How a brilliant actress betrayed Stanislavsky, but found the happiness of her life: Alisa Koonen

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

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Alisa Koonen was one of the best students of Konstantin Stanislavsky, it was with him that she played her first roles and was able to become famous. The director took care of the young actress in a fatherly way, but at some point Alisa Koonen left her teacher. Stanislavsky considered the act of his pet a betrayal, but the actress herself discovered new perspectives for creativity and met the man of her dreams.

Dreams of beauty

The future actress was born in 1889 in the family of legal attorney Georgy Koonen and his wife Alisa Lvovna, who before the appearance of health problems was a good musician and could give music lessons.

Alice seemed to have dreamed of a stage since childhood. In the summer, the whole family, together with their nanny, went to the aunt's estate near Tver, and there adults and children took part in performances of an impromptu home theater, arranged in a spacious barn.

In one of the performances, a neighbor of relatives, Kohonen, saw a talented girl for the first time and, upon returning to Moscow, told Konstantin Stanislavsky about an amazingly capable little girl. Several years later, when Alice has already become a student of the great director and teacher, he himself will tell about his correspondence acquaintance with Alinka, his favorite.

But Alisa Koonen was not only very talented, but also wayward and rebellious. She desperately rushed into battle to fight injustice, for which she constantly received poor grades in behavior at school. At the age of 16, she became a student of Stanislavsky, entering the Moscow Art Theater.

Already in the first days of her studies, she had a serious conversation with Stanislavsky, who warned the future actress about that complete dedication, renouncing her favorite things and even her own happiness. But nothing could frighten Alice. However, she did not have to give up her personal life.

Nine years at the Moscow Art Theater

At the Moscow Art Theater, Alisa Koonen learned the basics of acting, played many significant roles and was able to become famous. She was graceful, plastic and emotional in any way, whoever she played.

The Englishman Gordon Craig, who rehearsed with the actress Ophelia, wanted to create a mono theater for the actress in Italy, but Stanislavsky assured his colleague that this actress should be surrounded by people, otherwise she would simply "die of loneliness and melancholy."

Vasily Katchalov, whom Alice considered her idol in her youth, was completely fascinated by Alice. He was even going to divorce his wife, but the latter fell ill just at the time when Kachalov was going to part with her. The actor was never able to leave his wife.

Alisa Koonen had another story with the then famous writer Leonid Andreev, to whom the Moscow Art Theater star reminded him of his late wife. However, the novel turned out to be too painful for Alice, she was not ready to constantly save the writer from melancholy and dispel the darkness that reigned in his soul. When Andreev brought his mother from St. Petersburg to Moscow specifically to meet the actress, Koonen realized that she could be held responsible for this person, for which she was completely unprepared.

But in 1913, she nevertheless decided to leave the Moscow Art Theater and from Stanislavsky to the barely created theater of Konstantin Mardzhanov. It seemed to her that the master was putting too much pressure on her, and she was completely deprived of the freedom of creativity and self-expression under his caring wing. Konstantin Sergeevich accused the darling of frivolity, and regarded her departure as a betrayal.

Fateful meeting

On the very first day of the actress's work at the Free Theater, she met the young and unknown Alexander Tairov. At the first moment, Kohonen felt the most severe disappointment: to change Stanislavsky to a young and unknown director seemed to her a real madness.

However, she unexpectedly liked working with Tairov. He had his own directorial vision and a passionate desire to create. After the Mardzhanov Theater closed, Alexander Tairov created his own Chamber Theater. And Alisa Koonen became a real star in him.

It seemed that Tairov was building his own relationship with art, so his performances, although very unusual for that time, were invariably successful. Koonen, who possessed a wide creative range, played with inspiration the role of royalty and rootless vagabonds, could become almost a clown on the stage and embody the tragic fate of the heroine. And in each role, the actress was organic and brilliant.

The joint successful work brought the director and the actress closer together. For many years, Alisa Koonen became a muse, happiness and inspiration for Tairov. They were alien to any prejudices and therefore, despite mutual feelings, they were not at all going to build a family in the classic version. And there was no particular romance in their relationship, they just both decided to "be together."

Alisa Koonen has decisively broken with her fans. Alexander Tairov had to leave his wife and daughter. Nevertheless, the director and actress continued to live separately until Tairov was asked to vacate his rented apartment. Then the actress and invited him to stay with her. As she later admitted, their life together was arranged by fate itself. But they never registered their marriage.

She was famous, successful and happy. It seemed that everyone admired her talent, grace and plasticity. But Stanislavsky never forgave her. He loved Alice completely different: a sincere spontaneous girl who once came to the Moscow Art Theater. And with this new, brilliant and alien, he did not want to get acquainted …

Alisa Koonen and Alexander Tairov have lived together for 35 years. When he was gone, the actress for 24 years, until her last day, kept the memory of her true love.

Alisa Koonen's teacher was the legendary director, actor, teacher, theater reformer, founder of the Moscow Art Theater Konstantin Stanislavsky. He created a unique system of acting skills, according to which actors all over the world have been studying for over 100 years. But apart from textbook facts like the catch phrase “I don’t believe!”, The general public knows very little about his life. What secrets did the director hide, and what did he warn Stalin himself against?