{"id":61711,"date":"2026-02-13T11:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=61711"},"modified":"2026-02-13T11:08:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T11:08:40","slug":"the-conversation-that-never-happened-how-to-choose-and-not-make-a-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/the-conversation-that-never-happened-how-to-choose-and-not-make-a-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Conversation That Never Happened\u201d: how to Choose and Not Make a Mistake?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Berdnikova is an actress and a promoter of thoughtful reading for both children and adults, as well as the founder of the international club Bukutoku. Reading is both her professional and personal passion.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by Ana Tomskaya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Yet the genre of dramatic reading is one of the most challenging. No scenery, no costumes, no character masks \u2014 only the actor and the audience. Actress Dina Berdnikova is not afraid of the audience (let us recall her solo performance \u201cThings\u201d), and the audience adores her \u2014 including for her fearlessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To step before an audience with such a range of characters \u2014 from the genius inventor of Umberto Eco to the young pianist Lelya from Nina Dashevskaya\u2019s works \u2014 is like riding a roller coaster with a loop somewhere near Chekhov\u2019s Ivan Gavrilych from the story \u201cWhich of the Three?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by Ana Tomskaya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The texts were separated from one another by cosmic and meditative sounds of the hang drum positioned at Kostyts\u2019s knee. Other instruments \u2014 drum, triangle, sampler \u2014 helped illustrate the reading with soundscapes. Kostyts is a Ukrainian-Greek musician and musical director, the creator of the entertainment company Pulsar ShowLab. He works with Grammy and Eurovision laureates and performs with Jamala and KAZKA. A modern, versatile musician who shifts effortlessly from one artistic role to another. It was clear that becoming the musical illustrator of this evening was a pleasure for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Ana Tomskaya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There was little that was funny or sweet in the selected works. Among the texts read by Dina were Richard Matheson\u2019s terrifying story \u201cButton, Button,\u201d Grigory Gorin\u2019s sorrowful \u201cThe Hedgehog\u201d (a tale of futile fuss), and Teffi\u2019s \u201cKatenka.\u201d Strikingly, in the latter even tender youth crystallizes into a merciless thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is this very thought that unites all the evening\u2019s characters. It binds together the ruthless General ready to kill to obtain That Very Thing, the beautiful Nadenka who chooses money over love (and Chekhov himself brands his heroine \u201ca young, pretty, depraved little wretch,\u201d while Berdnikova\u2019s voice turns this dreadful phrase into the ringing of gold coins), the sweating, snorting father from Gorin\u2019s story, and young Liza Komarova from Viktoria Lederman\u2019s book \u201cVasilkin Will Go to the Blackboard\u2026 School Stories of Dima Vasilkin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by Ana Tomskaya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What could a schoolgirl possibly have in common with a murderous leader? She merely pushed answers onto a classmate during lessons, while the leader crushed someone\u2019s head with a stone. The common thread, Berdnikova seems to suggest, is ethical choice \u2014 the ethical choice made every second. Of course, she never declares such banner-like proclamations outright \u2014 heaven forbid. Yet this honest message is clearly felt. As a character from a children\u2019s book once said, \u201cA person must be a person, not a pig.\u201d And one should not press buttons for fabulous sums of money \u2014 especially when it is obvious, even to a hedgehog snorting angrily in someone\u2019s hands, that nothing good will come of it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Photo by Ana Tomskaya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Fortunately, the evening concluded with a story by Nina Dashevskaya about young musicians. There, too, are many \u201cchoices,\u201d as well as unfortunate teenagers abandoned by their parents, leading secret lives in music school. But somehow \u2014 whether through the actress\u2019s voice or her interpretation \u2014 it suddenly seemed that not all is lost, and someone might still make the right choice. Beethoven\u2019s Spring Sonata, spring itself, and the first day \u201cwithout a hat\u201d \u2014 and spring still lies ahead, as if Berdnikova and Kostyts were telling us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"