Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 43

tist of the USSR, a young ballerina, explained that her title is a result of elections held by the theatre's artistic council \\'hich re\'ie\\'s the outstanding \\'ork
of individual performers, Aside from
the prestige, the title brings a higher income which, in turn, brings a higher increment for housing rental. The artistic
council of the l"daly is composed of all
genres of artists plus representative shipbuilders (the indu trial sponsor), management, and delegates of the Supreme
Soviet. Together, they \\'ork out fi\'eyear plans of repertoire, decide \\'ho may
join the company, and deal \\'ith every
problem,
Tamara, in ans\\er to our question,
said she and her fellow dancers simply
did not understand why Russian dancers
would succumb to the temptations and
defect to the West, after the extensive
training, support, opportunities, and security pro\'ided to artists by the USSR,
Since Tamara's company \\'as performing that evening \'odka was conspicuously absent from the banquet table, [n
its place, ironically, was Pepsi Cola, a
beachhead for capitalism,

Drama
The distinguished stage and film actor, Strajelbuik, transcended the barrier
of language with his masterful performance in Arthur I\liller's The Price,
which, amazingly, has been in the repertoire of the Leningrad Gorky Theatre
company for over t\\'eke years, We \\'ere
equally amazed at the decor, which
displayed a flamboyant contempt for
both technical competence and realistic
milieu, and was unsullied by either research or logic. Cautious inquiry, while
meeting the cast, re\'ealed that they were
performing in a rented theatre \\'hile
their o\\'n Gorky Theatre underwent renovation, but this did not explain the
toral freedom of ex pres ion enjoyed by
the de igner, twice-honored S.S. i\landel, which shocked our consen'ati\'e,
more realistic, understanding of Arthur
II iller.
At the Lenin Komsomol Theatre in
I\loscow, busloads of school children
\\'ere arriving to see a matinee performance of The Bremell Towl1 A1usicialls
while we met with the company. It came
as a surprise to hear that many had seen
and admired American musicals in ew
York and London and regarded them
(e.g. Jesus Christ Superstar) as models
for their own work. \-\le learned of a
lypical actress's salary of about $180 per

month as a company member, of which
only nine dollars goes toward rent, heat,
light, gas, and telephone. She recei\'es
additional income for appearing in a
film thriller and a TV series. For singing
in a rock musical, she also receives a
bonus, which appeared fully justified
when we were proudly treated to a quantitative sample of the theatre's Russian
rock band.
That evening we saw a fascinating
performance of Til-a musically eclectic version of the Til Eulenspiegel
legend.

Peace
Our constant companions, who also
became our close friends, included Sergei Seliverstov of the International Department of the Cultural Workers
Union, and our two tireless, gracious,
and utterly charming translators, Galina
Mironova and Valeria Ryabova, Sergei's bOllomless good humor and energy
was matched only by his comprehensive
knowledge of Western culture, from
Spinoza to Snoopy.

l\[ention must also be made of the
many solemn visits we made to the awesome memorials to those fallen in war,
to the siege of Leningrad, and to the
unknown soldier in Kiev, all of which
carry the theme that "this must never
happen again."
[n a final meeting, Mikhail Pashkov,
President of the Central Committee of
the Cultural Worker Union, placed the
importance of our visit in the context of
the developing misunderstandings between the USA and the USSR, and
tated that "we have every intention of
expanding the contacts with our counterparts in your country." He ended
with a plea for peace.
C

James Maronek is a designer and President of Local 350, United Scenic Artists
of America.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983
