Boris Yukhananov

Boris Yukhananov–(Russian: Борис Юрьевич Юхананов) Director of the Electro Stanislavsky Theatre, Moscow. Yukhananov began his career as a film director and scholar. He was a pioneering figure in Russia’s underground art movement during 1980s-1990s and one of the founders of the film movement Soviet Parallel Cinema, which provided an alternative cinema to that which was run by the state. His major successes include a radical interpretation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s The Blue bird, the opera Sverlians and The Constant Principle.

Early life

Yukhananov was born in Moscow on 30 September 1957. In 1974, he began his career as an actor for the Moscow Puppet Theatre. In 1979 he graduated from the Voronezh Institute of Arts, gaining a major in stage and screen acting. He then acted for the Bryansk Regional Drama Theatre from 1979-1980. During the early 1980s, Yukhananov turned towards directing and enrolled onto the prestigious directing course conducted at the Anatoly Efros’s studio at GITIS (Russian Theatre Art Academy), the course was conducted by renowned Soviet director, Anatoly Vasiliev. Yukhananov’s first directing experience was as an assistant director to Anatoly Efros in the 1983 production of ‘The Tempest’. Yukhananov also played the part of Caliban. During his postgraduate, Yukhananov became Director’s assistant in ‘Serso’ written by V. Slavkin and directed by Anatoly Vasiliev. This experience developed Yukhananov’s own understanding of theatre, which later influenced his own method of directing. The most notable among Yukhananov’s early experimental projects is ‘Capriccios’, based on a record of J. Brodsky’s trial in a Soviet court. Nikita Mikhailovsky acted in this project. The subsequent friendship between Yukhananov and Mikhailovsky would lead to the creation of an entirely new project; the creation of the radical theatre troupe ‘Teatr Teatr’.

Career

Early career

“Teatr Teatr” Troupe and the 1980s

After his studies, Yukhananov began working in theatre professionally. The 1980s in Russia was a time of radical change and social upheaval. Systematic destruction of social order made people question the fundamental principles and traditions which had held society together had suddenly fallen apart, including those in art. Yukhananov was one of the first directors to document these changes and express them through cinema and theatre. In 1985, he created the first independent theatre troupe in the Soviet Union called ‘Teatr Teatr’ and started experimenting with different genres such as performance and new media art. He worked with a highly dynamic team team of actors, musicians and artists including; Nikita Mikhailovsky, Larissa Borodina, Evgeniy Chorba, the band Obermaneken starring Evgeniy Kalachev, Andrey Zaharishchev-Braush and artists such as Ivan Kochkarev, Yuriy Harikov and Evgeny Yufit. Soon a new brand of theatre was born out of ‘Teatr Teatr’. In performances such as ‘Le Misanthrope’, ‘The Fu-funeral’, and ‘Mon Repos’ Yukhananov "accustomed" his actors to a “mobile” mise-en-scène in which the only concrete ideas were the relationships between the actors and their characters. Yukhananov was careful never to impose a strict directing method onto his actors. Instead he provided a framework within which the actors were free to explore their characters.

Soviet Parallel Cinema

Collaborating with brothers Igor and Gleb Aleynikov (Moscow) and Evgeniy Yufit (Leningrad) B. Yukhananov founded the cinematographic movement ‘Parallel Cinema’ in 1986. Together they created films in parallel to the state film-production system. During this time the samizdat magazine ‘Ciné Phantom’ was established. It was the first independent magazine about cinema published in the USSR. B. Yukhananov continues to be a contributing author and member of the editorial board. Yukhananov wrote about his video experiments in articles such as ‘Theory of the Video Direction’, ‘Fatal Editing’, ‘There is Your Head in Your Hands’, ‘Mutant Imago’, etc. He mythologized the nature of video, and reinterpreted the concept of editing, rejecting the conventional narrative structure of films. With ‘Parallel Cinema’, he created a new art form called ‘slow video’. Through this medium Yukhananov suggested that artistic thinking should be continuous, “not be text, but speech, which is flowing and flowing and flowing, while trying to express the sense”. The actor's approach to acting in video should informed by theatre acting – they existed continuously from one episode to another.

Creation of the Studio for Individual Directing (MIR) 1990s

In 1988, B. Yukhananov founded The Leningrad Free University with Timur Novikov, Sergey Kuryokhin, the Goroshevsky brothers, Olga Khrustalevа and Dmitry Volchek. Within the Leningrad Free University, Yukhananov established his Studio for Individual Directing (MIR), in which he offers young directors an alternative training to that which is proscribed by the state. It is a platform for budding directors to test the boundaries of film-making. Yukhananov is not opposed to the teaching within in state film-schools, but is passionate about diversity and experimentation and aspires to merge traditional methods with a more avant-gardist approach. At the Studio of Individual Directing Yukhananov has developed an integrated approach to directing, establishing a strong link between theatre, cinema and video and contemporary art. 1989-1991 – Yukhananov he directed ‘Octavia’ by Seneca and an essay about Lenin by L. Trotskiy. Many representatives of Moscow’s underground movement took part in this performance, including: ‘The Sever’ band, Ekaterina Ryzhikova, Alexander Lughin, composer Kamil Chalaev, Avdotya Smirnova, as well as leading actors of the ‘Teatr Teat’ troupe – Nikita Mikhailovsky and Evgeniy Chorba, Maria Pyrenkova, and photographer Ilya Piganov, fashion designer Irina Burmistrova, Irina Piganova, Alexander Petlyura, etc. The first night took place at the opening of ‘Free Academy’ (spring, 1989). In 1997 – the course for directors and actors was created in the RATI. From 1997 until 2002 – Yukhananov was a Head of a course for directors and actors in the RATI.

The Golden Ass 2015

In 2015, newly graduated young directors from the Studio of Individual Directing will stage debut plays on the Small Stage of the Electro Stanislavsky Theatre with works by Russian and European writers. ‘The Golden Ass’ by Apuleius, translated by Mikhail Kusmin, embodies the overall concept of this project.

Director of The Electro Stanislavsky Theatre

In early 2013, the department of Culture in Moscow ran a competition for the post of Artistic Director at the Moscow Drama Theatre named after K.S. Stanislavsky. The winner, announced in July 2013, was Boris Yukhananov.

In collaboration with The Wowhaus Studio, Yukhananov renovated the ancient interior of the building and established a programme based on two guiding principles; firstly, the Electro is a ‘director’s theatre’ which aims to make the art of theatre accessible. Secondly, the Electro was created to actively promote collaborations with the most contemporary and radical composers and artists of today, both in Russia and internationally. Yukhananov encourages frontier productions, contemporary operas, and a wide range of art exhibitions, including installations, performance art and other innovative forms.

Since its opening in January 2015, the Electro Stanislavsky Theatre has gained a reputation for being one of Russia’s most progressive theatres.

Opera

Sverlians “The Sverlians” is an opera series spanning over five evenings with music composed by six leading contemporary Russian composers, based on the opera-novel by Boris Yukhananov. All the composers are members of the ‘Structural Resistance Group’ (StRes): Dmitri Kourliandski, Boris Filanovski, Alexei Sioumak, Sergei Newski, Vladimir Rannev and Alexey Sysoev.

The Sverlians recounts the tale of a Sverlian Prince’s journey through time and space. The prince is a magician, pagan, priest and hero. He undertakes his journey in order to save an ancient, other-worldly civilisation called Sverlia. The opera is set in the future with elements of the past and present. “The Sverlians” had its premier in the Centre of Design ARTPLAY in December 2012.

Theatre

Maeterlinck and The Blue Bird

This is a colossal production which spans over three nights. 300 costumes were hand-made for this production, including the cross-section of a real airplane for the set. The premiere of the trilogy ‘The Blue Bird’, based on the dramatized fairy-tale by Maurice Maeterlinck, took place in February 2015. The play maps the story of a boy Tytyl and a girl called Mytyl and their search for happiness in the form of a Blue Bird. The two main characters are played by renowned soviet actors, Vladimir Korenev and Aleftina Konstantinova.

Boris Yukhananov, from the interview for the internet edition of Gazeta.ru, 2013; “We want to create a kind of documentary play made according to certain rules, which will become fleshed out in Maeterlinck’s fairytale. Actors will move along the emerging mysteries of memory and their destiny. Their own real recollections, dreams, phantasms will appear. The 80s, 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s- back in childhood, where in the fears and mysteries of children’s experiences the Blue Bird is hiding.”

The Constant Principle

The premiere of the new version of the mystery-play by Boris Yukhananov “The Constant Principle” will take place in autumn 2015 on the Main Stage of the Electrotheatre Stanislavsky.

In 1437, Don Fernando, a Portuguese prince, is taken prisoner by the Sultan of Morocco after an unsuccessful military expedition. In exchange for his freedom, the prince is ordered by the Sultan to destroy the town of Ceuta, a Catholic stronghold in North Africa. Prince Fernando decides that his life is not worth such a concession. He prefers life as a slave in a Muslim prison.

Fernando died in 1443. He was made a saint by the Catholic Church, and his heroic deed was glorified. His story became the subject of a philosophical drama by Pedro Calderon de la Barca ‘The Constant Prince’ (El Principe constant, 1629).

Faust

In 1999, Yukhananov began a new revolutionary performance of ‘Faust’, based on the first part of the Faust tragedy by Goethe. The performance went through several editions in 1999 (the last, the Sixth, edition took place first on stage of the “School of Drama Art” Theatre in 2009). The first performance took place in 1999 in the Pushkin Festival and lasted about 6 hours.

Evolutionary projects

Theatrical performances

Cinema and video works

1983 The Toy. Short-film, 35 mm, operator Vladimir Bryljakov
1986 Private residence the 1st chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince». The final variation is being produced now
1986 Reverse perspective over an article by P. Florensky «Reverse perspective». The final variation is being produced now
1986 Cafe. The final variation is being produced now
1987-2005 Game in ХО the 2nd chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1988-2005 Mad prince Fassbinder. The 3rd chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1988-2005 Hamlet the 4th chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince». The final variation is being produced now
1988-2005 Mad prince. Esther the 5th chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1988 Theatre Theatre. Platon. Dialogues
1988 Dreams of the queen
1988 Self-portrait. The plug-in chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1989 Photographer. The plug-in chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1989 King Kong
1989 Interview. The plug-in chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1989 the Film about Theatre Theatre
1989 the Mad prince is the Actor – the 8th chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince». The final variation is being produced now
1989 Wings, Video
1989 Octavia, the 10th chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince». The final variation is being produced now
1989 The Zoo
1990 Crazy Prince Godard, Leben nach Tot festival, Hamburg. The film was lost in the Hamburg subway
1990 The Garden, based on «The Cherry Orchard» by A.Chekhov, 13 hours matrix
1990 Crazy Prince Godard, Leben nach Tot festival, Hamburg. The film was lost in the Hamburg subway
1992 Mad prince Nikita, the 12th chapter of the video novel in 1000 cassettes «Mad prince»
1995 Uncontrollable for anybody, a video film
1996 The Garden: the 5th Regeneration'
1997 Da Dauny!, documentary
1997 Dzenboxing, feature film, producer, co-writer
2005 The Garden the 8th regeneration»', TV film
2010 Nazidanie («Edification»), documentary mystery
2011 Chapiteau, (director S.Loban), feature film, producer
2011 Branded, feature film (USA-Russia), executive producer

TV works

1989 TV-program about independent Russian video for Hungarian TV
1990 Pop Culture - TV-show, the Broadcasting company «Bridge», channel Russia
1995 No budget - a special heading for TV-program «Cinematograph» (more than 10 series), ORT (1st channel)
1996 Moscow. 20th century, an art-documentary film over the novel by A. Bely (2 series), ORT (the 1st Channel)
1999 the Project INDUCTIVE TV the National serial producer, author of the scenario, director
2003 Hunger, production director of reality show, Berlin – Moscow, channel «ТNТ»
2007-2010 the telenovel Nazidanie ("Edification")
2008 to present day - Mystical travels, the art director, the producer, channel «ТNТ»

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