Every performance of the SYURTUK theater is an event. And although members of the community are not actors by profession, the action they create on stage is always deep and extraordinary. If you haven’t been to their shows before, be sure to follow the announcements and don’t miss the event – don’t be indifferent. In a short evening you will live more than one life with the characters and go with thoughts… Every actor and every actress of the theater is unique, because all together immerse the audience in the Meaning. Maksym Mamatsashvili is the only professional actor in the amateur troupe of the theater studio «SYURTUK».. He shared his thoughts about Zhytomyr and its meanings, past and future with Zhytomyr.Travel

«Yes, I graduated from AUSIC (ed. – All-Union State Institute of Cinematography), but returned to Zhytomyr… That’s how the stars came together. I am satisfied and proud of it. I am proud of my city, because I met people who did not know where Korolyov and Richter were born, what «Children of the Dungeon» was written about… I am a great patriot of Zhytomyr. When friends come to me, in the warm season we go to the park. If we go to the hydropark, I tell them about archeological finds, about Scythian settlements, about the fact that people have lived here for a long time. It would be possible to go to a Catholic cemetery, but I’m afraid they may not understand so well… Once in my childhood we were looking for treasures there»

«A guy from Zhytomyr, who entered the acting faculty of AUSIC, in the studio of Joseph Reichelhaus with his own theater on Trubna Square – it was too much even for my teachers. He entered an educational institution where there were 500 entrants for one place, himself, did not pay anyone any money. Just passed all entrance exams, all rounds»

«Once my father instilled in me a thirst for reading: he pushed the right books for me at the right age. I read «Tom Sawyer», Belyaev, then Remarque, Gilyarovsky… Chekhov was always. As a result, I received a salary and went to work in a bookstore. And holding a stack of books in my hands, I realized that I needed to leave something, because I would have to eat something until the next salary»

«It turned out to be strange: my mother is from Klin and my father is from Tbilisi. Somehow it turned out that I was local. The father was an orphan, a child of the repressed. And it seems that my grandfather was the main director of the Tbilisi Film Actor’s Theater, and I was even at his house …»

«Long ago there were many old houses in Zhytomyr. I remember them as a child… It was all, but unfortunately for some reason they did not save. I don’t know what the reason is. I was in Berdychiv recently, got lost in the old street, and it was so sad… Why don’t we restore houses and streets? It can be done…»

«I do not like piggery. When cigarette butts or bottles are thrown at my feet. Who does that? Heads of state? No, those who then return to these dirty places. When I go to work in the morning, I see a lot of dirt left over from the evening, I’m surprised. There are many dumpsters, what’s the problem? Why can’t people take it all to the dump? Do not understand…»

«It is dangerous that people do not have critical thinking, especially in relation to themselves. Some do not have critical thoughts at all… I once studied a «forbidden subject», which in the Soviet Union was almost not studied – the history of customs. Given that I entered the university I wanted, I really enjoyed studying, and I diligently attended all the lectures. The teacher was a very smart woman. For two years I attended lectures myself. They were on Saturdays at 9 am. We drank coffee alone and talked. From my teacher I learned about such an interesting writer as Milorad Pavic, and reread almost all of his works. There was another similar subject – the history and theory of religion. The teacher was ridiculous to the point of impossibility – drooping and limp. It was usually unbearable to look at his serious eloquence without laughing, especially when a person was in a state of heightened emotionality. But he said too serious things. About religion and morality, about the Ten Commandments – ordinary human morality. That a thinking atheist is much closer to God than a scoundrel who bows and puts pood candles…»

«At one time, my wife just drove me to the theater studio «SYURTUK». I contacted a friend who gave me contacts, and I’ve been there for the second year. Did not participate in only one performance…»

«Our realism is as cynical as possible. I am interested in what Oksana is doing (ed. – Oksana Naumenko, director of the theater studio «SYURTUK».). She likes what she does, the way she does it. I cheer for every word, insert my five kopecks everywhere and, as a child, rejoice within myself that it is accepted, that I help someone. Everything that is done in our theater is absolutely social. Now, in the absence of normal film production, theatrical production, it all comes down to making money. We have little for the soul: a bottle of beer, Tik-Tok or Insta…»

«I read all the time. I read Zhelyazny, Strugatsky, but who knows about them now? People do not know Chekhov… Now no one is trying to impress with the intellect»

«Our theater is entirely at the initiative of people who seek development. All in all, I am the only professional actor there. Yes, I am ready to help as much as I can – to put movements, language. Of course, it would be good if you could organize courses where you can share experiences… Everyone brings to the theater what may be needed at work. Oksana Naumenko, our director, is also Plushkin. Once during rehearsals at her house, I always tried to say goodbye to a painted person in a hat, with a mouthpiece in hand. It turned out that it was a mannequin, and it looked like a living person. So what? A very necessary thing in productions»

«There is such an acting technique. I watched it with both «bison» and novice actors: there is a stage, and there is a border. Ordinary life abroad: you can live as you wish, but abroad, on stage, you have to forget about everything. If something happens to you, they will help you, of course, but when you go on stage, everything that happens in life should become unimportant. Well, of course, some extraordinary, important things in a person’s life are different. It once occurred to me that there could be only one reason for an actor not appearing on stage – death. And unfortunately, I once saw such moments…»

«What is the main theatrical principle? Here and now. All! I used to go to a play starring my teacher. It turned out to be such an auntie with a pot in her hands – as if nothing special. At that time she had twenty performances a month, and that’s very, very much – a huge nervous tension… And so she just came on stage, and I already understand why she came out, where she goes, what she wants to say. I hear it, I see it, I feel it»

«Actor is a craft. Well, maybe a drop of talent, but in general it is a craft, and ugly, mixed… For me, for example, the difficulty of this craft is the impossibility of being late. You can’t be late for rehearsals: you’re late – they take away the role. I once had two days of filming in a commercial outside the city, in a real palace. And I came from there at two o’clock in the morning, then went again at seven in the morning. Then there were two filming days from six in the morning. It’s good that at least the set was next to the dormitory. Here I came, I had my face «painted», and I got into the shot at half past one on the first night. And all the time I was in a suit and makeup. And this is not to scratch, not to rub the nose from which the river flows. But still you have to come out in the image»

«Theater and cinema are different things… Only «cinematic» actors are trained in ASUIC. We, our group, were lucky: we had a theater director. He said: «You know, in the theater you can «disperse». There is a certain movement when you enter the image gradually. And in the movie it’s different: here is one scene in bed, and ten minutes later a scene where you cut someone’s throat. And you have to enter already charged, with a certain energy, which you will either explode yourself or break others. Theater and cinema are completely different things»

«I think there will always be a theater. It may change, as in Book 451 Fahrenheit. Remember when the hero came home and his family watched some savagery on the wall? There was no theater hall as such. Actually, now we have any show – it’s a theater, a resolution»

«Brilliant people probably do not think about the social component. Although… Probably, both Schwartz once and Bulgakov understood well what they were doing, and the same Chekhov whom I adore. Because it’s hard to describe life with humor. Theater is an absolutely social thing. I understand people who come to the performances of the theater «SYURTUK». They come to get something new… Not to show themselves, but to get… All actors want creativity»

«Society is gradually turning away from art. I love movies in all its forms, except TV series. I even dream of making my own film, I have some experience, but I don’t know how much it will cost. I think that the simpler the project seems, the more difficult it is to implement. It is very difficult to simplify… Once I had to reconsider what was in the institute program: Hitchcock, Truffaut, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Fritz Lang, Jean Vigo. Now I enjoy watching the winners of the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscars… But Dovzhenko, Paradzhanov, Mykolaychuk, Bykov are brilliant Ukrainian directors. What did we do after the last of these geniuses left?»

«After certain events in my life, my vector of perception has changed: it is easy for me to perceive almost everything. I really like the words of Borys Grebenshchikov: «Did I not live up to your expectations? Well, sorry, those were your hopes. I’m useless here». However, there are things you can’t put up with. I understand that our people will not stop spitting at their feet and throwing cigarette butts. Barbarism will not go away, because for some it is a constant state of mind. And the presence of wealth in a person does not indicate the presence of her upbringing. So no matter how much I regret it, I will not change anything. But this is my city, my homeland, and I’m still upset that I can’t change anything. If people themselves do not want to change for the better, what will you do to them? Kill, drown in the river like kittens? And the meaning? Although you can’t put up with it. Maybe now we get echoes of «sovok», because we were knocked out of otherness. If you are a «white crow» – get on your beak. Then many things were forbidden».

«It’s hard to convince me of anything. I may believe at some point, but in order for me to follow someone, I have to believe in an idea. SURTUK is an idea. It’s interesting here, I can be myself, play a fool or talk about something serious. And even swear»

«What would I like? There is a child’s dream: I would like to fly a jet, but it’s a child’s dream. In general, I want to live here and now. I have arms, legs; loved ones sleep next to me – my wife and little Miho; you can drink strong tea in the morning, go to work and return from work to them. I want to live like in a theater: here and now»