Galina Volchek gave a frank interview about her personal life. Galina Volchek gave a frank interview about her personal life

Artistic Director of the Sovremennik Theater Galina Volchek gave candid interview about personal life. In a conversation with Yulia Menshova in the show “Alone with Everyone,” the actress and director recalled ex-husbands and family dramas related to them.

Galina was married twice. The first time she went down the aisle with theater and film actor Yevgeny Evstigneev. The second husband of Volchek was the doctor of technical sciences, professor of MISI Mark Abelev. Relations with both men ended in divorce.
When the actress married Evstigneev, she had a big quarrel with her father, because he and his wife did not like Galina's chosen one. However, this did not affect the artist's feelings for her husband.
“Probably, it was first of all a sense of talent and my desire to prove it to everyone. All his manifestations were for me a confirmation of my innocence. My nanny was generally horrified, because I grew up in a different environment, - she explained why Evgeny was met so unkindly in her family, Volchek. - And she said: “I thought our Pebble would marry someone independent, but she married a bald man! How is he not ashamed to go bald? At least wear a hat."
But then the nanny changed her anger to mercy. “She adored him. And when Zhenya and I parted ways, he came to visit with my second husband, it was a song! She treated him like the most dearly loved person. This was expressed in the fact that she said: “Zhen, our iron is broken, fix it, huh?” He did. And then she came up to me and said: “Bring him a glass for some work,” Volchek recalls with a smile.

Evgeny Evstigneev. Photo: frame from the film "The meeting place cannot be changed"
With her first husband, she went through many trials. “We were without money at all when we applied. We only had enough to buy two exaggerated gold rings,” said Galina. - We with him in the entrance of some each other wore these rings. There were many funny, funny and not funny, sad moments that accompany our lives. How we rented a room ... Eight rooms in our life with him until we got the first one-room apartment.
The actors divorced due to adultery, but managed to maintain friendly relations. “I had excellent relations with all my husbands. And until the end of the life of Evgeny Alexandrovich. I participated in his difficult life, which gave him a reason 25 years later, when his wife Lily passed away, because of whom we parted, to think about moving in with me, roughly speaking. And such was the scene when he reproached me, shouted! I was only afraid that his heart would be bad because he was yelling at me like that. It was under Denis (the son of Volchek and Evstigneev - ed. note) and his ex-wife, - clarified the artistic director of Sovremennik. “And I just laughed. He said: “With your maximalism, you ruined my life, your life and everything around you. And I laugh. He is a closed person, and suddenly such a monologue.
According to Galina, it was she who later persuaded Yevgeny to marry his last, third wife, Irina Tsyvina. And she herself found love with her second husband, who at the first meeting reminded her of Pierre Bezukhov. “He aroused my interest with his image, and then with his talent, with his efforts, he proved to me that it was not in vain,” said Volchek.
She and Professor Mark Abelev were married for nine years, after which they divorced. Julia even quoted Galina's phrase about those events: "My personal life was bulldozed by the theater." “It happened that way. I guess it's my fault that I didn't pay enough attention to what's going on at home. But we are still in amazing relations with him, ”the artistic director of Sovremennik assured.

Galina Volchek is a Soviet and Russian theater director, actress and teacher, who in 1989 received the title of People's Artist of the USSR. In the theatrical environment, it is, by example, called " The Iron Lady- worship and fear, respect and worship. Galina did a lot in her life to raise culture to a high level, for which she became a holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.

Galina Volchek was born in the early 30s in Moscow, in a family that was directly related to the stage and cinema. Galina's mother, Vera Maimina, is a Soviet screenwriter, and her father, Boris Volchek, is a famous director and cameraman who filmed Soviet hits Pyshka, Thirteen, Lenin in October and others.

As a child, Galya loved reading, so she rarely free time girls passed without a favorite book in their hands. Seeing his daughter's interest, his father pushed Galina to enter the only Literary Institute named after him in the Union. But it is unlikely that a child who has absorbed the acting and directing life from the cradle would have chosen a different path. Galina entered the Moscow Art Theater School, where she studied until 1955.

Theatre

The theatrical biography of Galina Volchek is full of significant events from the very beginning. A year after graduation, Galina Volchek, together with Lilia Tolmacheva, founded the new Studio of Young Actors, which would soon turn into the cult Sovremennik Theater.

And if in the late 50s Volchek appeared on stage as an actress, then in 1962 Galina Borisovna began directing, which will go down in the history of Soviet and Russian art. Looking ahead, we note that in 10 years Galina will become the chief director of the theater, and in the late 80s she will head the theater as an artistic director.

In 1984, Galina Volchek plays Martha in the production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", and this role becomes Volchik's last appearance in the theater as an actress. Since then, the artist has been focusing on her directing career.

Volchek's first directing experience brings tremendous success. It was a production of William Gibson's play "Two on a Swing", which did not leave the stage of Sovremennik for more than 30 seasons. Two more significant works of the director - “ ordinary story based on the novel and the performance Three Comrades based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The first of them brought Galina Volchek the State Prize of the USSR, and the second in 1999 "raised Moscow on the ears" and made a splash.

Galina Volchek was the first Soviet director to break through the cultural blockade between Soviet Union and the United States. She staged several performances of Russian classics in American theaters, including the famous Broadway, where the Russian troupe played for the first time since 1924. And these were not just performances "for show". Volchek's tour was marked by one of the most prestigious US national awards in the field of drama theater - the Drama Desk Award, which was awarded to a non-American theater for the first time in the long history of this award.

The famous director shared her experience with the new generation, and she taught mostly not in Russia, but abroad. For example, recently Galina Volchek gave a course of lectures and practical exercises at New York University.

Galina Volchek's latest production today was William Gibson's Two on a Swing in 2015. This is the same work that started Volchek's directorial career. Fans see this as a mystical and cyclical meaning and note with sadness that the first work can be chosen by the director to be staged specifically in order to be the last.

Movies

On the screen, Galina Volchek made her debut in 1957 in the film adaptation of the Spanish classic novel Don Quixote, playing the role of a strong maid Maritornes. Then there were roles in the films Sinful Angel, A Bridge Under Construction, King Lear and others.

Sometimes the actress appeared only in episodes, but she made them bright and unforgettable. For example, in the tragicomedy Beware of the Car, she simply played a buyer of a tape recorder in a store, but managed to attract the attention of the audience in ten seconds.

In the fairy tales "About Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Little Mermaid" Volchek has the negative roles of the mother wolf and the sea witch, but in them the actress perfectly realized her own talent. The films were also successful Autumn marathon”, “Unicum” and “Tevye the Milkman”.

In 1996, the actress stopped acting in feature films, but began to appear annually in documentary projects.

In the new millennium, Galina Volchek starred in a number of films dedicated to her colleagues: “The Life of Desdemona. ”,“ Unknown ”,“ . Frantic actor”, “Three loves”, “. From hate to love”, “. A man with a past” and others.

The actress also starred in the multi-part documentary projects “To Remember”, “Idols” with and “Film About the Film”, where she also talked about her colleagues, and not about herself. So far only books have been written about Galina Borisovna herself: “Galina Volchek. In an absurd and tragic mirror” Gleb Skorokhodova, “Galina Volchek. Usually outside the rules” and “Galina Volchek. By itself” by Marina Raikina.

Galina Volchek also tried herself in cinema as a director. Truth, for a long time she just filmed her best theatrical performances"An Ordinary Story", "Hurry to Do Good", "The Cherry Orchard" and many others. But she also had experience in filming according to original scenarios, for example, the heavy psychological dramas Echelon and Steep Route.

In 2015, Galina Volchek suddenly returned to television as an actress in a feature series. The actress played herself in the drama "Mysterious Passion", an adaptation of the novel of the same name. The series is about real creative people of the last century, which, for the sake of the artistry of the narrative, bear fictitious, but easily decipherable names.

Personal life

Officially, Galina Volchek was married twice. The first husband of the actress is the famous actor Yevgeny Evstigneev, with whom she lived for 9 years and gave birth to a son. The son of Volchek and Evstigneev also could not leave the world of cinema and became a director. The child did not save the acting marriage, Volchek and Evstigneev separated.

Volchek claims that it was she who initiated the divorce from Yevgeny Aleksandrovich. Despite subsequent relationships, the actress no longer had children, the son from Evstigneev remained the only child of Galina Volchek.

Galina's second husband is the Soviet scientist Mark Abelev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, who taught at the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. Their union also did not last long, and the couple divorced.

The third marriage of Galina Volchek was civil, lasted almost 10 years, but the director prefers not to remember this period. In her own words, she "had two husbands, several affairs and one misunderstanding." After these relationships, she did not try to create a family anymore, believing that it was impossible to devote herself completely to theatrical activities and at the same time be a happy family man.

The main hobby of Galina Volchek, as the director likes to say, is “making stars”. Of course, you can’t argue that thanks to Galina Borisovna, the world learned about a huge number of artists. But if we talk about hobbies, then it is worth noting that Volchek is not bad at modeling clothes and has created a number of memorable outfits.

In 1995, Galina Volchek agreed to put forward her own candidacy for the elections to the State Duma and entered the federal list of the All-Russian Socio-Political Movement Our Home is Russia electoral association.

For four years, the director sat in the State Duma and worked as a member of the Committee on Culture, but in 1999, by her own decision, she left the walls of parliament.

Galina Volchek now

Recently, the health of the 83-year-old star began to fail. The director often ends up in hospitals, the last time Galina Volchek was on March 21, 2016 with suspected pneumonia. After the state of health of Galina Borisovna stabilized, the director returned home.

Today Galina Volchek moves to wheelchair, but details about the director's health were not disclosed. The press did not come to a consensus on this matter: some argue that Galina Borisovna is confined to a wheelchair and no longer walks, others adhere to an optimistic theory that the director is simply trying not to burden himself and give the body a rest.

At the same time, the wheelchair does not prevent Galina Volchek from organizing creative evenings, meeting friends and attending social events.

April 28, 2017 Galina Volchek received the title of Hero of Labor Russian Federation with the wording "for special labor services to the state and people." Also in 2017, Galina Borisovna celebrated a double theatrical anniversary: ​​60 years as she has been working in Sovremennik, 45 of them as the main director.

Filmography

• 1970 - "King Lear"
• 1975 - "Waves of the Black Sea"
• 1977 - "About Little Red Riding Hood"
• 1979 - "Autumn Marathon"
• 1983 - "Unique"
• 1983 - "Black Castle Olshansky"
• 1985 - Tevye the Milkman
• 1992 - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
• 2008 - "Contemporary"
• 2010 - "Catherine III"
• 2015 - "Secret Passion"

Photo: Persona Stars, Vladimir Yatsina / TASS

Galina was born in the family of the famous director and cameraman Boris Volchek and screenwriter Vera Maimina. The most famous theater actors, directors, screenwriters entered Volchek's house, the girl from infancy was surrounded by the romance of bohemian life, closeness to art.

In the environment of parental friends, the real Nordic character of Gali was formed, but her parents, especially her mother, stubbornly did not notice this. The main thing was that the daughter studies well. Galya did not upset her mother for the time being. She brought only fives, received diplomas and did not try to stand out at all. Until one day my parents divorced.

Volchek harbored a grudge against her mother, who for so long did not believe that the child had grown up and become a person. The father, with whom the girl stayed, tried to somehow curb her sharp temper, but it was all in vain. Rebellious, the future director even changed her last name to Volchok - so she tried to emphasize that she no longer belongs to her parents.

But teenage storms, like a new surname, soon became a thing of the past, because it was necessary to prepare for admission. Dad, seeing that he had brought up a modest quiet girl with a difficult character, offered to try at the Gorky Literary Institute. But here, too, the parent was late with his advice: she already knew that she would only enter the Moscow Art Theater School.

And so it happened. I put my dad in front of the fact that at the entrance it would be necessary to update the wardrobe. He took her to a tailor, who built a ridiculous suit with bulky shoulders for a complete notorious girl. In this form, she had already gone through two tours to the coveted school-studio, when her mother found out about the dream of the stage. Worried about her daughter, she forcibly forced her to insure herself and take the documents to the Pike as well.

Confident that they were seeing a deep provincial, the teachers sitting in the selection committee laughed at the girl, but after listening they announced that Galina had been accepted. She burst into tears and ran away, saying: “I don’t want to go to Pike, my mother made me!”. She also went to the theater-studio of the Moscow Art Theater and, of course, chose him.

Evstigneev

She has already become one of the popular students. She blossomed, learned to make up and dress, when she turned her attention to the provincial big-nosed Zhenya Evstigneev with sad, always heavy eyes. Someone will say later that for Volchek it was another rebellion - to fall in love and marry the most nondescript, albeit the most talented guy on the course.

Zhenya went around for weeks in one shirt and stupid suits made of bad fabric, disgustingly sewn, not fashionable and not decorating him in any way. And Galya already understood then: happiness is not in clothes. And after the wedding, she dressed up her personal genius in such a way that the course shuddered.

Evstigneev immediately changed in fashionable gizmos. There was no trace left of the provincial press. The suits on him sat like a glove, his gait changed, confidence appeared, and a slight negligence gave the man charm.

Wise woman

However, the dramatic changes in appearance did not worry Volchek's parents. They knew that the young man, firstly, was seven years older than their daughter, and secondly, had already worked as a locksmith and milling machine before going to the theater. For the soul - nothing, what the future - is completely unknown!

The young began to live with their parents Volchek. But they wanted a different share only child. Scandals began. After the next, the young people simply gathered their things and left the apartment, towards the unknown. We spent the night at the railway stations for two days, and then we found a small cheap room and moved there.

Volchek and Evstigneev lived in love and harmony for nine long years. During this time, they had the only son for Galina, Denis, who has now become a director. But it was not possible to keep her husband. Eugene has a new woman.

She was having a hard time with the divorce. As luck would have it, it was during this period that both acted in films where love had to play. But genuine female wisdom cannot be taken away from Volchek. She managed to remain on friendly terms with her beloved, although ex-husband until the end of his days.

Professor

Sovremennik quickly became popular and began touring. Once the troupe went to Murmansk, and after the performance, Volchek became an unwitting witness to a conversation between the viewer and Igor Kvasha. He said that the production itself was junk. Unless Tabakov played well.

It turned out that the choosy theater-goer was a Moscow scientist, professor of the construction institute Mark Abelev, who ended up in Murmansk for a few days at work. In the capital, he made friends with Kvasha and was invited to dinner.

Galina was already preparing to cross swords with him in a verbal duel in the evening, but after talking a little, she cooled off. A charming man, reminiscent of Pierre Bezukhov, somehow joked especially subtly. Galina definitely liked him!

... and he liked Galina. He courted as warmly and generously as he laughed. He gave flowers, supported and listened, bought Galina an expensive astrakhan fur coat, made friends with little Denis. Volchek was subdued and, of course, agreed to marry him. She felt shrouded in care on the one hand, but also received injections of jealousy on the other.

No one will now say whether Volchek was prone to romance on the side, or whether Abelev went crazy for absolutely no reason. Only once did he find his beloved in a restaurant with actor Georgy Tovstoganov. He sent a waiter to call Galina to the lobby and take his wife home.

Volodya

She was tormented by jealousy, it is not surprising that she began to pay attention to other men. She left Mark for a scientist named Vladimir. At that, at the time of the meeting, he also had a family, but both decided to sacrifice their legitimate halves for the sake of common happiness.

According to her friends, Volchek truly loved her physicist. She burned every time she saw that the soul of a man is still torn to that family, where the wife, children, habitual life.

In addition, Volodya's mother was very ill, so their meetings were rare. She suffered terribly from the thought that the man she loved was lying, and, saying that she had to spend the evening with her mother, she was going to her wife. In the end, she could not stand it and broke the vicious circle herself.

In one of the interviews, Galina Borisovna said that she directly forbade him to come and call, and also predicted that Volodya would pay for her decision to stay with her family all her life and consider her wife to be guilty. They say that it happened: the man could not forgive his legal wife for parting with his beloved.

Now Volchek says that she sold herself into slavery to the theater, and this is true. The wonderful productions that are going on at Sovremennik right now, as well as the real crown of brilliant artists, are the merit of Galina Borisovna.

At 60, she announced to her son that she planned to live alone and demanded respect for this decision. In the end, the director needs to take a break from the audience in order to return to the theater again and again and give new impressions, thoughts, feelings ...

— Galina Borisovna, you never cease to amaze me. Right now, for example, everyone is discussing your new production “Two on a swing”. A unique case: you returned to the very performance that once became your triumphant directorial debut and subsequently did not leave the stage for three decades. That is, the amplitude of fluctuations from one of your "Swings" to others amounted to more than half a century.

— When I first read this play by the American William Gibson, I experienced a real aesthetic shock. From the named and unnamed all those difficulties that happen to a person in an attempt to understand himself, another, to love, finally. Not only have we not seen anything like it on stage, but we have not read anything like it either. The Iron Curtain lifted for a second, and among those that penetrated, there were also "Two on a Seesaw". Therefore, on the one hand, I was happy that Oleg Efremov entrusted me, a 29-year-old artist, with the production, on the other, I was terribly afraid. What if the three of us - with Tanya Lavrova and Misha Kozakov - turn out to be misunderstood. Well, people in the hall will not perceive, they will not decipher the hieroglyphs of innuendo, complexity, subtleties of personal relationships ... And I always wanted to be understood. Let sometimes incomprehensible, but always understood. Any spectator. For me, there is a huge difference between the meanings of "understood" and "understood".

I will never forget how once hard frost, I, throwing on my coat, jumped out to the corner of Mayakovsky Square and began to look out among the passers-by for the most non-theatrical face. Finally I saw: a man with a shopping bag, in it - oranges, obviously not a Muscovite. And just imagine: a blizzard, my hair is disheveled, and I, frozen, shaking from the cold, knocking out a fraction with my teeth, ask him: “Excuse me, what city are you from? Have you ever been to the theater? “From Stalino,” he answers in surprise. “I haven’t been to the theatre.” I was so happy, I grabbed his hand. “Maybe you have 40 minutes? Please come with me. Here is our door, I’ll be there, behind it, I’ll explain everything to you, otherwise it’s too cold here. And she dragged him, stunned, into the premises of the then Sovremennik. Well, there she brought him to the rehearsal room, explained that we are artists, we want to show him an excerpt from the performance. Putting his shopping bag between his legs, he sat down on a chair, and the guys began to play for him, our first spectator. After the first act was played, we let's ask the peasant about his feelings. Overcoming not even embarrassment, but rather shock, he blathered something unintelligible. The main thing became clear: a person did understand some things. We sincerely thank you for your participation. And when he went with his oranges to the exit, he suddenly stopped at the door and said: “Well, tell me, what will happen to them next? After all, now I’ll start thinking ... ”And then I let go a little ... That, my first performance, really had a tremendous success, but the audience is to judge the current one.

- Now there are crises, cataclysms, disputes about orientations around, and you suddenly choose a play just about love. And you don’t arrange any “baits” on the stage - no undressing, no special effects, even as such there are no swings, and as a result - a triumph, the people bring down the shaft ... What is the strategic trick?

- No tricks. And I undertook precisely this production, perhaps just due to the fact that we all now live in such difficult situation. I wanted to convey to people a simple idea: there is something that cannot be defeated by anything - human relations, feelings. At first, the main "provocation" was - a special, I think, phenomenon in acting. She had no doubt that she, like no one else, would be able to play Gitel. But choosing Kirill Safonov as her partner was my absolute risk. I did not know this artist, but when I accidentally saw in a tiny episode from the television series, somehow I immediately felt: I found it! And the performance showed that I did the right thing by responding to this impulse, trusting my intuition.

- There is something that cannot be defeated by anything - human relations, feelings. With theater artists and their families (from left to right): Dmitry Pevtsov, Chulpan Khamatova, Olga Drozdova, Ivan Volkov (2000). Photo from the personal archive of Galina Volchek

In general, undertaking the production, I took a big risk. Last years some near-theatrical people who call themselves critics are constantly pumped negative attitude to the Russian psychological theater, they say, it’s not in fashion, it’s not in trend, it’s outdated ... I call them fashion designers from the theater, because these people are completely

consciously, but absolutely unconvincingly, they drive a certain model of perception into our heads, due to which what is considered and is considered the standard of dramatic art all over the world is being destroyed. For me, it's not just painful, it's monstrous! After all, at one time Efremov gathered us for the sake of one idea: to engage in psychological theater, in which there is a nerve, soul, thought. In the most various forms, of course, but only on condition that the form does not overshadow the content.

Such a simulation will end badly. And above all for the theater as such. The viewer cannot be deceived. If on the stage instead of a person there is a swindled scholasticism, the public votes first with their feet, and then with their ruble.

- You show a love story - passionate, complex, contradictory. Which simultaneously destroys and saves, helps to survive. Swing ... And if you expand this concept, do you think your personal life is akin to a swing?

- Of course. Like every person, I have experienced and experience a lot and different things. Often much sharper - by virtue of their profession. In order to talk about human relations from the stage, one must be able to analyze them, even dissect them. And the best subject for research is yourself. I once formulated my personal life as follows: I had two marriages, several novels and one delusion, and everything lasted a long time. But apart from love, my whole life, and now no less than in my youth, is also a kind of swing. Here, it would seem, why on earth did I, a terribly notorious, terribly shy girl, swayed towards acting?

- I formulated my personal life as follows: I had two marriages, several novels and one delusion. With Yevgeny Evstigneev in the play "The Naked King" (1960s). Photo from the personal archive of Galina Volchek

— Indeed, with what? And, by the way, why did you complex?

- I was clumsy, wildly embarrassed by this, hated myself in the mirror, so I was pinched. Plus, my mother is a wonderful person, but domineering, convinced that children should be brought up in extreme severity. She suppressed me, I was afraid of her. Mom graduated from the Literary Institute and the screenwriting department of VGIK, but did not take place in the profession, so she remained, as I said, a housewife with two higher education. Subsequently, she worked at the box office of our theater. Efremov called, said: “It is necessary that tickets be sold intelligent people... ”My parents were completely different people in character. How they managed to stay together for so long, I have no idea. But one day they put me, 13, in front of them on a swivel chair, and my mom said, “My dad and I are breaking up. You're an adult now and you have to choose which one of us you want to stay with." And I have long known that each of them has their own personal life and our family well-being is nothing more than a fiction. Which made me feel uncomfortable all the time.

I can't express how happy I was after that conversation! Of course, I chose the option of living with my father - a man without conflict, kind, gentle, modest, whom I adored (Boris Izrailevich Volchek - professor, screenwriter, director (“Employee of the Cheka”, “Commander of the Happy Pike”), cameraman (“Pyshka”, "Lenin in October"), laureate of the State Prize of the USSR and three Stalin Prizes. - Approx. "TN"). Having escaped from my mother's control, I immediately, in the euphoria of freedom, went into all serious troubles ... The apotheosis of freedom was that I lit a cigarette. Once you caught me with a cigarette, dad - I saw this for the first time in my life! - cried ...

Hearing that I want to enter the theater, my father reacted to this with his characteristic humor - subtle, a little sad: "Well, the props - an envelope and a tray - I'll buy you myself." In the sense that, except for “You have a letter” or “The meal is served”, nothing shines for me in the profession. He did not believe in my prospects. Because he knew perfectly well what an acting life is with its bad components - often humiliating and always absolute dependence- from the director, time, fashion, chance, finally. Applause, smiles and autographs are in plain sight, and all the horrors are hidden. It was only when I became an adult, having experienced all the costs of this craft, that I understood my father. But then she didn’t know anything like that and ... dreamed of the Moscow Art Theater. Although, from her terrible notoriety and stiffness, she did not dare to go either to the drama circle or to amateur performances. And yet, at the age of 16, after graduating from school as an external student, she decided to try her hand.

The only one to whom I dared to read the program before entering - in a nightmare, shaking like a leaf in the wind - was Mikhail Romm. Before that brilliant man I admired, adored and feared him at the same time. We lived in the same house, but were not just neighbors. It so happened that from the age of three my closest friend was the daughter of Mikhail Ilyich Natashka, and for days on end we disappeared visiting each other. So my childhood, in addition to my family, was colored by the great director Romm, for whom I was Galka, Galka. Having involuntarily plunged me into the orbit of his life, he had an incredible influence on me, to some extent shaped me as a person, since I absorbed everything he told ... In general, after Mikhail Ilyich listened to me, he asked: “Who taking your exams?" I said who - Karev (theatrical director, taught at the Moscow Art Theater School. - Approx. "TN"). He scribbled something in a notebook, gave me a piece of paper and told me to pass it on. I swear, out of fear, I didn’t even read what was written there. Only many years later, when I had already become the chief director, Alexander Mikhailovich once told me: “I have a note from Romm, I must give it to you.” But he didn’t give it up - he died ...

It so happened that at first I ended up at the entrance exams at another university - my mother insisted on the Shchukin school. Surprisingly, despite the absolute inconsistency with the images of movie heroines of the 1950s, I was accepted. Apparently, my ridiculous appearance - in a suit altered from my father's, with hair twisted back into a bun, combined with a fable I read - I remember, while reciting, I screwed up my eyes tightly from the spotlights - impressed the commission. They laughed for a long time, and then announced that I was enlisted. Immediately, after a single audition. Instead of being happy, I sobbed out loud, explaining that my mother had dragged me to them, and I myself was dreaming of the Moscow Art Theater. And she did not agree to stay, no matter how they persuaded her. As a result, she nevertheless entered the studio of her dreams, where she turned out to be the youngest on the course.

- It turns out that, having remained to live with your father, from childhood you were practically left to your own devices - surely he disappeared on the set, went on expeditions?

- Well, firstly, dad often took me with him, and secondly, nanny Tanya was always there. She lived with our family all her life - and she took me from the hospital, and Denis (son, Denis Evstigneev, producer, director of the films “Limit”, “Mom”, etc. - Approx. “TN”), raised us, stayed with me during the most difficult periods of life. Tanya Bobrovskaya was the absolute hostess in our house, and in general the key person in my life. To say that I adored her is an understatement. She was closest to me, even, God forgive me, closer than my mother.

Being a wonderful person, finely arranged in her own way, Tanya, who did not receive any education, judged the world based on what she learned in her village. And there was not much in this coordinate system. For example, she had no idea that there are different nationalities. In her understanding, there was only one - the Russians. After living in our house, I found out that, it turns out, there are also Jews. And after the start of the war, she discovered a third nation - the Germans. And subsequently all strangers for her remained Germans. When we got married with Zhenya Evstigneev and, having left home, began to roam around the rented rooms, Tanya dangled with us. And after the birth of Denis, we received our first, one-room apartment on Kutuzovsky Prospekt and the four of us settled there. Many foreigners lived in neighboring houses - Czechs, Japanese, French ... So Tanya, going out for a walk with little Denis, shouted at them: “Come on, Germans, move away from the ryabenka!” And when I went pregnant, she set a condition for me: “If you want, Galka, that I love your son, call him Boris Izrailevich.” That's because dad was the only man she truly revered. Upon learning that we named our son Denis, she was upset: “Well, they invented it. He will grow up - he will not thank you for this.

- And why, having married Evgeny Alexandrovich, did you leave your father's apartment - did you feel uncomfortable there?

- The fact is that dad himself only got married then, which created a certain discomfort, but main reason my departure consisted in our quarrel with him because he categorically did not accept my husband. He did not express his opinion directly, but it was clear from everything that Zhenya did not favor. And our conflict dragged on for several years. Then they developed an amazing relationship, and Evstigneev starred in his father's films, but at first everything was, to put it mildly, not easy. Here you need to understand how Evstigneev looked at that time, whom we met at the Studio School and who was seven years older than me. Originally from Gorky, in the past an electrician, mechanic, turner, who later became an artist of the regional Vladimir theater, Zhenya spoke loudly, in a bass voice; he used some wild phrases: "swept floor", "bleached soup" - with sour cream, that means; he addressed the girls: "R-r-rose" - drawlingly, stretching the first letter; in some ingenious way kneaded "Belomor"; he moved with a strange gait, somehow arching himself; he dressed absurdly, not to say caricatured: a jacket with long sleeves, a knitted shirt with a zipper, a crepe de chine tie over it, a grown nail on his little finger, and he himself was somehow unsightly ... But at the same time, he brilliantly played all kinds of musical instruments, drums - simply masterly, and in general, incredible vibes emanated from him. Plus undoubted masculine charm and - most importantly - genius, the magic of talent. For this, I loved it. And with youthful excitement, she wanted to prove to everyone how brilliant he really was ... We signed in 1957, when Sovremennik was just beginning. From the very first money I earned - for the film "Don Quixote" - I bought Zhenya a raincoat, a suit, a hat, a shirt, ties in a commission shop - and he instantly changed. Surprisingly, I did not experience any discomfort from the new image - I put it on and ... as if I had worn only such things all my life.

- Incredible vibes emanated from Evstigneev. Plus undoubted masculine charm and - most importantly - genius, the magic of talent. For this I fell in love (1968). Photo from the personal archive of Galina Volchek

I must say that at first our Tanya, like dad, did not like Evgeny Alexandrovich either. She categorically expressed her opinion: “You are unhappy, Galka! We thought you would bring the right, independent, but you ... You chose some bald one. How is he not ashamed to go bald?! At least wear a hat." But over time, she realized that Evstigneev was socially close to her, also kind of like a village, and fell in love with him very much. When I was already living with my second husband, and Zhenya came to visit Denis, she was sincerely happy with him, she asked with requests: “Zhenya, our tap broke. Zhenya, and here is also an iron, to fix it ... ”He repaired it. After that, Tanya came up to me and said: "Give him a glass of something." Well, you know, as fitters, locksmiths were accepted.

Has motherhood changed you?

- Having given birth to a son, I experienced some unimaginable emotions. Since then, my whole life has been clearly divided into two periods: before the birth of Denis and after; and to this day I remember all the dates, starting from how old he was at that time. I clearly remember my feeling after giving birth: it seemed like I was always striving for something very important, global - in a word, for some kind of large-scale harmony, and now it happened - I found it. Do you know what I did when they told me that they were going to bring the baby? I rushed to the bedside table and, like crazy, began to look for a comb, powder - it seemed very important to me to put my hair in order. appearance, because my son will look at me!

Then I also behaved like crazy at times. Insanely worried about little Denis, she constantly painted in her imagination the horrors that could happen to him. She could break right in the middle of a rehearsal without explaining anything, and, driven by her nightmarish visions, rush to the phone just to ask: “Are you all right?” But everyone treated my jumps with understanding - after all, I went to work on the 17th day after giving birth. I fed right in the theater - they brought me a child, since Evstigneev and I rented a room next to each other.

- During what period was it more difficult for you to communicate with your son - in his childhood, adolescence, adolescence, or when he became famous person?

- Denis and I always communicated absolutely confidentially. Of course, I was gentle with him when he was little, spoiled him, but from the very beginning I respected his personality, I always spoke like an adult, not avoiding any topics. Perhaps child psychologists will consider such behavior to be wrong, but, in my opinion, a child is able to distinguish truth from lies, cunning, tricks from the first steps, without even realizing the meaning of words. Our children grew up behind the scenes of the theater. The atmosphere itself had an effect. Being present at the communication of adults, they listened to conversations, disputes, jokes of people of the most interesting, talented, outstanding in every respect, they were saturated with this spirit.

Serious problems associated with the upbringing of Denis, I never had. Most of all, I value the fact that internally we are very close. By the way, from childhood he was and still is my main adviser and critic in terms of work. My son is rarely complimentary. He has an analytical mind. Always a special point of view. Knowing all this, one can understand how dear his assessment of the performance “Two on a Swing” was to me. He didn’t just say good words - I won’t repeat it, it’s embarrassing. I and everyone who was around saw how much he emotionally connected to what he saw, how informally he reacted. For me it was very important.

“Internally, my son and I are very close. By the way, since childhood, he is still my main adviser and critic.

Part of the job. With his son - Denis Evstigneev (2005). Photo: Boris Kremer

It’s a pity that because of my and his busyness, we can’t fully communicate infrequently. Now, if I have any extreme problems, especially with health, he is always there. Suppose, having learned that I broke my leg in St. Petersburg (by the way, Valya Gaft then wrote to me on plaster: “It’s impossible to say how Pebble is dear with a word or a pen. Pebble has a broken leg ... What a great fracture!” ), Denis, leaving all his affairs, immediately rushed in, helped me move home ... If I find myself in the hospital, he endlessly fusses around. And when in the mid-1990s I was diagnosed with a lung disease, he and Katya, his wife (Ekaterina Gerdt - documentary filmmaker, interior designer. - Approx. "TN"), gave me a delightful Vacation home, where I mainly live since then - enjoy nature and breathe fresh air. Of course, I was very touched: such care is priceless. Probably, like any mother, I do not have enough communication with an adult accomplished son. From time to time I express my grievances, sometimes quite emotionally, simply because I cannot bear it in myself, but there is no result. Anyway, to any of my questions, Denis in most cases has one answer: “Normal”. The crown word of his father.

- Excuse me, but because of what did you part with Yevgeny Alexandrovich - did you seem to have love, and a common child?

— Because of my maximalism. I could not endure Zhenya's betrayal. For me, life in a double standard is impossible. By the way, he was a wonderful father, sometimes he was more busy with Denis than I was. At night, he went to the crib and listened to the baby's breathing. Every day I brought him a balloon - other toys were expensive. And yet, one day I said to my husband a phrase that put an end to our family life: “If you had the courage to betray me, then why is it not enough to admit it?” Denis was then two years eight months old. I didn’t get out, compose something, but directly explained: “You have a wonderful dad, but something didn’t work out with him, and we decided to break up.” Then, of course, she broke down. I had a hard time with our divorce. And many years later, Evstigneev said: "With your maximalism, you ruined my life." And, by the way, Zhenya took my new marriage very zealously.

- Your second husband was a man far from the world of theater and cinema. How did Mark Abelev appear in your life?

— Yes, Mark Yuryevich is a scientist. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Construction Institute. And we met when he was just starting his scientific career. In Murmansk, where he was also on a business trip. On the way from the theater to the hotel (I was walking from a rehearsal), I noticed a man passing by, I thought: “What a type - well, the most perfect Pierre Bezukhov.” In the evening I saw him behind the scenes of the theater - talking with one of my colleagues, he said that the performance was worthless, but Tabakov plays perfectly. And in the evening I found this very man at the entrance to the hotel in the company of Sovremennik artists, and Kvasha introduced us to each other.

We got married when Denis was five years old. I did not dare to take this step for a long time, I was afraid to injure my son. But there were no problems with this. Vice versa. Soon after we began to live together, Denis asked: “Mark, can I call you dad?” I said: "A person can have only one dad." Our marriage lasted about nine years, and during these years Mark played a huge role in raising Denis. In general, he is a wonderful person, and I have always retained the warmest feelings for him. But ... Alas, my absolute immersion in the theater greatly interfered with our lives. Mark was jealous, worried. And the publicity of my profession added discomfort - it is very difficult for a self-sufficient man to constantly feel like on the sidelines ... In general, I did not give Markusha what is necessary in family life, the theater took me all, without a trace. And I understood the justice of the reproaches of my mother-in-law, who said: "For you, apart from the theater, nothing exists, it is your home." True, it was so, I myself chose such a life ... But parting with Mark, when he left for another woman, was extremely painful. Literally crushed. As a result of this experience, I finally realized: family life in its usual sense is excluded for me. My theater bulldozed over it.

- I understood the justice of the reproaches of the mother-in-law, who said: "For you, apart from the theater, nothing exists, it is your home." Truth. I chose this life for myself. Photo: Alexander Kudryakov

- Interestingly, how did your adored nanny take your second marriage?

- Unlike Zhenya, Mark was not socially close to Tanya, so everything about him resented her. Well, not hers, not the one she was waiting for. Because he was not a professor yet, but he had already written his doctoral dissertation. In a word, intelligence. Yes, even with glasses. And his daughter from his first marriage with glasses, and his sister. Tanya endured, endured, and then suddenly declared to me: “Do not try to give birth to children from Iago. There will be sluts!”

- Did the fact that you became a famous director make an impression on your Tatyana?

No, she didn't understand it. She knew only one thing for sure: “Our Galka should work in the theater,” but by whom, why, she was not interested. Occasionally she came to performances, and then the whole theater was waiting for Tanya's reviews, they say, what she would say. I remember, after watching “Two Colors”, she commented: “Most of all I liked Kvasha, he was like fluff!”

- Did you like the components of the profession - fame, popularity, titles - to your taste?

- Now the definition of "star" is in vogue, but this is not just a name, it means a style - behavior, life, self-awareness, requirements in riders: supercars, super fees, super comfortable amenities. And in the creative baggage - a couple of serials of dubious quality. But what to do if the value of a creative person has become mainly measured by popularity, media exposure. I watch with professional interest how a person who appeared three or four times on a talk show, where he is ready to publicly discuss any problem - from scientific discoveries to other people's divorces, suddenly begins to change, believing himself to be a celebrity. And this, as it seems to him, translates him into the category of some celestials and, following his logic, allows him to communicate with the unfamous a little condescendingly. Funny. Others will come tomorrow. And you will be forgotten as easily as remembered. By the way, most of those whose fame is earned not by media technologies, but by really hard work, by the fact that they did not betray their talent at one time, are usually quite modest people.

- Unlike many of my peers, I almost never resort to the argument "now in our time ...". Any time is yours if you are in it

live. With Oleg Dal and Vladimir Vysotsky (1970s). Photo from the personal archive of Galina Volchek

Unlike many of my peers, I almost never resort to the argument "now in our time ...". First, any time is yours if you live in it. Secondly, the balance of good and bad in any of them is approximately equal. And yet I cannot but say that we went to the theater not for fame, not for the main roles. They couldn't live without him. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, neither now nor before was recognition dizzy. No wonder I even stopped filming at one time.

- We went to the theater not for fame, not for the main roles. They couldn't live without him. With the artists of the Sovremennik Theater (from left to right): Igor Kvasha, Pyotr Shcherbakov, Elena Kozelkova, Galina Sokolova, Oleg Tabakov, Natalya Katasheva, Nina Doroshina and Marina Neelova (1970s). Photo from the personal archive of Galina Volchek

— Why, by the way? After all, your film roles are absolutely memorable, it’s enough to name a tiny episode with a tape recorder buyer from “Beware of the Car”, or a She-Wolf from the movie “About Little Red Riding Hood”, or an unfortunate writer from “Autumn Marathon” ...

- Because of the very dependence of the profession on the choice of directors, which we have already talked about. My film career did not bring me any joy. Well, I'm tired of playing all sorts of half-monsters. Their names changed, but in fact they were the same characters. Finally, I realized: the cinema, with the possible exception of the films of Grigory Kozintsev (“Don Quixote” and “King Lear.” - Approx. “TN”), did not give me anything that would somehow come into contact with my inner state. So after the "Autumn Marathon" I decided: that's enough!

- Has there never been such a moment when you really felt your fame, significance and experienced a sense of pride from this?

- Well, why, it was. One of the most iconic, brightest events in my life is the production of Echelon in America. I became the first domestic director to receive an invitation to stage a play in the United States. And in the most difficult time - 1978, the peak cold war. At that time, leaving the USSR for two and a half months to stage a play in the United States, and even to me, a non-partisan, seemed something unreal, akin to a miracle. True, fantasy. And this, by the way, many near-theatrical people could not forgive me for a long time, they bit everyone. And I was incredibly proud. Not for myself personally, but for our theater, for our country.

Before the premiere performance, two anthems were played - American and Soviet, the flags of the two countries were hoisted on the stage. In the hall - men in tuxedos and ladies in furs and low-cut dresses, and among them - 200 people of theatrical nobility, famous journalists who specially came to Houston from New York. And they all gathered in order to watch a performance about the tragic journey to the evacuation of Russian women with children in the fall of 1941 ... The success was enormous. The whole hall applauded while standing, the audience wiped away their tears, shouting "Bravo!" did not stop. Then a chic reception was organized for eight hundred people ... And the next day after the premiere, I felt for the first time what the concept of “waking up famous” means. It was something incredible. Everything is really everything! - Newspapers wrote about this production. That's when I experienced a feeling of absolute happiness.

- Eh, your theatrical diplomacy would be applied now. Then after all, you came to the United States more than once, already with Sovremennik?

- This is much later, in 1996 and 1997. Those tours were amazing. Again, before us, no one, well, except for the old Moscow Art Theater in the 1920s, did not tour on Broadway. Before perestroika, Sovremennik could travel only to the countries, as they were then called, "people's democracy." And then we, the only Russian theater groups, received an invitation, and for two years in a row we performed in the best Broadway theaters in the center of New York. We represented not only ourselves, not only the country, but - which is incredibly important for me - the Russian psychological theater! And there were also full halls, and an enthusiastic audience reception, and hundreds of reviews. As a result, Sovremennik became the owner of a unique, very prestigious national award in the field of dramatic art Drama Desk Award - the first off-Broadway theater, since it has never been awarded to foreigners, including even the English Shakespeare's Globe Theater. I especially want to emphasize that 600 (!) people voted. It was then that I could not restrain my emotions, burst into tears in front of everyone - from overstrained nerves, from joy, from overflowing pride.

- Galina Borisovna, Sovremennik and you personally, as its leader, have been predicted many times the “finish”, but the theater still continues to be in the lead, and you are still at the helm. How do you do it, what secret do you own?

- There is no secret. It's just that it's very important for me that our theater, as always, continues to be modern. I do not want people to relax and rest when they come to us. No, let them tense up, worry, reflect, think - in a word, let their soul work. And I am happy that I see in the auditorium not only people who grew up with Sovremennik, but also a lot of young people, which is wonderful. It's the same inside the theater - I'm constantly looking for young directors and actors, I call them to our troupe. And it seems to me that we do not lose that style of relationships that so long ago, 60 (!) years ago, united us, young actors, into a creative studio. I mean the spirit of camaraderie, unanimity, cohesion, mutual support, a sense of theater-at home. Today it is customary to scoff at him, but in vain.

Here I will tell you about one very revealing case. In the Soviet years, Sovremennik was not released abroad for a very long time, especially in capitalist countries. And suddenly there was an opportunity for a tour to Sweden. Thunder from a clear sky would surprise less. There is no limit to universal joy - is it a joke to visit Stockholm! Everyone is in a happy expectation, and ... an unexpected hitch: the conclusion of the commission for traveling abroad states: "Do not let Gaft and Kvasha out!" I am informed of this and offered to replace these actors in the play with others. No big deal, it's common practice. Arriving at the theater, I gathered a troupe and said: “I understand that none of us has been to the West and everyone dreams of this trip. However, a problem arose: two of our comrades were not allowed out of the country and I was ordered to make a replacement. But I can’t take on this responsibility alone, let’s decide together.” And imagine, the whole team unanimously (!) voted against commissioning, and therefore against the trip. Do you understand?! But I didn’t even mention the names of the “not allowed to travel abroad”. This is what Sovremennik is based on. And we, as before, do not lie - we have such a principle. It was, is, and hopefully will remain. I remember that at one time Zyama Gerdt fixed attention on this, said: “There are two places in Moscow where you will not be deceived - the Conservatory and the Sovremennik Theater. Apparently, initially Oleg Efremov gave us such a powerful start, ignited us with such an idea, believed in us so inspired, was so ruthlessly demanding that this charge is still enough.

- Oleg Efremov gave us such a powerful start, so lit the idea that this charge is still enough (1977). Photo: RIA Novosti

- There is some kind of inexhaustible activity in you, naturally "perpetuum mobile". It is not for nothing that people from behind the scenes pronounce your last name with an emphasis on the last syllable - Volchok.

- Initially, this pronunciation of the surname had nothing to do with my energy. This is the result of a youth protest movement. I didn't want people to think I was getting ahead because of my illustrious dad. So she resisted, including in this way - everywhere she wrote and pronounced her last name like Volchok. In general, then everything was done the other way around. I can give you a very typical example. With dad, we lived in the house of the Union of Cinematographers, where at the entrances, just like at any Moscow houses, there were benches on which aunts sat from morning to evening - observers of neighbors: who, where, when, with whom, why? .. One day my cousin came to visit us for a few days. Sometimes we went outside with him, walked in an embrace, chatted. I was 15 years old. Rumors immediately spread about my promiscuity, and information about Galka's shameless relationship with an adult guy was conveyed to dad. Upon learning of such a slander, I, offended and humiliated, put on my father's cloak with large pockets obliquely, bought a watermelon, stuffed it inside and, holding it with my hands through the pockets on my stomach, proudly walked past the malicious aunts, shaking their moral foundations with my "sinful pregnancy". So everyone protested.

As for the surname Volchok as a symbol of my activity, then ... After all, the top is not independently activated, it is launched. And I thank God that I was, as they say, “turned on” and “set into motion” by people like my parents and all those with whom fate connected me.

A family: son - Denis Evstigneev (53 years old), film director

Education: graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School

Career: starred in the films: "King Lear", "Autumn Marathon", "Beware of the Car", "Tevye the Milkman", etc. Since 1989 - artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater (among the staged performances: History", "Steep Route", "Three Comrades", "Echelon", "Three Sisters")

Galina Volchek was in intensive care. During the examination, doctors put the 82-year-old artist at once several serious diagnoses. So, Volchek was diagnosed with acute pneumonia that developed in the right lung, as well as hypertension heart, LifeNews reports, citing a source in the hospital.

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Note that two years ago, Volchek was already in intensive care. Then the reason for urgent hospitalization was heart problems: sources in the medical community reported that the actress had an almost complete atrioventricular heart block, when electrical impulses are blocked and the heart rhythm is disturbed.

Galina Volchek, a graduate of the Moscow Art Theater School, is one of the founders of the Sovremennik Theatre. In 1972, Volchek became the chief director of the theater, and since 1989, for 27 years, she has been the artistic director. On account of the actress - dozens of works in theater and cinema. The audience knows and remembers her from the films "Beware of the Car" (1966), "King Lear" (1970), "Autumn Marathon" (1979) and others.

Volchek also tried herself in the director's field: in 1988 she made the film "Echelon", and in 2008 - "The Steep Route". Galina Borisovna was awarded the USSR State Prize, as well as the title People's Artist USSR.