“ "CULTURAL INVASION" - a musical and poetic production. “As a little girl I got on a strange train, I sang a ringing song and my friends were with me. Where I was yesterday, there today is not to be found, This is how my life passes, every day on the road. "- once sang the diva Irina Ponarovskaya ... Life is often compared to a train. And what, a beautiful allegory - "the train of our life" ... So, having come to the musical performance "Cultural Invasion", we first find ourselves in the waiting room: waiting for the performance and waiting for the "train" (in front of us is the train schedule board). I look at the schedule - choose any direction, you want Paris, you want St. Petersburg, you want Voronezh ... you even want "St. Petersburg-Leningrad". Yes, yes, there is such a route! And I thought - where will the "train" of the Cultural Invasion take us? And how serious will this "Invasion" be in my life? The music of Alexei Aiga performed by the ensemble "4'33", specially written for this project, and three beautiful male actors, each with their own charisma and charm: S. Chonishvili, D. Strakhov, S. Shnyrev, are playing on the stage. They perform verses of poets of the 20th century. Sergei Chonishvili had the most character and I remember them most of all. I even wanted to know the author of each poem. I don't know if this information was in the programs, and whether there were programs, I flew into the hall at the very last moment, like on a departing train. Here, again, a comparison with the "train". Such a stage solution for the performance (waiting room, station) is very successful. After all, poems are about life, love, friendship. We either meet someone, then wait, then say goodbye to someone. This is what our life consists of. For an hour and a half I immersed myself in the living of these stories in verse, periodically projecting onto my experiences and events, finding in many ways an echo of my own feelings, even though these were “men's stories”: “..... He jokingly put me in an empty carriage, I jokingly left on the train at night ... ”The performance left a pleasant aftertaste of good music and poetry, and the joy of contemplating talented actors and musicians. Therefore, I even "googled" about the creators of the project, it became interesting to me. This is the "Commonwealth of Actors, Musicians and ..." (SAMi) - a creative team, the name of which was born after the release of several similar projects. Now I will be happy to watch their other performances.

“ Was on June 3rd for Cultural Invasion. And on the way home, I thought how to make it a rule not to put off life and do everything in full force, without drafts. This performance turned out to be such a powerful, sober, real and uplifting invasion for me. All the performances of the theater itself are amazing, and this new work of theirs is definitely. All the same, and all the same. And each time it is like a psychotherapy session, with a guaranteed effect. I know that poetry is not for everyone, but if you want to give yourself and her a chance again, do it with YOURSELF -theatre. Because in a moment you will cease to distinguish between poetry and prose, but you will hear music and meanings that will awaken something in you, and maybe even you. I admit, I first of all go to Sergei Chonishvili. And it's always not enough for me. It seems to me that if he was talking about quantum physics, I would know it. He speaks and everything without barriers penetrates inside, into the soul, heart, head - totally. Honest, real poems told by talented actors to the live music of the wizard Alexei Aigi made my evening! And also incredibly I wanted to go to Peter. Such a sudden plunge into the St. Petersburg atmosphere happened. For this, Daniil Strakhov is more responsible than others. And how tasty, frankly and beautifully Sergei Shnyrev spoke about love and women .. mmm .. Natalia Semyonova "conducted" all these beautiful men and history without beginning or end. The magic happened again. The magic of music, the magic of the word.

“ As soon as you enter the hall and see on the screen the image of the train departure board, which is familiar to all travel lovers, you understand that the evening will not be quite ordinary. For an hour and a half, together with this wonderful creative team, according to the idea of director Natalya Semyonova, we traveled "along the waves of memory" of poets of the 20th century. This time there were many St. Petersburg ones among them, so we visited both the Palace Square and Vasilievsky, and even looked into Pavlovsk. By flight 905 "St. Petersburg - Leningrad" the audience, together with the actors, rushed from the present to the past and returned back by flight 5010 "Sverdlovsk - Yekaterinburg". We lived meetings and partings with them, plunged headlong into the restless, rich in impressions life of Russian poets. And at the same time, stations, roads, trains flashed on the screen all the time ... The tuning fork of this evening I would call Sergei Shnyrev, whose talent as a reader I never tire of admiring! And if Daniil Strakhov still appears here in the romantic image of a lyricist, and Sergei Chonishvili is a charming cynic (well, he succeeds very much in this image!), Then Shnyrev easily and naturally passes from lyrics to civil poetry and even to a “poem built on blood ".... The music for the project was written by Aleksey Aigi, it is still cosmic, taking you to another dimension, but less expressive, this time there are more sad notes in it, which is consonant with the theme of memories of the past youth chosen for this performance, friendship, love. The violin of Alexei himself and the cello of Denis Kalinsky and the performance took place in the Theater Hall of the Moscow International House of Music, which I am very happy about (on March 30, 2020 I was supposed to watch its premiere at Svetlanovsky). The intimacy of this hall adjusts to a different perception, you feel your involvement in what is happening on the stage, as if you are on the same train ... sometimes they almost cry ... The performance took place in the Theater Hall of the Moscow International House of Music, which I am very happy about .. The intimacy of this hall adjusts to a different perception, you feel your involvement in what is happening on the stage, as if you are traveling on the same train ...

“ The long-awaited premiere took place. Now the heroes of the poets of the twentieth century, recognizable and new, sound from the stage. They sound both in the text and in great music. A wonderful video sequence complements the production, the viewer seems to be in a train car and listens to fellow travelers. Real immersion and distraction, bravo!

“ “Cultural Invasion” is a transforming project, where first one solo, then another, starts a tale of feelings, fear, life ... such a large-scale musical and poetic show with video installation and a short footage turns out. On the stage there is a purely male collective - artists, musicians, and poets, whose experiences literally pour out with every note on the stage, walls, music stand, on artists' jackets ... I feel these musical drops, like raindrops, to which a whole musical number is dedicated! You can listen and listen, and sway to the beat, and catch yourself thinking that it is at this moment that everything falls into place. That there is no need to rush. That everything will be as it should be, no matter how we fuss ... I am very glad that I had this date, this cultural invasion from the company under the direction of director Natalia Semyonova. New specially written music, so clearly conveys the mood, so deeply feels and subtly echoes personal experiences. The poets of the 20th century open up from a new, unfamiliar side, and thanks to talented performance and augmented video sequence, it seems that the century is not 20, but ours, that they are still alive, that the problems and torments that tormented them have not gone anywhere ...

“ Congratulations on the successful premiere of the organizers, actors, musicians!) And again they hit it hard) Suddenly we dedicated the evening to my beloved city and I realized how much I missed it ... Thank you for the emotions. And separately

“ Excellent performance! We watched it in the huge Svetlanov Hall of the House of Music last year. It's very interesting how he will look in the club. The power industry will be frantic!

“ If you follow the classic Shakespearean Hamlet, this is not the story. But if you are open to something new and exciting, then Hamlet Story is your performance. Firstly, you need to start watching with a mini movie - a movie about the play, this trailer in 2 minutes conveys the dynamics of the plot, which awaits you on the site. Secondly, the performance itself takes place in the cozy hall of the House of Music, which adds charm to the performance. Thirdly, be prepared to hear the works of Shakespeare himself, Joseph Brodsky, David Samoilov, Boris Ryzhiy, Bakhyt Kenzheev, Dmitry Prigov and Sergei Chonishvili. Fourthly, the exciting reading of both Sergeyev (Chonishvili and Shnyrev) and Alexei Kravchenko, recalls the forgotten entertainment - reading in the literary halls. I really love poetry, and immensely admired the voices of Hamlet performers. Yes, you heard right, in this story there were 3 Hamlets, or rather 4, I forgot about Alexei Aigi. Alexey Aigi is the music of the project, the leading violin and the powerful dynamics of the performance. Because the music in Hamlet Story is a separate tool for influencing mood, sensations, perception of verses and perceptions of Hamlets themselves. Because in this story, Hamlets are different in character, profession, appearance, but completely similar inside, with internal doubts, feelings and problems. I still cannot but note the visual picture of the play, yes, there is still multimedia in the play. This is partly a video about which I wrote above, partly well-chosen pictures. However, the picture is also part of the play, I would say, very significant. But this is not a separate picture or video clip, it is still the same indispensable part of the play as readers or musicians. In my opinion, the director of the production, Natalya Semenova, managed to show in a new way the timeless classic that does not lose the relevance of the problem - to find oneself in this world in modern realities. In general, I am still impressed by the actors, the musicians, the perfectly selected verses, the perfectly created music and the perfectly selected venue. Well, I met recently at the Commonwealth of Actors, Musicians and ... Theater, but I think it’s very timely and successful. And I am delighted from the beginning of the productions to their very last minutes and chords. Will I go yet? Definitely, I’ll go. Do I recommend a performance? Surely recommend.

“ Increasingly, I began to return to the classics. Why? Probably because it is interesting to observe precisely their transformations. The work is the same, but I am changing, and my attitude is changing. I am looking for answers to eternal questions, and then again fascinated by Onegin, then again I hate him. But, you know, not falling in love with Onegin played by Daniil Strakhov is simply impossible! What a clear hit in the image, and what a game! We sat pretty close, the actor’s facial expressions were clearly visible, just what I didn’t have for the first time. Again was on "Onegin.Show" and I want more! Very grateful to the actors themselves who risked to take the classics and create a masterpiece. The role of the author was played by Sergey Chonishvili - oh, what a voice! You can listen endlessly! For the first time, I somehow coolly appreciated the game of Irina Pegova, and now the actress has opened up, I was waiting for her to appear: here is a timid young girl in front of us, here is a letter written as if in delirium, in love fever, but nonetheless, very frank and an honest, but already matured socialite, but ... the same "dear Tatyana", who now has to hide her feelings. Yes, a lot has been removed in the production, the plot is given in large strokes, a dream and a duel are shown in general the video nearby. This performance is for a trained viewer who remembers the plot and can quickly scroll through all the missing scenes in his head. This performance is a reflection, a reflection on the fate of the heroes, on the possible or impossible endings ... Once again, proximity to the stage turned out to be important when you see the facial expressions of the actors, their game is perceived differently. Sergei Shnyrev played Lensky, it is amazing how the actor changed, how he managed to show the image of a young poet! The music of Alexei Aigi and his group "4'33" unites the plot, places accents, and disturbs the soul. You expect this music no less than replicas of heroes, and I always miss it! I haven’t heard enough, I need to go separately to a concert. The performance was in the Svetlanov Hall of the House of Music. Very nice room with amazing acoustics and comfortable places. I have already visited all the halls of the House of Music, everywhere there is good sound and decoration of the halls. In conclusion, I’ll say that this time we were with my husband, he wasn’t theatrical at all, pulling him somewhere is always a problem, but SAMI asks for tickets and is ready to go. He like it very much.

“ “How cool to spend the winter and go towards the upcoming spring?”, You ask. "Touch the most beautiful: music, poetry and theater!" - I will answer you. "Onegin" from SAMI is my third meeting with this most beautiful. A meeting in the beautiful Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music in the company of an excellent cast: Irina Pegova, Sergey Shnyreva, Daniil Strakhova and Sergey Chonishvili. The plot of "Eugene Onegin" by the great A. S. Pushkin is certainly familiar to everyone from school. Someone didn’t understand the heroes, someone was worried with them, and someone just didn’t open the book ... But I think if what I saw and heard on the stage of the Svetlanov Hall of MMMD is shown to modern schoolchildren, then a volume " Onegin "will become a reference book for many. And I want to tell you, I really liked this version of the novel “Eugene Onegin”. The performance begins and ends with the talented music of Aleksey Aigi, tearing the soul and heart of the audience throughout the performance. Aigi's music is a new hero in the novel of the great classic, but not foreign, but uniting those on the stage and those who are in the hall. This is such a quintessence of everything that happens on the stage: it inspires and makes you think about many things. The performance begins all of a sudden with the final monologue of Eugene Onegin. Daniil Strakhov in this role is an ideal hit in the image of the Pushkin hero. You believe him. Sometimes you feel sorry. Tired, searching, disappointed ... either quickly, practically with a recitative, uttering his remarks, or stretching words, trying to convey them to everyone ... Vladimir Lensky - Sergey Shnyrev. So accustomed to your image that already from the first lines the boundaries of age and masculinity are erased ... and we see a naive and gentle "poet, a thoughtful dreamer ..." Irina Pegova –Tatyana. Tender and romantic. "... Wild, sad, silent, Like a forest doe, fearful." First, a touching and naive girl in love with unconsciousness. In the finale - a married, wise, although still romantic, woman. Tatyana’s Dream - a video, an interesting director’s decision. I do not like video sequences in theatrical productions, but in Onegin they do not distract from the performance, but immerse it in it. This is what a psychedelic effect on the viewer. Plus more music. I’m writing, but still goosebumps. And, of course, Sergey Chonishvili is the voice of Russia of the 21st century, which fascinates and delights. He reads for the Author, for himself and for that guy. Truly - the conductor of the play. How does he move around the stage, trying to convey to us the syllable of A. S. Pushkin in dance. Funny intersperses in the classic and well-known lines of the great novel sound funny epigrams of "our all". Thanks to the SAMITER and all the participants of the beautiful production for the opportunity to touch the beautiful.

“ I would not call this production traditional: the text of the novel is slightly shortened, but comments from my own account and Pushkin's epigrams are added. The music is amazing, the actors are not so much playing as they are reading the text from the stage, but they managed to get into the image so much that even knowing the plot thoroughly - well, and whoever does not know it - is experiencing it. An interesting solution with the insertion of the film at the place of Tatyana’s dream and a duel. If you are not afraid of the original reading and a bit of free handling of the classics, I recommend it.

“ Director Natalya Semenova, wonderful and beloved by the public actors: Sergey Chonishvili, Daniil Strakhov, Irina Pegova, Sergey Shnyrev and composer Alexei Aigi with their ensemble “4:33” made from a textbook work tortured by the school curriculum completely elegant, subtle, ironic, topical and a very interesting production. This is a close interweaving of the text of Pushkin's “Eugene Onegin”, the wonderful music of Alexei Aigi and the video sequence broadcast on the big screen behind the stage. There are a lot of projects that fit this description, but I have not seen such a level as at the SAMi Theater. So everything is professional, clever, so the performance grabs attention, so the music takes somewhere, giving the spectacular energy to the performance. Pushkin’s usual text was taken in fragments, episodes do not always follow in the same order as the author’s, emphasis has shifted, it has become unusual, interesting, unexpected. But Pushkin’s epigrams and comments “on my own” added to the text gave the text somewhere cheerful hooliganism, and somewhere philosophy. Daniil Strakhov, who played Onegin, perfectly showed all the confusion and despair of Eugene, who received an answer to his letter. An answer he did not expect. Sergei Chonishvili, speaking from the author, was the heart of this performance, IMHO. He told, commented, comforted the characters, argued with them, "conducted" the ensemble, in short, played constantly, bravely! However, everyone was good. That rare case, when all without exception. Each in its place. In general, I love Irina Pegova in all roles, and her Tatyana was no exception. I don’t know much about Sergei Shnyrev, but when I saw him, I was impressed by the game. And, of course, the SAMi Theater project would not have been such, not only without the beautiful and beloved actors, but also without Alexei Aigi and his ensemble “4:33”. His music is half the drive from the production. Even for her sake alone is already worth going to the play. Moreover, the music does not drown out the text, and the text does not drown out the music, and this is very cool. They only occasionally intersect, and for the most part go separately from each other. Aigi's music creates an amazing atmosphere, possessing some stunning energy. The video sequence was also quite curious. I would not call it a movie, here it’s just a projection with drawings by Pushkin, his handwriting, but there are also game inserts. Live actors on the stage more captured my attention, although the combination of what was on stage and what was on the screen sometimes got to the point very well. I am very pleased that I watched this performance.

“ Perhaps Hamlet is one of the most famous philosophical works that raise the theme of life and death. No wonder it enjoys such popularity - after all, Hamlet lives in each of us, we all at least once wondered why we live and what is the point in life. The creators of the play “Hamlet STORY” showed us three of these modern “Hamlets” - a businessman (Sergey Shnyrev), a showman (Sergey Chonishvili) and an intelligence officer (Alexey Kravchenko). All three men are already crossing the border of middle age and therefore they think a lot, a lot, “to be or not to be?”. The performance takes place in three dimensions: on stage, in music and cinema. The characters read the texts of William Shakespeare with almost modern poems by Joseph Brodsky, David Samoilov, Arseny Tarkovsky, Bakhyt Kenzheev and Boris Ryzhiy. In parallel, frames from their life are displayed on the screen. Explosions and complex military operations by Alexei Kravchenko. Office in Moscow City, secretary with a bunch of papers and an empty office of a successful businessman Sergei Shnyrev. And the backstage of the TV show host Sergei Chonishvili. Why does one rich and successful person imagine how he goes out the window and flies from the roof of a skyscraper, while another thinks if he should swallow pills in the toilet of the television studio? True, all this will remain only in their head, and the tablets will actually turn out to be “Delicious Help” marmalade, but for some reason similar thoughts arise? Of course, the Hamlets reflect on love. It can be different: mutual and not, happy or tragic, falling in love with beautiful Ophelia or a vulgar hostel neighbor. Women leave a mark in the lives of heroes, and also affect their lifestyle and thoughts. And, of course, the music of Aleksey Aigi and his ensemble “4'33” ”: it is a real“ framework ”, a frame for the performance. Either a quick and frantic play of violins, or lingering sounds of a saxophone - instruments create a mood and help to plunge even deeper into the thoughts of the characters No wonder Alexei Aigi is considered the fourth “Hamlet” here, he is also a full-fledged participant in the action. Finally, in the final, the heroes come up with yet another “Shakespearean” thought: the whole world is a theater, and the people in it are actors. I could not find q even on the Internet: “Everyone played because they lived, I lived - therefore I played.” A very deep and complex quote that I thought about all evening :) The play goes on without intermission, only 1 hour 40 minutes, which fly by in an instant. But the topic is not simple, philosophical, “to think it over.” It seems to me that one should not go for entertainment and in the corresponding disorder, then you will definitely be delighted! I highly recommend 10 out of 10. Perhaps, along with Onegin, my favorite project from SAMi Theater.

“ Each Hamlet tells his story and their stories are crumbling to the viewer with poems, and prose, and an interesting video sequence (in one of the plots of which we meet all our “heroes” in ward No. 6), and all of them are united - the beautiful music of Alexei Aigi, the fourth "Hero" of this interesting performance. His music performed by the group “4:33” fills the whole space, setting the rhythm and mood, uniting everything that happens on stage into a single whole.

“ The magic of music over the magic of poetry. Not always understandable, but from this no less philosophical. Hamlet lives in each of us with his Ophelia. Somewhere in the closet is hidden by everyone Yorik. Each of us decides to be or not to be about ourselves every day. All this is complicated, evil, but so understandable. The interweaving of verses by William Shakespeare, Joseph Brodsky, David Samoilov, Boris Red, Bakhyt Kenzheev, Dmitry Prigov, Sergei Chonishvili is not the easiest thing to expect from a theatrical evening. But how easy it is to read poetry is not simple poets. How many subtext messages open in them when beautiful actors read. They are perceived quite differently than you read it yourself. And the brilliant music of Alexei Aigi. The fourth actor in the play. Sergey Chonishvili - one cannot remain indifferent from his game and expression. You believe in that anguish when Brodsky’s poems fly off his lips. Sergei Shnyrev - fatigue from being and perpetual running in a circle, so familiar to many. When you want to go on vacation or in a loop. Alexey Kravchenko - you are stony when you need to applaud because it hurts. Talking about the performance is difficult. He becomes very personal, almost intimate.