, after a while, an hour. Gelya continues to sit in the same position. Victor opens his eyes. Gelya congratulates him on the New Year. Victor asks her forgiveness for sleeping through everything. It turns out that he unloaded the cars to earn Gele a gift. Gelya is not angry with him. They drink wine, listen to music, dance. Then Gelya sings an old cheerful song to Victor in Polish. Victor tells her that he dreams of her marrying him. He wants to make her happy so that she will never be afraid of anything...

Same room. Gelya stands at the window with her back to the door. Victor enters. They have been living at the camp site for ten days now, because Gelya decided that they needed to get used to each other. Victor returned from the tasting. He is cheerful and again talks to Gelya about marriage. Gelya is cold with him. She tells him the news: a new law has been issued prohibiting marriages with foreigners. Victor promises the crying Gela to come up with something so that they can be together. However, he still fails to come up with anything. Soon he is transferred to Krasnodar, where he has no news about Gel.

Ten years pass. Victor arrives in Warsaw. He calls Gelya and arranges a meeting. Victor says that he came to his colleagues, that he became a scientist, and defended his dissertation. Gelya congratulates him and invites him to a small restaurant where her friend Julek Stadtler is singing. From there you can see the whole of Warsaw. While talking in a restaurant, Victor says that he is married. Gelya is also married. Her husband is a music critic. Stadtler notices Helena and asks her to sing. She goes on stage and sings the song she sang to Victor ten years ago - on New Year's Eve. When she returns, she tells Victor that when she comes to Wawel, she always writes notes to Queen Jadwiga so that she will return Victor to her. Victor tells her that he remembers everything.

Street. Flashlight. Gelya accompanies Victor to the hotel. He needs to leave, but Gelya won’t let him in, saying that he must understand: if he leaves now, they will never see each other again. She calls Victor to Sochaczew - it’s not far away. Victor will return tomorrow. But he does not agree, asks her to understand that he is not alone here and cannot leave like this, for the whole night. Helena reminds him that he once laughed that she was constantly afraid of everything. Victor replies: this is how life turned out. Gelena says that she understands everything and leaves.

Another ten years pass. At the beginning of May, Victor arrives in Moscow and goes to a concert in which Gelya participates. During intermission, he comes to see her in the artistic room. She greets him calmly, even rejoices at his arrival. Victor says that everything is going well for him, now he is a Doctor of Science. He is in Moscow on a business trip. And he separated from his wife. Helena says he is a hero. She herself also broke up with her husband and even with her second one. Her friend Julek Stadtler died. She says that life moves forward, that everything has its own meaning: in the end, she became a good singer. He notices that now young people are even marrying foreigners. Then she realizes that she hasn’t rested at all, and the intermission is ending soon. She asks Victor not to forget and call her. Victor apologizes for disturbing her and promises to call. They say goodbye.

Please note that the summary of “Warsaw Melody” does not reflect the full picture of events and characteristics of the characters. We recommend that you read the full version of the work.

“The main thing is the theme of doom. Love is doomed, because the state will be able to trample you with its steamroller. And, having done its work, it contentedly rubs its hands over your ashes and over the ashes of your feelings. And two people, when they finally meet, can connect. But there’s nothing left to connect with,” Leonid Zorin said in an interview. He wrote “Warsaw Melody” in 1966, returning the action to the end of 1946 and from there stretching the thread to the thaw year of 1956 and to the stagnant year of 1966. The story about the love of a Polish girl, a student at the conservatory, Helena, and Victor, a future winemaker who went through the war, develops from the moment when the feeling is just emerging - through the years, when not it died, but something most important had already burned out and became impossible. Whether for external reasons, due to the fault of the 1947 decree banning marriages with foreigners, or due to the internal indecisiveness of the hero, who returned victorious from the war and did not dare to fight for his personal future. Strength, weakness, love, courage, masculinity, will, lack of will - their meanings and shades weave the psychological outline of the play.

She had every chance to remain lying on the table. In the USSR, they fought with all their might against dissidents, and the eye of censorship sleeplessly watched creative life. Zorin’s first play, “Youth,” was staged immediately in 1949 (at the Maly Theater). But already in 1954, “Guests” was banned and deleted from the repertoire, and in 1965, the work “Roman Comedy (Dion).

Ruben Simonov began rehearsing “Varshavyanka” (as Zorin called it) at the Theater. Vakhtangov with Yulia Borisova and Mikhail Ulyanov, actors who are no longer young - but he sensed in them the opportunity to make an accurate portrayal of these roles. However, the censors did not want to publish the play, demanding that one of the main things be removed from the text - the notorious Stalinist decree. Having attended one of the rehearsals, the officials relented, although they did not deviate from the name - as a result, the politically charged “Varshavyanka” became “Warsaw Melody”. The premiere was played on January 30, 1967 (artist - E. Stenberg, conductor - R. Arkhangelsky, works by Chopin performed by B. Davidovich), and two years later a teleplay appeared.

“Warsaw Melody” turned out to be the last directorial gesture of R. Simonov. In 1967 “For staging plays of classical and modern drama at the Theater. E. B. Vakhtangov" he will be given the Lenin Prize. At the end of 1968 he will be gone. Arriving at Vakhtangov's studio in 1920, from 1939 he was the artistic director of the theater, which he served until his death. “Warsaw Melody” is called his swan song, like Vakhtangov’s “Princess Turandot”.

“This last work became, as it were, the creative testament of Ruben Nikolaevich. He looked with loving eyes at Yulia Borisova... laughed infectiously if we had some kind of scene. One rehearsal, which suddenly went improvisationally uninhibited, the scene in the museum, when Victor, in love with the lovely Gelya, thinks not about museum rarities, but about how to kiss her, he literally burst out laughing. The happiness of creativity intoxicated him... In terms of grace and elegance... it was a truly Vakhtangov performance,” Ulyanov recalled in the book “I Work as an Actor.”

Ulyanov played with Borisova many times - in “Antony and Cleopatra”, in “The Idiot”, in “Cavalry”, in “Irkutsk History”, but “Warsaw Melody” remained one of their most memorable works. After the Vakhtangovites at the Theater. Lensovet proposed an option with a different intonation by I. Vladimirov with A. Freundlich and A. Semenov (and then with A. Solonitsyn). “There was no place for war or the horrors of fascism in Vakhtangov’s performance. In the St. Petersburg “Warsaw Melody” this theme is almost in the foreground. Gelya Borisova seemed to have forgotten about the occupation, while Freundlich only remembered it. She showed how gradually and difficult Gelya’s fear of life and distrust of the world are replaced by the coming, if not love, then faith in love,” writes Anastasia Arefieva (St. Petersburg Theater Journal, No. 3 (65)/2011).

Zorin's play is fertile dramatic material, although here it is especially important to find actors who can not lose emotion and the right tone, remaining together on stage throughout the entire action. It was staged all over the country and all over the world, not just in Paris or New York - even in Havana. But all productions will be compared with the one by Vakhtangov.

In 1998, V. Andreev released at the Theater. M.N. Ermolova’s “Crossroads”, playing with E. Bystritskaya (later T. Shmyga began to play) the continuation of “Warsaw Melody” written by Zorin, where He and She were given another opportunity to meet in their declining years. Recently, new versions of the “Warsaw Melody” itself have appeared in both capitals. In 2007, at the MDT, it was “sung” by L. Dodin (Gelena was played by U. Malka, Victor by D. Kozlovsky). And in 2009, at the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, S. Golomazov - with Y. Peresild and D. Strakhov. This is a repeating refrain of history from different times. What did Gelya say? “How many people live with me at the same time. And I will never recognize them. Always and everywhere there are borders, borders... Borders of time, borders of space, borders of states. The limits of our strength. Only our hopes have no limits.”

Leonid ZORIN

WARSAW MELODY

Lyrical drama in two acts

ACT ONE

Before the lights come on and the action begins, we hear Victor's voice, slightly altered by the recording:

In Moscow, in 1946, December was soft and fluffy. The air was fresh, crisp on the teeth. In the evenings the streets were noisy; people must have been staying at home. In any case, I couldn’t sit still. And there were many like me.

Light. Great Hall of the Conservatory. Somewhere high, near the barrier, sits Gelya. Victor appears and sits down next to him.

GEL(the soft accent gives her intonation some carelessness). Young man, the seat is busy.

VICTOR. So how is it - busy? Who dared to occupy it?

GEL. My friend will sit here.

VICTOR. Your friend won't sit here.

GEL. Young man, this is impolite. Don't you think so?

VICTOR. No, I don't find it. I have a ticket. This row and this place.

GEL. Oh, it’s probably there... (Gesture down.)

VICTOR. Of course - there... Right here.

GEL. But this is an anecdote, a comedy. I got the tickets myself.

VICTOR. I got it myself too. (Hands her the ticket.) Look.

GEL(looks). Did you buy it on hand?

VICTOR. Do you mean by hand?

GEL. Oh, please - let it get away with it. A brunette in a red coat?

VICTOR. Now everything is correct. Wonderful girl.

GEL. Don't praise her, please. I don't want to hear about her.

VICTOR. Something apparently happened. She was in a terrible hurry.

GEL. So-so. I know where she was hurrying.

VICTOR. And everyone around is asking for a ticket. Can you imagine how lucky this is?

GEL(casually). Do you often visit the conservatory?

VICTOR. First time. And what?

GEL. Oh nothing...

VICTOR. I’m walking and I see a crowd on the block. So, the matter is worthwhile, everything is clear. I rush to the cash register - horns, it's closed. The administrator dismissed me. What the hell, I think, so that I don’t break through? This has never happened before. And here is this one of yours, in a red coat... What will happen today?

GEL. If you don't mind, there will be Chopin.

The sound of applause.

VICTOR. Chopin is Chopin. Do you have a program?

GEL. Please be quiet. Now we must be quiet.

The light goes out. Music.

The lights flash again during the intermission between the first and second sections.

GEL. Why don't you go to the lobby? You can walk there.

VICTOR(not right away) . I don't want something. Noise, crush...

GEL. Don't you like noise?

VICTOR. It depends - when. Not now.

GEL. Do you love music?

VICTOR. It turns out I love it.

GEL. It was worth coming to make such a discovery.

VICTOR. It's stupid that I didn't come here. Honestly.

GEL. Oh, I believe you without a word of honor.

VICTOR. Are you from the Baltic states?

GEL. No, not from the Baltic states.

VICTOR. But you are not Russian.

GEL. I'm a rich lady on a tour around the world.

VICTOR. Is your friend in the red coat also traveling around the world?

GEL. My friend... Let's not talk about my friend. She is a frivolous creature.

VICTOR. Still, tell me, where are you from?

GEL. Don't believe that I'm a rich lady?

VICTOR. Don't know. I've never seen them.

GEL. I am from fraternal Poland.

VICTOR. This is what it looks like. I thought that you were not ours... That is, I wanted to say - not Soviet. That is, I wanted to say something else...

GEL. I understand what you mean.

calls. The intermission ends.

VICTOR. What are you doing with us?

GEL. I'm learning from you.

VICTOR. In what sense?

GEL. At the conservatory, if you don't mind. And my friend studies there too. But she is yours... That is, I wanted to say - Soviet... That is, I want to say, we live in the same hostel.

VICTOR. Thanks I got it.

GEL. In the same society and in the same dormitory. She is also a future musician. And meanwhile I sold my ticket.

VICTOR. There's probably a big discount for you. I didn't even think about it - pretty cheap.

GEL. It was still not enough for her to be, like this... a little speculative. It’s enough that she decided to go listen to the young man and not Chopin.

VICTOR. In the end, she can be understood.

GEL. Does Pan think so? I despise her.

VICTOR. The young man is also not lying around on every corner.

GEL. I don't know where he is, but he's a boring young man. He doesn't like music and that's what makes him different from you. Poor Asya has a constant conflict. Love and Duty. Love and Business. An absolutely terrible situation.

VICTOR. I'm not mad at him. He's the reason I'm here.

At the bus stop, Victor looks at his watch. Gelya appears. Victor tells her that he was afraid she wouldn't come. He doesn't know where to go. Gelya likes that he is frank and that he has character. Advises him to understand: every woman is a queen. Negotiation point. The hall is empty, Gelya is about to talk to Warsaw. While they are waiting for her turn, she tells Victor how she was sick for two days, how she was treated with tea with raspberries. Finally, Gele is given a cabin. When she returns, Victor wants to know who she was talking to, but Gelya laughs, going through the names of different young people out loud. It's almost midnight. Gelya wants Victor to accompany her to the dorm. But Victor doesn’t even think about parting with her and asks for tea.

Dormitory room. Gelya, wearing a dressing gown, styles her hair in front of the mirror. Victor enters. Gelya scolds him that he came late: this way they might not be able to make it to their friends for the New Year. Victor brought her a gift - new shoes. Gelya in return gives him a new tie and leaves for a few minutes to put on a dress. When Gelya returns, she sees that Victor is sleeping. Gelya steps aside and turns off the big light. Then he sits down opposite Victor and looks at him carefully. Silence. The clock slowly begins to strike. Twelve. Then, after a while, an hour. Gelya continues to sit in the same position. Victor opens his eyes. Gelya congratulates him on the New Year. Victor asks her forgiveness for sleeping through everything. It turns out that he unloaded the cars to earn Gele a gift. Gelya is not angry with him. They drink wine, listen to music, dance. Then Gelya sings an old cheerful song to Victor in Polish. Victor tells her that he dreams of her marrying him. He wants to make her happy so that she will never be afraid of anything...

Ten years pass. Victor arrives in Warsaw. He calls Gelya and arranges a meeting. Victor says that he came to his colleagues, that he became a scientist, and defended his dissertation. Gelya congratulates him and invites him to a small restaurant where her friend Julek Stadtler is singing. From there you can see the whole of Warsaw. While talking in a restaurant, Victor says that he is married. Gelya is also married. Her husband is a music critic. Stadtler notices Helena and asks her to sing. She goes on stage and sings the song she sang to Victor ten years ago - on New Year’s Eve. When she returns, she tells Victor that when she comes to Wawel, she always writes notes to Queen Jadwiga so that she will return Victor to her. Victor tells her that he remembers everything.

Another ten years pass. At the beginning of May, Victor arrives in Moscow and goes to a concert in which Gelya participates. During intermission, he comes to see her in the artistic room. She greets him calmly, even rejoices at his arrival. Victor says that everything is going well for him, now he is a Doctor of Science. He is in Moscow on a business trip. And he separated from his wife. Helena says that he is a hero. She herself also broke up with her husband and even with her second one. Her friend Julek Stadtler died. She says that life moves forward, that everything has its own meaning: in the end, she became a good singer. He notices that now young people are even marrying foreigners. Then she realizes that she hasn’t rested at all, and the intermission is ending soon. She asks Victor not to forget and call her. Victor apologizes for disturbing her and promises to call. They say goodbye.

Option 2

The year was 1946. In the hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Victor sits next to the girl. The place is busy, she assures, a friend will come. But Victor describes the girl who sold him the ticket. During the intermission, Victor wants to find out where Gelya came from - she has a foreign accent. She is from Poland and studies at the conservatory. Gelya is angry that her friend preferred a walk with a young man to a concert.

Victor accompanies Gelya to the hostel. Gelya says that her father taught her Russian. Victor talks about himself: he is studying to become a wine technologist, reads Khayyam’s poems and makes an appointment. The empty hall of the meeting room, Gelya wants to talk with Warsaw. They wait, and she tells Victor that she was sick and was treated with raspberry tea. Gela is given a cabin. Victor wants to know who she was talking to. The girl laughs, listing the names of the young people. It's almost midnight, but Victor asks for tea.

Museum. The girl tells Victor about Wawel, the city where Queen Jadwiga is buried. She was the patroness of the university, and students still write notes to her to pass the exam. Gelya also wrote. They walk around the museum, hiding behind statues, kissing.

Dormitory. Gelya does her hair while waiting for Victor. He is late. They may not have time to meet their friends for the New Year. Victor brought shoes as a gift. Gelya gives him a tie and leaves for a minute. When he returns, Victor is asleep. Gelya turns off the big light and sits down opposite. The clock strikes twelve, then one. Victor opened his eyes and, having understood everything, asks for forgiveness. He unloaded the cars, earning money for a gift. The girl is not angry, they drink wine and dance. The heroine sings a cheerful old Polish song. Victor dreams that she would marry him, not be afraid of anything and be happy. Soon Gelya tells the news: according to the new law, marriages with foreigners are prohibited. The young man promises to come up with something, but he fails. He leaves for Krasnodar.

10 years have passed. Victor in Warsaw. He meets with Gelena, says that he became a scientist and defended his dissertation. They are sitting in a restaurant from where the whole of Warsaw is visible. Victor says he is married. And she's married to a music critic. Helena is asked to sing. She sings the song she sang 10 years ago on New Year's Eve. Arriving in Wawel, she writes a note to Queen Jadwiga to bring Victor back. And he also remembers everything, but he needs to go. He doesn’t let him in, saying: you’ll leave now and you’ll never meet them again. He’s calling me to Sochaczew – it’s nearby. He'll be back in the morning. But he can’t.” She recalls how he laughed at her fears. This is how life turned out - was the answer. Helena understood everything and left.

Another 10 years later they met in Moscow at her concert. During intermission, Victor came to see her. She is calm, even happy to come. Everything is going well for him, he is a Doctor of Science. Business trip. I separated from my wife. Helena also broke up with one husband and a second one. She's a good singer. Suddenly he notices that they are now marrying foreigners. He comes to his senses and says goodbye to Victor. He apologizes: he said he disturbed me. He promises to call.

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Summary of Warsaw Melody Zorin