March 31, 1957
SOLOMOS ON OKHLOPKOV: (From an article by Alexis Solomos on the Soviet stage director Nikolai Pavlovich Okhlopkov who had visited Athens): «…Okhlopkov became director of the Realist Theater (formerly the Krasnaya Presnya Theater) of Moscow in 1932 and stayed until 1937 when he was assigned to another theater. During that time he wrote history, attempting to completely abolish the distance between the actor and his audience. It was not enough for him to do away with the curtain; that had been done by others before him. He even did away with the stage, not only removing the scenery, but demolishing or adapting it. In every play, the stage took on a different shape, that which would best express the nature of the play and serve the action… Let us imagine the audience not sitting opposite the actors but involved in the performance. For that was Okhlopkov’s idea – to make audience and performers as one. The audience had to believe that they were in a place where people like themselves were living, and not simply watching actors playing parts… His contribution did not stop there, however. He is also responsible for one of the first appearances of the circular theater…»
