The official opening date of the new monument is still unknown. Photo by Marina Raikina/mk.ru
“Nightmare horror or a terrible nightmare” – this is one of the softest descriptions that sounded at the monument on the grave of Sovremennik artistic director Galina Volchek on Novodevichy Cemeteryestablished in 2021 (Galina Borisovna gone in 2019 at the age of 86). Actor Stanislav Sadalsky spoke out more clearly than others: “Something crooked and disproportionate was looking askance at you, and even with moles, which Galina Borisovna could not stand, and which she eventually got rid of. They put a cigarette in her hand – in general, everything that “complemented” the image.” They cursed their son, actor, director and producer Denis Evstigneev: how did he allow this to happen?!
I must admit that all, even the most offensive criticism, was fair. That “crooked” bust was sculpted by the respected sculptor Georgy Frangulyan, the author of the Moscow monuments to Joseph Brodsky, Samuil Marshak, Yevgeny Primakov, Aram Khachaturyan, Mikhail Bulgakov… The devil knows why his bust of Volchek, to put it mildly, didn’t work out.
“Nightmare horror or a terrible nightmare” – this is one of the softest descriptions that sounded at the monument on the grave of Sovremennik artistic director Galina Volchek
Photo: social network
Fortunately, he is no longer at the director’s grave. At Novodevichy, the installation of a new monument by Oleg Ershov is being completed – his photo was published “Moscow’s comsomolets”. They say that the idea was suggested to him by the famous theater artist and set designer Alexander Borovsky-Brodsky. Finally, the recognizable Galina Borisovna looks through space, leaning on a white chair and resting her chin on her hand. This is the famous pose of Volchek, known from dozens of photographs – the director, painfully reflecting on the performance. Only in the photo there was always her constant cigarette in her right hand, which this time they did not reproduce in stone (apparently, they considered it unnecessary in these healthy lifestyle times).
And it looks like the new job was a success. Loving son Denis corrected his involuntary mistake. Now even Sadalsky thought that “the new monument is incredible, luxurious, touching, worthy…”
The official opening date of the new monument is still unknown. Perhaps October 1, the day the season begins at Sovremennik, when the theater troupe traditionally visits the grave of Galina Volchek.
READ ALSO
Galina Volchek, the last of the founders of Sovremennik, has died
People’s Artist of the USSR Galina Volchek died at the age of 87 (more details)
