THEY WHO SHALL ENDURE UNTO
THE END
Group of Russian
director Olga Malikova performed in the Alexander Theatre their musical drama
They Who Shall Endure to the End. The drama tells the story of the last Russian
imperial family and the name of the play refers to Matthew 24:13 “He that shall
endure unto the end, the same shall be saved”.
And we definitely got
a drama and a very Russian drama. The director herself, who had the speaking
role, screamed and kicked and cried throughout the tragic story of the last
Romanovs on the Russian throne. And changed clothes numerous times! Sometimes she was the teller of the story,
sometimes Alexandra, sometimes Mathilde Kschessinskaya.
The rest of the group
consisted of male singers (two tenors, a bass-baritone and a bass), who sang
songs that were somehow linked to the story. The tenors (Savveli Andrejev and
Andrei Timoševski) had some
difficulties in their solos but the other two singers did a lot better.
Especially Aleksandr Baškatov
had a really nice bas. The highlight of the performance was without doubt the
Song of the Volga Boatmen (trad.) sung as an ensemble to describe the hard life
of the Russian people. Really impressive!
As the tragic theme
required most of the scenes including the music were rather heartfelt with some
religious accents. However, the most hilarious moment was the scene where Mathilde
Kschessinskaya (at least I think it was supposed to be her) danced in Paris to
a pop theme wearing high heels and a black leotard. I must admit that
probably the whole row of seats shook when I giggled to the sight.
I don’t know if it was
due to bad marketing, but only the first six rows of the theatre were filled
with audience, which is a pity. Despite some slightly overly patriotic moments,
the story was definitely worth seeing and the singers worth hearing.
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