My Last Visit to the Theatre

There are several theatres in Minsk but I’m especially fond of the National Theatre named after Kupala. I try not to miss the opportunity of seeing a good play with my favourite actors in the cast. When I saw the poster that “…” would be on, I booked two tickets for the evening performance at the box-office of the theatre. I managed two seats on the balcony. I couldn’t get better ones as the house had already been sold out by that time.

On the day of the performance I was to meet with my friend at the entrance to the theatre at 7.15 p. m. But she appeared only 5 minutes before the performance. She apologized for having kept me waiting. I said that if she had arrived 2 minutes later, I’d have sold the ticket.

At the entrance to the theatre itself an attendant in a uniform tore our tickets in half and gave us the halves so that we could find our seats by their numbers. Then we hurried to the cloak-room where we left our coats and took opera glasses. On the balcony another attendant showed us to our seats and sold us a programme from which we found out how many acts there were in the play and what the cast was.

Though our seats were far from the stage we could have a perfect view of it as the hall was not very large. When we looked around we saw that the house was full. There was a continuing shuffling of feet, coughing and sneezing. But when the lights went down a breathless hush settled over the hall.

During the interval my friend and I went to the refreshment room to have a cup of coffee and some cakes. While drinking coffee we were sharing our impressions of what we’d just seen. My friend said she liked the play and was greatly moved by the production which was simply splendid. The setting of the play to her mind was beautiful too, to say nothing of the costumes and make-up, the lights and sound-effects which helped the audience to concentrate on the dialogue and the acting. But my friend didn’t like the scenery. The scene of the first act was laid in the woods and only a tree and some bushes could be seen on the stage. In her opinion good scenery might only make the play more impressive. I agreed with her that the scenery was symbolic but remarked that it wasn’t the thing that mattered. I said that the actor and the word were the most important things. Then there went a bell and we hurried back to the balcony.

When the last curtain fell there was no end to the applause. We stood applauding the actors for a long time, there were several curtain calls.

When we were out in the street we walked for a while in silence. We could hardly put into words what we thought of the play. I enjoyed everything: the production, the setting and the acting. To my friend’s mind the cast was excellent except … who played the part of… She said she couldn’t give a convincing moving performance. Besides, she had such a weak voice that she could hardly be heard.

But I was of a different opinion. I consider … to be one of the talented and charming actresses at the theatre. I think she was at her best and there was much emotion in her acting especially in the last scene which was very touching. Regarding her voice, in my opinion, it expressed the feelings the heroine experienced. In general, we agreed the play was a success with the public and we were deeply impressed by it.

Different people have different opinions about the theatre. The short monologues that follow will acquaint you with seven persons expressing their views on theatrical problems. Enact the monologues in the form of interviews.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14