London is preparing to welcome one of the most beloved actresses of the Russian-speaking world — Liya Akhedzhakova, who will appear on stage as Esfir, a seamstress and grandmother, in the play My Grandson Benjamin, brought to London by Bird and Carrot Production on May 13 and 14.
The director of the production is Marfa Horvitz, a student of Sergey Zhenovach. Akhedzhakova’s stage partners include actress Alexandra Islentyeva, formerly with the Alexandrinsky Theatre and the Hermitage, as well as rising talents Olga Grudyaeva and Gleb Romashevsky. Ahead of the tour, Liya Medzhidovna shared her thoughts on theatre and life — what emerged was a true actor’s monologue.
The world today is such that even the name of a journalist and their “activity” has become a crucial part of any interview. As the saying goes, “what’s written with a pen can’t be chopped away with an axe,” so it’s become dangerous to ask questions — and to answer them sincerely. Even the names of a director, a playwright, or an actor can say a lot now. Times are like that — but really, they always have been: through any role or production, the creator’s soul shines through.
We chose a play by Lyudmila Ulitskaya, and the director of the production is Marfa Horvitz. In Tel Aviv, we saw her staging of The Square, a play by Dmitry Krestyankin. It was stunning! Maxim Vitorgan — he seemed to embody an entire generation: powerful, honest, open. Another production I can mention is Cabaret at the Theatre of Nations, directed by Evgeny Pisarev — a masterpiece! Thematically, in terms of execution, and musically. The actors understand, feel the material and the message through their own experience of the times, through their own pain… and their own silence.
Absolutely — the material is incredibly important! Right now, working with Boris Pavlovich, a student of Andrey Moguchy, we’ve created a play based on the novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, the 2018 Nobel laureate. I’m endlessly grateful for the role I was honored to play. I could never have opened my soul to the audience as I have through my dear Pani Dusheika.
Is material important for an actor? It’s the only thing that matters if we want theatre to survive in difficult times—when it seems like there’s no room for theatre. No, there’s no room for dead theatre. But live theatre is as essential to people as air.
Alya Islentyeva is a wonderful partner. We understand each other both on stage and in life. I’ve worked with truly great actors in both film and theatre! And she stands among them: Valentin Gaft, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, my beloved Alla Pokrovskaya (mother of Misha Efremov), young Misha Efremov at just 12, Evgeny Mironov, Sasha Feklistov, Lilya Tolmacheva, Oleg Basilashvili, Alisa Freindlich…
I never imagined that in the final chapters of my life I’d be welcomed onto unfamiliar stages, surrounded by actors I hadn’t yet met, and greeted by dear, unfamiliar people in thousand-seat halls — with flowers, love, and warm, tender hands reaching across the footlights to embrace me and say thank you.
Still, I long for my home at Sovremennik, for my familiar stage. In my final performances there, before stepping onto mystage, I would quietly say goodbye — sensing my fate — and sometimes, I would cry. My intuition didn’t fail me. But I never expected that ahead of me were such plays, such audiences, such overwhelming gratitude, and so many flowers!
And yet, with pain, I remember the Sovremennik audiences, my dressing room, my partners — and above all, the stage I performed on. Even now, I’m deeply nervous about the upcoming tour in London. It’s a great responsibility for all of us.
