"Iron Lady" with a big heart: Galina Volchek

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Galina Volchek, the last of the founders and masters of Sovremennik, has died. She was 86 years old … She began her service in the theater with Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Efremov, Igor Kvasha and Evgeny Evstigneev. Received the USSR State Prize when she was only 33 years old. Many of the best theatrical roles of Valentin Gaft, Marina Neyelova, Elena Yakovleva, Chulpan Khamatova, Sergei Garmash came out thanks to Volchek. And it was under her leadership that Sovremennik was the first foreign theater to receive the prestigious American Drama Desk award. A real iron lady and a man with a huge heart.

How it all began

Galina Volchek is the daughter of the director and cameraman Boris Volchek, who, together with Mikhail Romm, shot such famous films as Lenin in October, Lenin in 2018 and Pyshka. Parents broke up when Galina was 13 years old, and she stayed with her father. Later, she recalled that it was thanks to her father that she had a special relationship with shadow and light, which greatly helped her in her work in the theater., - said Galina Borisovna in an interview.

After graduating from school, Galina Volchek entered the Moscow Art Theater School, graduated more than successfully and could have gone the standard way of a young actress - to act in films and play in the theater. But she was not looking for easy ways. Instead of with classmates Oleg Tabakov, Oleg Efremov, Igor Kvasha and Yevgeny Evstigneev, she started creating a theater studio for a young actor. Only a few years have passed, and the Sovremennik Theater has thundered all over the country.

First role and relationship with cinema

The first performance in which Galina Volchek played a role was the play "Forever Alive". Then in her acting biography there were many more acting roles, and in the early 1960s she made her directorial debut. The first performance by Volchek the director is "Two on a Swing" by Gibson. Less than 10 years later, Galina Borisovna Volchek became an Honored Artist of the RSFSR and received the State Prize. Galina Volchek has about 30 films.

As a rule, these are episodic roles that she played in 1960-70: a maid in Don Quixote by Grigory Kozintsev (1957), a tape recorder buyer in Eldar Ryazanov's comedy Beware of the Car (1966), She-Wolf in Leonid Nechaev's musical tale “About Little Red Riding Hood ", Thumbelina in" Autumn Marathon "by Georgy Danelia.

Her last film role was in the TV series Mysterious Passion. And she agreed to her only because of her son's participation in the project - Denis Evstigneev. She herself said about herself that she had long ceased to be an actress, but became a director.

Nevertheless, the theater remained the main business of her entire life. She herself said: "A theater has bulldozed through my life." The theater, in the creation of which she directly participated, and which she lived her entire conscious life.

It is not surprising that the relationship with cinema to Galina Volchek has developed very superficial. While actresses from her generation made their way to the screens, she and Oleg Yevremov created Sovremennik. It took almost 15 years. As soon as the theater became a truly "established artistic organism", the unexpected happened - the artistic director of the theater, Oleg Efremov, went to the Moscow Art Theater, and even took the leading actors of "Sovremennik" with him.

New "Contemporary"

After Yefremov left, the question of closing Sovremennik was raised, and journalists and critics were not shy about arguing that the mission of this theater had been exhausted. But Galina Volchek was not going to give up. In 1972, she became the new artistic director of Sovremennik, and young blood joined the ranks of the theater - new actors Valentin Gaft, Marina Neyolova, Avangard Leontyev, Liya Akhedzhakova came. And just a year later, the loud premiere - "Climbing Mount Fujiyama" based on the play by Chingiz Aitmatov and Kaltai Mukhamedzhanov. Then there were many more different performances, which both the audience and the critics took with a bang.

In the 21st century, the voices of skeptics have sounded that Sovremennik does not live up to its name, since its repertoire contains few modern plays and more and more classics. But Galina Volchek retorted that

Live here and now …

It is worth saying that Galina Volchek was one of the most titled directors and artistic directors. She had many professional awards of various ranks, orders, and in 1989 Galina Borisovna received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. She is one of the few who received all 3 degrees of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

In recent years, Galina Volchek was increasingly ill, was hospitalized several times, but she always found the strength to return to her native theater. In addition, due to problems with the spine, she recently moved in a wheelchair. It was difficult for her to breathe due to chronic bronchitis, but she did not leave her cigarette. But she came to the theater regularly and only quite recently, at the organizational meeting of the troupe before the new theatrical season, she asked for an assistant.

On December 19, 2019, Galina Borisovna celebrated her birthday, which coincided with the opening after the repair of the Other stage. The skit on these occasions was simply magnificent. And Volchek herself, to the delight of her colleagues, got up from the chair and walked across the stage, admitted that she had been learning to walk all autumn.

Just 4 days later, Galina Borisovna was admitted to the Botkin hospital for shortness of breath. Diagnosed with pneumonia, hooked up to a ventilator. To reduce the burden on a weak body, they entered a medical coma. But my heart could not stand it … December 26 Galina Borisovna

- said Volchek in an interview. Such was her life - bright and positive. Galina Volchek … A real star - both in life and on the stage.