"Mystery buff" - the embodiment of the ideas of new art. Association with mass festivities

We, poets, artists, directors and actors, are celebrating the anniversary of the October Revolution with a revolutionary performance.

Poster of the first performances of "Mystery-buff". Drawing by V. Mayakovsky. 1918

We will be given: "Mystery-buff", a heroic, epic and satirical image of our era, made by V. Mayakovsky.

I cards. Whites and blacks flee from the red flood.

II map. The ark. The clean slip the king and the republic onto the unclean. You will see for yourself what comes out of it.

III cards. Hell, in which the workers of Beelzebub himself were sent to hell.

IV card. Paradise. A large conversation between a farmhand and Methuselah.

V cards. Commune! Sunny holiday of things and workers.

Colorized by Malevich. Arranged by Meyerhold and Mayakovsky. Played by free actors.

Note

"Mystery-buff" is chronologically the first Soviet play - the first written by a Soviet author and staged in a Soviet theater. More importantly, this is the first truly popular and groundbreaking work, which reflected in its content and in its forms the greatness of the October Revolution and captured the irreconcilable opposition of the world of working people and the world of oppressors.

True, in the first edition of Mystery Buff there are few specific features that directly depict revolutionary Russia in 1917-1918, and there are few moments directly related to the then international life. It is important, however, that the ideas, conflicts, and phraseology of the play very vividly convey the atmosphere of the period at the end of the war and the first year of Soviet power.

In the plot of "Mystery-buff" Mayakovsky used, but satirically rethought religious legends about the global flood, Noah's ark, the way to the promised land, ideas about hell and paradise, the Sermon on the Mount. Using religious legends, Mayakovsky spoke in a language that was familiar to the widest circle of people at that time. But in the images of religion, he put a completely different - directly anti-religious content. And the word "mystery", usually meaning a certain sacrament, acquired a different meaning and united here with the seemingly opposite concept - "buff", that is, with something very comical. Mayakovsky explained the title of the play in this way: "Mystery is great in revolution, buff is funny in it."

"Mystery-buff" was written by Mayakovsky under the obvious influence of the figurative symbolism and terminology of political slogans, newspaper articles, rally speeches, and posters. This was reflected in her very poster style. In this work, the unique voice of the era sounds loudly.

Mayakovsky's idea for Mystery Buff came before the October Revolution. In his autobiography (“I myself”), under the date August 1917, Mayakovsky wrote: “I am thinking of“ Mystery-buff.

It is known that in the summer of 1917 A. M. Gorky and M. F. Andreeva, who were members of the commission for the leadership people's house in Petrograd, offered Mayakovsky and other young poets to write a review for the People's House on revolutionary theme. Mayakovsky was going to work on a review, but did not write it. Apparently, the idea of a popular revolutionary spectacle such as a review did not leave him even after October Revolution gave her a new direction - realized in the "Mystery-buff".

Sketch of the scenery for the 1st act of "Mystery-buff" ("The Flood"). Drawing by V. Mayakovsky. 1919

Mayakovsky wrote "Mystery Buff" in the summer of 1918 at a dacha in Levashov, near Petrograd. The play was completed in September.

The first reading of the "Mystery Buff" took place on September 27, 1918 in Petrograd in the presence of People's Commissar education of A. V. Lunacharsky, directors, artists and other artists. One of those present (director V. N. Solovyov) subsequently described this reading as follows: “Mayakovsky read excellently, with a profound understanding of the rhythm of the verse. The play made an extraordinary impression on everyone.

* (V. N. SOLOVIEV "Mystery-buff". Stroyka magazine, L., 1931, No. 11, April 16, p. 15.)

A. V. Lunacharsky, as reported in the press the next day, "in short review noted the revolutionary impulse penetrating the entire work and hailed V. V. Mayakovsky as an exponent of a truly revolutionary feeling.

* (A.P. "Mystery-buff". Evening newspaper "Bulletin of social and political life, art, theater and literature", P., 1918, No. 9, September 28.)

At the same reading, it was decided that the well-known communist director V. E. Meyerhold, who was present at it, would stage it together with Mayakovsky on the first anniversary of the October Revolution.

The Central Bureau for Organizing the Festivities of the First Anniversary of the October Revolution, after listening to the play, found it necessary to stage it.

"A. V. Lunacharsky ... - recalled L. I. Zheverzheev, - ordered that the play be read at the former Alexandrinsky Theater and then staged there" * .

* ()

Mayakovsky read the play to the troupe of this theater. However, although "the spellbinding mastery of the reader made a strong impression on the listeners" * , the content and form of the "Mystery-buff" turned out to be unacceptable to the "old Alexandrians".

* (L. I. Zheverzheev. Memories. In book. "Mayakovsky", p. 138.)

The premises of the theater were provided for the production of "Mystery-buff" during the October celebrations musical drama(conservatory building). The newspapers published an "Appeal to the actors", inviting those wishing to take part in the performance to come on October 13 at concert hall Tenishevsky school. There Mayakovsky read the play, and then the actors were recorded. In addition, the actors of the Petrograd theaters were sent an invitation to take part in the play "Mystery Buff".

Mayakovsky worked on the performance from the very first rehearsal. “Having diligently explained the laws of versification to the assembled actors,” writes V.N. Solovyov in his memoirs, “Mayakovsky taught them to read rhythmically complex poems... Joint work with the actors gave Mayakovsky something new in understanding theater and drama [...] In the practical work of the poet with the actors, the text of the "Mystery" acquired new, specifically theatrical qualities...

In the difficult conditions of the hasty release of the performance "Mystery Buff", Mayakovsky had to devote a lot of time and effort to organizational work" * .

* (V. N. SOLOVIEV One of the memories of Mayakovsky. In the book "Mayakovsky", p. 149.)

Released on the eve of the premiere separate edition"Mysteries-buff" with a cover by Mayakovsky. He also owned the sketch for the poster. The play was published by Mayakovsky's IMO (The Art of the Young) publishing house, which also printed it in a second edition in 1919.

Two days before the premiere, A. V. Lunacharsky appeared in the party press with an article devoted to "Mystery Buff" and entitled "Communist Spectacle."

“The only play,” A. V. Lunacharsky argued, “which was conceived under the influence of our revolution and therefore bears its stamp, provocative, daring, major, defiant, is Mayakovsky’s Mystery Buff. [...] How literary work, it is very original, strong and beautiful. [...] The text is understandable to everyone, goes straight to the heart of a working man, a Red Army soldier, a representative of the peasant poor. It speaks for itself." * .

* (A. Lunacharsky. Communist play. The newspaper "Petrogradskaya Pravda", P., 1918, No. 243, November 5.)

Meyerhold and Mayakovsky sought in the stage action to strengthen the propaganda orientation of the play, as well as to emphasize its satirical nature - and the play sounded like a theatrical and poetic manifesto of October. But in the performance there was a contradiction between their desire for concrete expressiveness and the artist K. S. Malevich's tendency to abstraction, who attached self-sufficient significance to formal pictorial elements.

Among the performers recruited from among the actors of various St. Petersburg theaters, entertainers and students, youth prevailed.

The role of Man was simply played by Mayakovsky himself. At the same time, Mayakovsky had to play the roles of Methuselah and one of the devils at the premiere, replacing the non-appearing performers.

In the role of Man simply, Mayakovsky showed himself to be an excellent actor-reader. And the turning point in the action of the play, which creates the appearance of the Simple Man, and the enormous concentrated power of his monologue, and the inspirational, powerful performance of the role by the poet - all this made the scene of the Man the most impressive in the play.

At the premiere, before the start of the performance, A. V. Lunacharsky delivered an introductory speech.

The performance was attended by workers, students, many writers, among them Alexander Blok. "The performance made Blok very strong impression and was perceived by him as one of the brightest episodes of the first revolutionary holiday" * .

* (Vl. Orlov. From the library of A. A. Blok. In the book "Vladimir Mayakovsky". Collection 1 edited by A. L. Dymshits, O. V. Tsekhnovitser. USSR Academy of Sciences. Institute of Literature. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, M.-L., 1940, p. 331.)

The appearance of "Mystery-buff" on the stage and in the press caused bitterness among the anti-Soviet elements. Andrei Levinson, an employee of the Cadet newspaper Rech, which had already been closed by that time (he soon moved to a white emigration camp), managed to smuggle in the Life of Art newspaper a vile libel on the play, in which he tried in every possible way to defame not only Mystery Buff , but also the revolutionary aspirations of Mayakovsky himself.

A group of artists made a strong protest in the press against this article. A. V. Lunacharsky* also opposed it in the press.

The workers showed great interest in Mystery Buff. It was expressed in the demand for tickets (during performances on the days of the October celebrations) and in the success that met with readings of the play or excerpts from it at work meetings after the performance. This was the first experience of the writer's performances with his work in front of a working audience.

Even before the production in Petrograd, Mayakovsky, having arrived in Moscow for a few days, wrote a "Summary" of "Mystery Buff" for the Central Commission for the Arrangement of the October Celebrations and read "Mystery Buff" on October 12 at the THEO (Theatrical Department) of the People's Commissariat of Education; as reported in the press, "the play produced a very good impression"* On the same day, a meeting of representatives of Moscow theaters was held on the issue of the repertoire on the days of the first anniversary of the October Revolution, at which the leadership of the THEO "Mystery-buff" was recommended for staging. The director's commission elected at this meeting instructed to stage "Mystery-buff buff" by A. Ya. Tairov and N. M. Foregger at the Chamber Theater. However, in 1918 "Mystery-buff" was not staged in Moscow.

In early March 1919, Mayakovsky moved from Petrograd to Moscow.

In 1919-1920, the question of staging "Mystery Buff" was raised more than once. Mayakovsky persistently sought a new stage incarnation of his play.

Attempts to stage "Mystery-buff" (as well as intentions to publish some of Mayakovsky's works) at that time often ran into resistance from individuals involved in organizations that were in charge of art and fiction. These individuals had a negative attitude towards Mayakovsky's work and considered themselves entitled to oppose the dissemination of his works, falsely asserting that allegedly "the workers do not understand them." In the article "Only not memories..." Mayakovsky, outlining the vicissitudes of the struggle for Mystery Buff, wrote: an excellent corrective, that in the country of revolution it is not inertia that ultimately wins, but the new, leftist, revolutionary thing.

But you need to have a throat, a grip and energy."

In the early autumn of 1920, N. K. Krupskaya proposed to the club department of the Main Political Education Department, which she headed, to organize the production of "Mystery-buff" by the workers in the central club of the Khamovnichesky district of Moscow. Mayakovsky read a play in the club; the workers received it well. It was decided to involve in the work on the production cultural organizations the whole area and show a performance on the Maiden's Field, in the open air. But things did not go beyond the preparatory work, since the play was accepted for staging by the Theater of the RSFSR First and the initiators decided that it was not worth conducting parallel work on the same play.

In Moscow, "Mystery-buff" was included in the repertoire of the Theater of the RSFSR First (later - State Theater the name of Vs. Meyerhold) in October 1920 (before the opening of the theatre).

For new production Mayakovsky revised "Mystery-buff". He was prompted to do this by changes in political life in the more than two years that have passed since the writing of the first edition of the play, and by his own creative growth, the practice of his political, propaganda work, especially work in ROSTA.

The revision made the play more topical, brought it closer in terms of genre to a kind of political review. The second edition refers to the struggle with the difficulties characteristic of the period civil war: blockade Soviet country imperialists, economic ruin, food crisis with rations, rationing cards and accompanying speculation, bureaucracy, sabotage by some specialists. And the introduction of the Krasnoarmeytsy into the composition of the actors and the references in the text to the Cheka (Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage) reminded of the forces that the Soviet state created to protect itself. Was introduced and carried through the whole play new character- Compromiser-Menshevik.

Along with the features characterizing the period of the civil war as a whole, Mayakovsky included moments in the play that related directly to the months during which the second edition was created (late 1920 - early 1921). This was the time when the Red Army, by dropping the remnants of enemy hordes into the Black Sea, put an end to foreign military intervention and civil war within European Russia.

Mayakovsky wrote a whole new act (fifth), in which the struggle of the Soviet state against devastation was shown in conditionally poster forms.

The relevance of the play was facilitated by the fact that it reflected the pressing issues of the day: the electrification of the country, the issue of concessions (these issues were discussed at VIII All-Russian Congress Soviets in December 1920), responses to the discussion about trade unions that unfolded in party organizations from November 1920 to March 1921, and also the fact that Mayakovsky brought to the stage the largest figures of the imperialist Entente in those years, naming his Frenchman Clemenceau, and the Englishman - Lloyd George.

Was created perfectly new prologue to the play and partially revised its end. The replicas of the Man who simply turned into the Man of the Future have been corrected. Text and minor plot changes were made. The second edition, even more insistently than the first, demanded theatrical innovation. The volume of the play has increased by nine hundred and fifty lines.

The differences between the first and second editions are so great, and at the same time, each of the editions is so organic that Mayakovsky printed both of them side by side in his collected works.

For the first time, Mayakovsky read the second edition of the play to the troupe of the Theater of the RSFSR First on December 29, 1920. Rehearsals began in January 1921.

The final text of the second edition was formed by the time of the premiere: some additions and changes in the text were made by Mayakovsky in the process of rehearsals.

The author of these comments has kept a copy of the Mystery Buff, typewritten from the manuscript in the ROSTA apparatus in early 1921. This copy contains important discrepancies with the final text.

Mayakovsky's work on the scene at the beginning of the second act (talking about the market) is interesting. In the text of the typewritten copy, Kupets, hearing the Compromiser's complaints about the closure of Sukharevka (the center of Moscow's petty speculation during the Civil War), addresses Pop with the words:

Nothing, humble monk, - the Smolensk market remained.

Compromiser responds:

What a market, one glory - a daily raid.

In the spring of 1921, a new economic policy; Mayakovsky reacted to this event by changing the text of this scene (see final text).

At the beginning of the fifth act there is a scene of a dispute between the "unclean", the participants of which operate in terms of the discussion about the trade unions of 1920-1921 ("shake up", "appointees", "buffers"). The text of the typewritten copy was created in the midst of this discussion, and in it, through the mouth of one of the characters - the Machinist - Bukharin, who organized the so-called "buffer faction" is ridiculed:

What's the use of a professional discussion, dear Prov? Bukharin with buffers, but the locomotive without wheels, and not that without buffers.

After the premiere (in May - July 1921), the play included small inserts on the topics of the day. Unfortunately, the texts of these inserts could not be found. But in one of Mayakovsky's notebooks, which contains drafts of works relating to May - September 1921, there are two entries - obviously sketches for inserts into the third act ("Hell"), into the scene of "unclean" and devils (in the notes there are no indications of the characters uttering individual lines).

In one of the entries, the "unclean" (apparently, Laborer) tells the devils about the "torments" that people experience because of bureaucracy, red tape and disorder in the organization of supply:

Is this a torment for a sinner - spinning on a spit? Force him to order boots - that would probably kill the sinner. You think - they scared them, they twisted the tail - we have cleaner tails on earth. All are not standing with tails, but in tails. - Ah! * Here you are a sinner in the face once, - cut - and a piece of thigh on a fork. And we have warrants, and we have papers. In the meantime, they organized the Soviet government, they also suffered to their heart's content.

* (Apparently, the exclamation "Ah!", wedged into the replica of the "unclean", breaks out from the devils, frightened by the story of the "tails" (queues) on the ground. - A.F.)

The text of another entry, obviously intended as a replacement for the last remark of Beelzebub, is a remark from one of the devils and the answer of the Laborer:

His Majesty Beelzebub asks to be called to the Glavtop. - Give up hope, they themselves surveyed * .

* (These notes are in a notebook kept in the State Museum of V. V. Mayakovsky (No. 9/62).)

These lines - an example of Mayakovsky's efficiency - were a response to one of the events of the day. In May 1921, the Supreme Tribunal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee dealt with the case of large-scale speculation in the Glavtope (Main Directorate fuel industry under the Supreme Council of the National Economy).

With inserts of this kind, Mayakovsky made the content of the "Mystery Buff" today's, "momentary", brought it even closer to the vital interests of his contemporaries and helped to combat shortcomings in the work of Soviet institutions.

When it became known that the First Theater of the RSFSR was going to stage Mystery Buff, four writers filed a protest with the Central Committee of the RCP(b) against staging this play, accusing it of an "anarchist point of view." Mayakovsky again arranged several readings of the "Mystery" in front of a working audience, in particular in the Rogozhsko-Simonovsky district, at the Vulkan cinema, on January 24, 1921. These readings once again showed that the reproaches against the play were not based on anything: resolutions were adopted at the meetings demanding the speediest production of the Mystery Buff.

On the thirtieth of January, a public debate took place on the topic "Should we put on a "Mystery-buff"?" Representatives of party and Soviet organizations were invited to the debate; many art workers were present. Mayakovsky opened the dispute with a report on the "ordeals" that "Mystery-buff" underwent when trying to stage it, and then read the play in the second edition with great success. A representative of a group of writers who had previously protested against the staging of "Mystery Buff", said that the play in the new edition is quite acceptable. All the speakers, with the exception of one Menshevik, were in favor of staging Mystery Buff.

Those present at the debate unanimously adopted a resolution: “We, who gathered on January 30 at the First Theater of the RSFSR, listened to the talented and truly proletarian play by Vl. revolutionary work, we urgently demand that it be staged in all theaters of the Republic and that it be printed as soon as possible. more instances" * .

The play at the Theater of the RSFSR First was staged by its director V. E. Meyerhold together with the director V. M. Bebutov.

In the performance, all the conflicts of the play, the characteristics of all the characters were pointed out. The theater sought to create a collective action of enormous proportions. The nerve of the performance was the militant, revolutionary fuse of the play, and the production sounded the exciting fun of the victorious people.

The whole performance was based on movement. There was a three-storey building on the stage (artists V.P. Kiselev, A.M. Lavinsky and V.L. Khrakovsky). The action spilled over into the auditorium. The stage merged with the hall without any barriers, and at the feet of the spectators of the first row rose a large hemisphere depicting the globe.

The unity of the play and production gave rise to a bright folk performance, simple in its expressive forms, young, vigorous and joyful.

The premiere took place on Sunday, May 1, 1921. The audience, among whom workers predominated, perceived Mayakovsky's play with exceptional enthusiasm.

The appeal of the poet-playwright to revolutionary modernity met with the warm approval of the Soviet people who were present at the performances of "Mystery-buff", and aroused anger among the enemies of Soviet power.

Workers, peasants, Red Army soldiers and representatives of the working intelligentsia, for the most part, spoke of the play with great approval. “A battle play”, “To the square, to the street”, “I liked the play extremely. This is life itself”, “Give this play to the working masses, and they will tell you: this is our play”, “I liked the play very much, because in it clearly reflects the oppression of tsarism that used to crush us", "I liked it in its content, it achieves its goal. More tickets for the workers" * .

* (These reviews, taken from questionnaires distributed among the audience, are given in M. Zagorsky's articles "The Theater and the Spectator of the Revolution" (collection "About the Theater", Tver, 1922), "How the Spectator Responds" (magazine "LEF", Moscow, 1924, No. 2/6).)

The success of Mayakovsky's play prompted the Theater Department of the Glavpolitprosveta to organize a special production of "Mystery Buff" in honor of the Third Congress of the Communist International. IN last days June in the premises of the First State circus there were three performances (and two open dress rehearsals) of "Mystery Buff" in German, translated by the young writer Rita Wright.

The play was in the second edition, but especially for this performance, Mayakovsky wrote a new prologue and epilogue, addressed directly to the representatives of the international revolutionary proletariat, as well as a sketch of the Compromiser and the "unclean". The Russian text of the epilogue (pronounced before the singing of the "Internationale") has not been preserved, and its content is known from a German translation. Here is a reverse translation from German: "The game is over. Comrades, hey! Now it's your turn. The ideas that sparkled today, turn them into action tomorrow. We - to the machine, you - for weapons. Blow up your fatherland, revolutionary. In close formation, clear step, forward, march!"

As for the libretto of this performance published in this edition, there are no direct indications of the authorship of the libretto. Its belonging to Mayakovsky is determined literary style libretto. This libretto, together with the performance program (both in Russian and German) was printed in the form of an eight-page pamphlet.

Among the congress delegates present at the performance was the leader of the German proletariat, Ernst Thalmann.

Despite the obvious success of the performance, in the summer of 1921 fierce disputes broke out in Moscow around the Mystery Buff. One of the results of the controversy surrounding the "Mystery Buff" was a kind of litigation.

"Mystery-buff" in the second edition was published as an appendix to No. 91-92 of the journal "Bulletin of the Theater" dated June 15, 1921. The then leaders of the State Publishing House did not hide their negative attitude towards the play, and the State Publishing House refused to pay Mayakovsky a fee, despite the fivefold demand of the Central Committee of the trade union. As a result judicial trial the question of the fee was resolved in the People's Commissariat of Labor, which satisfied the legitimate demands of Mayakovsky.

Outside of Moscow and Petrograd, attempts to stage "Mystery-buff" were made already at the beginning of 1919 in Kyiv, Kharkov and other cities of the country. Part of the play was staged in 1920 in Novocherkassk on the stage of the Podtelkov Club.

A number of readings of "Mystery-buff" and attempts to stage and publish it were made on Far East during the civil war.

After it was announced that "Mystery Buff" would be shown in Moscow, a number of peripheral theaters also included it in their repertoire plans.

In the spring of 1921, "Mystery-buff" (in the first edition) was staged by the Studio Workers' and Peasants' Theater at the garrison club that existed in Tomsk.

A performance of a larger scale was the production of "Mystery-buff" (second edition) in Tambov, at the First Proletarian Theater-Studio (director - N. M. Ryazhsky-Varzin; premiere - August 21, 1921). The play was staged in theaters in Krasnodar, Kharkov, Omsk and other cities. "Mystery-buff" was staged by young directors who later became great masters: G. V. Aleksandrov in Sverdlovsk (then Yekaterinburg) in 1921 and N. P. Okhlopkov in Irkutsk (premiered on May 1, 1922).

In 1923, during the October celebrations, four productions of "Mystery-buff" took place - one in Moscow and three in Kazan.

In Moscow, "Mystery-buff" (in the first edition) was staged at the Experimental School of Aesthetic Education. The play was performed by children between the ages of twelve and fifteen.

Mayakovsky wrote for this performance new text final.

After the death of V. I. Lenin, it was decided that the Komsomol and Pioneer organizations would be named after the leader, and the meaning of this name was reflected in the text proclaiming: "Now we are Leninists." For the first time this text was heard on April 30, 1924 at a performance shown in the Hall of Columns. It is published below from a surviving unauthorized typescript:

Blacksmith (gets out of the Land of things) Guys, close shoulder to shoulder. Never let anyone be lazy to fulfill the covenants given by Ilyich. After all, it is not for nothing that we are now Leninists ... Let world capital be pricked everywhere on the bayonets of an international Komsomol member. Our endeavor, though we are young, is to complete the building of the World Commune. Tired fathers? So you will be replaced by us, bearing the name of Lenin. In the meantime, our victorious cry will resound over the earth with a ringing note: You are not dead, you are alive, Ilyich! We will finish your work...

In Kazan, "Mystery-buff" was staged simultaneously by the theatrical performance workshop "KEMST" (Constructivism, Experiment, Mastery, Modernity, Theatricality), the Bolshoi Theater and the Second Soviet theater(Working Palace).

Following Mayakovsky's call to "change the content" of "Mystery - Boof", the workshop created its own edition of the play (the program read: "the third edition made at KEMST"), in which there were paintings: the 5th - "Hunger" and the 6th - "NEP"; thus, "The Promised Land" here became the 7th picture.The inserts, again written by the workers of the workshop, gave responses to the events of 1923: the revolutionary uprisings of the proletariat in the Ruhr (Germany) and the terrible earthquake in Japan.

A sketch of the scenery for the 3rd scene of the 3rd act of "Mystery-buff" ("Promised Land"). Drawing by V. Mayakovsky. 1919

From a number of unfulfilled plans for the stage incarnation of "Mystery-buff" special interest presented a draft of its production under open sky by the Rustaveli Theater (Tbilisi), developed by the talented director K. A. Marjanishvili (translated into Georgian by Titian Tabidze).

In the mid-twenties, Mayakovsky read excerpts from the "Mystery" more than once at his evenings; in particular, he read them, and speaking in the USA (1925).

At the fifth anniversary of the Theater named after Vs. Meyerhold, celebrated on April 25, 1926, the fourth act of "Mystery-buff" ("Paradise") was shown.

P. A. Markov, head of literary part Moscow Art Theatre, many years later spoke of his negotiations with Mayakovsky in the autumn of 1929: "The first carefully discussed assumption, to which he returned more than once, was new edition"Mysteries - buff" - apparently, he considered her one of the dearest creatures to him [...]. I think that Mayakovsky was also fascinated not so much by the possibility of staging at the Moscow Art Theater, but by the irresistible desire to give the "Mystery" a new, modern sound, to fill it with new, topical pieces ... "* But the images of the "Mystery" were too far from the manner Moscow art theatre.

* (P. A. Markov. At the Art Theatre. The book is filled. M., WTO, 1976, p. 266.)

For many years "Mystery-buff" did not appear on the stage, although there were projects for its productions. After a long break, Valery Sysoev, who played the role of the Man of the Future in Meyerhold's production of 1921, was the first to turn to her: he showed The Mystery in Moscow on November 16, 1955 as a performance by one actor based on an abridged text of the second edition.

November 29, 1956 she first sounded on the air. Sysoev vividly depicted many characters, applying the transformation voice tools. "Mystery" for many years entrenched in the repertoire of radio broadcasting.

On November 1, 1957, the premiere of Mystery Buff took place at the Moscow Satire Theater staged by V. N. Pluchek. The first edition was taken as a basis, supplemented by a number of remarks from the second. In this performance there was no large-scale action, as in the Moscow productions of 1921. The theater sought, first of all, to reveal the images of the play, especially its true heroes - unclean ones.

Ten years later - in the year of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution - "Mystery-buff" was shown in the theaters of Sverdlovsk, Vladivostok, Kaunas.

"Mystery-buff" was also staged on the stage, in puppet theater, on the amateur stage, in cinema, on radio, television.

Foreign readers and viewers began to get acquainted with "Mystery-buff" from the beginning of the 20s, when the first articles about it appeared and translations of the "Prologue of the Seven Impure Pairs" into various languages were published.

The poet Witold Wandurski staged this prologue in his translation into Polish in 1922-1927 in several amateur groups in Poland.

In 1933, the translation of the second edition of the "Mystery" into English language was published in New York in the collection Masterpieces of Russian Drama, in 1947, translated into Italian language- a separate book in Rome. Translations into other languages began to be published starting in 1957.

In Bucharest it was performed on the radio in 1958.

In the 60s and 70s, "Mystery Buff" was staged in many theaters and amateur groups in socialist and capitalist countries: Romania and the FRG (1960), Czechoslovakia, Poland and the GDR (1962), Hungary and Bulgaria (1967), Italy (1968).

In all foreign theaters, "Mystery Buff" was reworked: pieces of a new text were introduced into it, bringing it closer to the events of the new time and the country where it was staged - theaters followed Mayakovsky's suggestion: "change the content."

In the GDR, she walked in 1967 at the large Berlin theater "Volksbühne"; there she received the subtitle "Option for Germany": the flood was interpreted as the second World War; the "unclean" - the German workers and peasants - are gradually liberated from bourgeois ideology and set about building a socialist state. In the town of Montreuil (near Paris), in 1970, workers and students staged the play "Promised Land", which combined parts of the tragedy "Vladimir Mayakovsky" and "Mystery Buff". In Japan - in Tokyo - In: commemorating the 50th anniversary of October "Mystery" was played with great success by eight united studio teams under the direction of director Korea Senda; the changes made to the play reflected the phenomena of pre-war and post-war political life. At the end of the performance, the actors raised a large banner with the slogan "Long live the October Revolution!".

Features of modernity were also introduced into the performance of the original Swedish theater-ship "Arena", which circles the islands on which Stockholm is located (1973). "Mystery-buff" in new editions was also in theaters in other capitals - Helsinki (1970), Vienna (1974), Copenhagen (1976). Along with translations into the languages of the countries where it was staged, two translations into Spanish (Buenos Aires, 1958, and Madrid, 1971) and a translation into modern Greek (Athens, 1962) have been published.

The verses of "Mystery-buff", sounding from the stages of numerous foreign theaters, enter the minds of the audience as burning news of today's struggle and the coming victory of progressive mankind.

First edition

Seven pairs of clean. Seven pairs of unclean.- According to biblical tradition, God punished people for sins flood, but so that life on earth would not stop, he ordered the righteous Noah to build a vessel - an ark - and be saved in it himself with his family and with pairs of "clean" and "unclean" animals.

Sketches of costumes for "Mystery - buff": "Seven pairs of pure" (Fragment). Drawing by V. Mayakovsky. 1919

Negus- the title of the sovereign of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

Rajah- Indian prince.

Pasha- the title of senior dignitaries and military leaders in Turkey (in the past).

Beelzebub is the devil.

Chrysostom (John Chrysostom) - one of the Christian preachers.

Methuselah- a biblical character known for his extraordinary long life(according to legend, 969 years).

Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712-1778) - French educator, writer, philosopher.

"Paradise Lost and Regained" - poems by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674) " Lost heaven(1667) and Paradise Regained (1671).

Etoile (French) - a star.

Mephistopheles- the character of the tragedy of Goethe (1749-1832) "Faust" and opera of the same name Gunb (1818-1893).

Big Eiffel- a tower 300 meters high, built according to the project of engineer A. G. Eiffel in Paris in 1889.

boshi- contemptuous name for the Germans (so french people called the Germans in the First World War).

Dreadnought(English) - a large armored ship.

The ruin of Pompeii- the death of the Roman city of Pompeii in the 1st century AD as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Schwab- a resident of one of the regions of Germany.

Eviva(Italian) - Long live!

Goh fatherland!(German) - Long live the fatherland!

Sovneba- the "council of heaven" invented by Mayakovsky.

The famous adventure of Noah is the salvation of Noah in the ark during the legendary global flood.

Ararat mountain in Turkey. By biblical legend, at the end of the flood, Noah's ark ended up on Ararat.

First Guild.- IN pre-revolutionary Russia merchants, in accordance with the amount of capital, were divided into three guilds. The first included the richest.

Eureka!(Greek) - "I found it!"

Bismaroch- Bismarck, Otto (1815-1898) - German statesman.

Governing Senate- one of the highest government institutions of tsarist Russia.

Mamaev's army- the army of the Tatar Khan Mamai (died in 1380), who devastated Russian lands in the 14th century.

Alon zanfan(French allons, enfants) - let's go, children - the first words of the Marseillaise text.

Antichrist- the messenger of the devil in the guise of Christ.

Gennesaret waters.- According to the gospel legend, Christ crossed the Lake of Gennesaret (in Palestine), as if by land.

"My paradise for everyone except the poor in spirit..."- These words are contrasted with the words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

"From the great posts..."- During Lent, which lasted forty days (before the Easter holiday), the church prescribed strict abstinence for believers.

"It's easier for a camel to crawl through a needle's ear..."- Mayakovsky paraphrased the words of Christ: "It is more convenient for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Gospel).

Nazarenes- natives of the Palestinian city of Nazareth, from where, according to the gospel legend, Christ originated.

nude(French) - naked. A painting depicting a naked body.

Sioux- the owner of a confectionery factory in pre-revolutionary Moscow.

Gabriel one of the archangels.

oil - olive oil used in worship.

X. and V. - "Christ is Risen" - letters on Easter cakes and Easter.

"Down with tyrants, away with fetters"- words from the old revolutionary song "Red Banner".

"La Traviata"(1853) - opera Italian composer G. Verdi (1813-1901).

Mayakovsky Vladimir

Mystery Buff

Vladimir Mayakovsky

"Mystery Buff"

MYSTERY-BUFF

Heroic, epic and satirical

image of our era

S T O R O Y V A R I A N T

"Mystery-buff" - the road. Revolution road. No one can predict with accuracy what other mountains we will have to blow up, going this way. Today the word "Lloyd George" is boring into the ear, and tomorrow the British themselves will forget his name. Today, the will of millions is rushing towards the commune, and in fifty years, perhaps, the attack is far away.

planets, the air dreadnoughts of the commune will rush. Therefore, leaving the road (form), I again changed parts of the landscape

nym, today, momentary.

D E J S T V U Y T:

1. Seven parchists: 1) Abyssinian Negus, 2) Raja

Indian, 3) Turkish pasha, 4) Russian speculator, 5)

Chinese, 6) Fat Persian, 7) Clemenceau, 8) German, 9) Pop,

10) Australian, 11) Australian wife, 12) Lloyd George,

13) American and 14) Diplomat. 2. Seven couples: 1) Red Army soldier, 2) Lantern

box, 3) Driver, 4) Miner, 5) Carpenter, 6) Laborer, 7) Servant,

8) Blacksmith, 9) Baker, 10) Laundress, 11) Seamstress, 12) Machinist,

13) Eskimo fisherman and 14) Eskimo hunter. 3. Compliant. 4. Intelligence. 5. D a m a s c a r t o n c a m 6. Devils: 1) Beelzebub, 2) Ober-devil, 3) Vestovy, 4) 2nd

messenger, 5) sentry, 6) 20 clean with horns and tails. 7. Saints: 1) Methuselah, 2) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 3) Leo Tolstoy,

4) Gabriel, 5) Angel, 6) 2nd angel and 7) angels. 8. S a v a f. 9. C u n c e

1) Hammer, 2) Sickle, 3) Cars, 4) Trains, 5) Cars, 6)

Planer 7) Pincers, 8) Needle, 9) Saw, 10) Bread, 11) Salt, 12)

Sugar, 13) Matter, 14) Boot, 15) Board with a lever. 10. Man to the future.

M E S T A D E I S T V I Y

1. The whole universe. 2. Ark. 3. Hell. 4. Paradise. 5. Land of debris.

6. Promised Land.

N e h i s t y

We'll show you in a minute... Mystery buff. I have to say two words: this is a new thing. To jump above your head, you need someone to help. A new play needs a prologue. First, why is the whole theater destroyed? Well-intentioned people will be very outraged by this. Why do you go to shows? To get pleasure right? And how great is the pleasure to watch, if the pleasure is only on the stage; the stage is only one third. So in interesting performance If you build everything up, then your pleasure will increase three times, but if the performance is uninteresting, then you should not look at even one third. For other theaters, it is not important to present: for them, the stage is a keyhole. Sit, they say, quietly, straight or obliquely and see a piece of someone else's life. You look and see aunt Manya and uncle Vanya nasty on the sofa. And we are not interested in either uncles or aunts, aunts and uncles, and you will find houses. We will also show real life, but it has been turned into an extraordinary spectacle by the theater. The essence of the first act is this: the earth is leaking. Then - stomp. Everyone is fleeing the revolutionary flood. Seven pairs of impure and seven pairs of clean, that is, fourteen poor proletarians and fourteen bourgeois-bars, and between them, with a pair of tear-stained cheeks, Mensheviks. The pole is overflowing. The last shelter is crumbling. And everyone begins to build not even an ark, but an ark. In the second act, the audience travels in the ark: here you have an autocracy, and a democratic republic, and finally overboard, under the Menshevik howl, the clean ones were thrown headfirst. In the third act, it is shown that the workers do not need to be afraid of anything, even devils in the middle of hell. In the fourth, laugh harder! heavenly places are shown. In the fifth act, devastation, with its vast mouth gaping, crushes and devours. Although we worked for a hungry belly, we defeated devastation. In the sixth act, the commune, the whole hall, sing at the top of your lungs! Look in all eyes!

All is ready? And hell? And heaven?

Because of the stage.

Ready! Let's!

STEP ONE

At the glow of the northern lights, the globe of the earth, resting with its pole against the ice of the floor. Ropes of latitudes and longitudes cross with ladders all over the globe. Between two walruses propping up the world, esk im o o h o t n i k, burying his finger in the ground, yells to the other

gom, stretched out in front of him by the fire.

About h o t n i k

bawl. There is no other business to poke the ground with your finger.

About h o t n i k

Where is the hole?

About h o t n i k

What is flowing?

About h o t n i k

Rybak (jumping up, running up and looking under

pinching finger)

Oh-oh-oh-oh! The work of unclean hands. Crap! I'll go warn the Arctic Circle.

Runs. A German squeezing out his sleeves jumps on him from behind the slope of the world. He searches for a second for a button and, not finding it,

grabs the wool of a fur coat.

Ger Eskimo! Ger Eskimo! Terribly fast! A couple of minutes...

So - today I'm sitting in my restaurant on Friedrichstrasse. The sun is beckoning through the window. The day, like a bourgeois before the revolution, is clear. The audience sits and quietly scheidemanizes. Having eaten the soup, I look at the bottle eiffels. I think: what kind of beef should I take? And shall I take up the beef? I look and lunch is stuck in my throat: something is wrong with Victory Alley. Stone Hohenzollerns, standing between daisies, suddenly flew upside down. Hum. I run to the roof. Winding around the tavern skeleton, the waterless surf, fussing in a row, fled, flooding the quarters. Berlin - disturbing sea delirium, invisible waves bass notes. And for, and above, and under, and in front of the dreadnought houses! And before he could think of whether it was from Foch or from...

I'm soaked to the bone. I look everything is dry, but it pours, and pours, and pours. And suddenly, the ruin of Pompeii more pompous, the picture opened up from the roots. Berlin was uprooted and drowned in the abyss, near the world in a molten forge. I woke up on the crest of current villages. I collected all my yacht club experience, and here before you, my dear, is all that is now left of Europe.

N-n-a little...

It will calm down, of course... For two or three days.

Yes, you say without these European yuleniya! What do you need? It's not up to you.

German (showing horizontally)

Allow me near your esteemed seals.

The fisherman waves angrily at the fire, goes in the other direction to warn Krug - and stumbles upon those running out from behind the other.

th slope of the sodden Australians.

FISH (retreating in surprise)

And there were no more disgusting faces ?!

A u s t r a l i e c w e n (together)

We are Australians.

A s t r a l e c

I am Australian. We had everything. Somehow: a platypus, a palm tree, a porcupine, a cactus ...

A s t r a l i y k a (crying in a surging feeling)

And now we are gone, everything is gone: cacti, and platypuses, and palm trees, everything has sunk ... everything is at the bottom ...

Rybak (pointing to the sprawling German)

Here, go to them. And then they are alone.

Getting ready to go again, the Eskimo stopped, listening to

F irst voice

Kettle, wow!

Second

Cylinder, wow!

First

Getting stronger! Hold on to north latitude!

Second

Get angry! Grab the south longitude!

On the ropes of latitudes and longitudes roll down from the globe english Everyone hoists a national banner.

A n g l i c h a n i n

The banner has been hoisted. I am the owner full in the snowy bosom.

French

No, sorry! I hoisted before. This is my colony.

A ng l and ch a n and n (laying out some goods)

No - mine, I'm already trading.

French (beginning to get angry)

No - mine, and you yourself look for another.

A n g l i c h a n i n

(furious)

Ah yes! Yes, to die!

French

(furious)

Ah well! I'll put a bump on your nose!

A n g l and ch a n and n (climbs with fists at the Frenchman)

England hip hip!

F r a n ts u s (climbs with fists at the Englishman)

Viv la France!*

A s t r a l e c

(rushes to take it apart)

Well, the people! Not a people, but a pure rabble: there are no more empires, no imperials, but they still beat each other in the face.

Oh, you imperialists!

Drop that you, right!

Well, a horde!

Directly on the head of the newly gathered Eskimo to go

our k u p h and n a is overthrown.

Sirs, this is a disgrace! Am I Asia? "Destroy Asia" - the decision of the Council of Ministers. Yes, I was not an Asian! (After calming down a little.) Yesterday in Tula I was sitting calmly in a chair. How the doors will burst! Well, I think from Cheka! I have, you know, already turned pale cheek. But God is many-merciful in the world: it turns out that it is not the Cheka - the wind. It splattered a little, then it went on, further - more, more - higher, poured into the streets, tore the roofs ...

Quiet! Quiet!

French

Do you hear? Do you hear the thud?

Flood! flood! flood! about the flood! flood!

A n g l i c h a n i n

Oh my God! Misfortune - like from a drainpipe, and then there is this eastern question.

In the work, Mayakovsky describes the revolution. As soon as the Great October Revolution began, the author could not accept final decision whether he should participate in it, or still bypass this very grandiose and large-scale period in our history. Still, the writer chose the decision to help the Bolsheviks carry out the revolution. During the process itself, he was in Smolny. In order to somehow bring some benefit to the people who started the revolution and the whole movement in general, Mayakovsky began to write various poems in a satirical form, as well as various ditties and other elements of agitation in favor of the Reds.

The work "Mystery - Buff" was written in the comedy genre. This genre was designed mainly for ordinary workers and proletarians, during the times of capitalist oppression. This comedy combines epic and satirical qualities. The work expresses the spirit of art younger generation. The story contains various motifs and elements borrowed from the Bible, such as heaven and hell, the ark and the flood. The divine Methuselah and the demon Beelzebub are also mentioned in the comedy. In addition to all of the above, in this comedy there is a drama on the theme of religion.

Social conflicts in comedy are presented in the form of 7 impure couples. These pairs include: a blacksmith, a miner, a machinist, an attendant, a carpenter, a military man, a laundry woman, and a driver. At the end of the battle with unclean vapors, it is possible to destroy hell, remove God, remove destruction, repair locomotives and many other things. All phenomena in the work are described with wit and irony. Mayakovsky's Utopian Predictions Provide Relevance this work far ahead. IN historical period revolution in our country this genre was very popular.

Picture or drawing Mystery-Buff

Other retellings for the reader's diary

Summary of Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel
In the novel there is a story about Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. At first we are talking about the birth of the first, his feat. Then about the birth of the second, his heroic actions.
Summary of Green Green Lamp
At the beginning of the story, one of the heroes is in a wonderful situation: a mature, respected and influential millionaire. But this power, apparently, bored him. I wanted something more to sell and buy, hire and fire.

Vladimir Mayakovsky

"Mystery Buff"

MYSTERY-BUFF

Heroic, epic and satirical

image of our era

S T O R O Y V A R I A N T

planets, the air dreadnoughts of the commune will rush. Therefore, leaving the road (form), I again changed parts of the landscape

nym, today, momentary.

D E J S T V U Y T:

1. Seven parchists: 1) Abyssinian Negus, 2) Raja

Indian, 3) Turkish pasha, 4) Russian speculator, 5)

Chinese, 6) Fat Persian, 7) Clemenceau, 8) German, 9) Pop,

10) Australian, 11) Australian wife, 12) Lloyd George,

13) American and 14) Diplomat. 2. Seven couples: 1) Red Army soldier, 2) Lantern

box, 3) Driver, 4) Miner, 5) Carpenter, 6) Laborer, 7) Servant,

8) Blacksmith, 9) Baker, 10) Laundress, 11) Seamstress, 12) Machinist,

13) Eskimo fisherman and 14) Eskimo hunter. 3. Compliant. 4. Intelligence. 5. D a m a s c a r t o n c a m 6. Devils: 1) Beelzebub, 2) Ober-devil, 3) Vestovy, 4) 2nd

messenger, 5) sentry, 6) 20 clean with horns and tails. 7. Saints: 1) Methuselah, 2) Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 3) Leo Tolstoy,

4) Gabriel, 5) Angel, 6) 2nd angel and 7) angels. 8. S a v a f. 9. C u n c e

1) Hammer, 2) Sickle, 3) Cars, 4) Trains, 5) Cars, 6)

Planer 7) Pincers, 8) Needle, 9) Saw, 10) Bread, 11) Salt, 12)

Sugar, 13) Matter, 14) Boot, 15) Board with a lever. 10. Man to the future.

M E S T A D E I S T V I Y

1. The whole universe. 2. Ark. 3. Hell. 4. Paradise. 5. Land of debris.

6. Promised Land.

N e h i s t y

We'll show you in a minute... Mystery buff. I have to say two words: this is a new thing. To jump above your head, you need someone to help. A new play needs a prologue. First, why is the whole theater destroyed? Well-intentioned people will be very outraged by this. Why do you go to shows? To get pleasure right? And how great is the pleasure to watch, if the pleasure is only on the stage; the stage is only one third. So, in an interesting performance, if you build everything up, then your pleasure will increase three times, but if the performance is uninteresting, then you should not look even at one third. For other theaters, it is not important to present: for them, the stage is a keyhole. Sit, they say, quietly, straight or obliquely and see a piece of someone else's life. You look and see aunt Manya and uncle Vanya nasty on the sofa. And we are not interested in either uncles or aunts, aunts and uncles, and you will find houses. We will also show real life, but it has been turned into an extraordinary spectacle by the theater. The essence of the first act is this: the earth is leaking. Then - stomp. Everyone is fleeing the revolutionary flood. Seven pairs of impure and seven pairs of clean, that is, fourteen poor proletarians and fourteen bourgeois-bars, and between them, with a pair of tear-stained cheeks, Mensheviks. The pole is overflowing. The last shelter is crumbling. And everyone begins to build not even an ark, but an ark. In the second act, the audience travels in the ark: here you have an autocracy, and a democratic republic, and finally overboard, under the Menshevik howl, the clean ones were thrown headfirst. In the third act, it is shown that the workers do not need to be afraid of anything, even devils in the middle of hell. In the fourth, laugh harder! heavenly places are shown. In the fifth act, devastation, with its vast mouth gaping, crushes and devours. Although we worked for a hungry belly, we defeated devastation. In the sixth act, the commune, the whole hall, sing at the top of your lungs! Look in all eyes!

All is ready? And hell? And heaven?

Because of the stage.

Ready! Let's!

STEP ONE

gom, stretched out in front of him by the fire.

About h o t n i k

bawl. There is no other business to poke the ground with your finger.

About h o t n i k

Where is the hole?

About h o t n i k

What is flowing?

About h o t n i k

Rybak (jumping up, running up and looking under

pinching finger)

Oh-oh-oh-oh! The work of unclean hands. Crap! I'll go warn the Arctic Circle.

Runs. A German squeezing out his sleeves jumps on him from behind the slope of the world. He searches for a second for a button and, not finding it,

grabs the wool of a fur coat.

Ger Eskimo! Ger Eskimo! Terribly fast! A couple of minutes...

N-n-a little...

It will calm down, of course... For two or three days.

Yes, you say without these European yuleniya! What do you need? It's not up to you.

German (showing horizontally)

Allow me near your esteemed seals.

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Mystery buff

HEROIC, EPIC AND SATIRICAL IMAGE OF OUR AGE

VALID:

1. Seven pairs of clean ones. Abyssinian Negus, Indian Rajah, Turkish Pasha,

a Russian merchant, a Chinese, a plump Persian, a fat Frenchman, an Australian with

wife, pop, German officer, Italian officer, American, student.

2. Seven unclean couples. Chimney sweep, lamplighter, driver, seamstress, miner,

carpenter, laborer, servant, shoemaker, blacksmith, baker, laundress and Eskimos: fisherman

and hunter.

3. Lady-hysteria.

4. Devils. Beelzebub's headquarters and two orderlies.

5. Saints. Chrysostom, Leo Tolstoy, Methuselah, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others.

6. Things. Machine, bread, salt, saw, needle, hammer, book, etc.

7. The man is simple.

LOCATIONS OF ACTION

I. The whole universe.

II. The ark.

III. 1st picture: Hell.

2nd picture: Paradise.

3rd scene: The Promised Land.

SEVEN IMPURIOUS COUPLES

It was us who swollen the fields, drunk with blood.

uprooted from the earthly womb

caesarean section war.

uprisings,

revolution day -

walking, brain skulls!

Our second birthday is the day -

the world revolted.

there will be a steamer in the distance,

and will leave on the mirror of the water,

and you breathe smoky legends for a long time, -

so life has eluded us until today.

20 The gospel was written to us,

Paradise Lost and Regained

many many books.

Each promises the joy of the afterlife, smart and cunning.

we want on earth

no higher to live

30 and not less

all these firs, houses, roads, horses and grasses.

We are tired of heavenly sweets -

Let's eat some rye bread!

We are tired of paper passions -

let me live with a living wife!

in theater wardrobes

opera sequins

Yes, the cloak of Mephistopheles -

40 everything that is there!

The old tailor did not try for our waists.

clumsy let

We have a place!

above the dust of theaters

our motto will light up:

50 "All over again!"

Stop and look!

Disperse. The curtain is being torn apart, painted over with the relics of the old theatre.

STEP ONE

At the glow of the northern lights, the globe of the earth, resting with its pole against the ice of the floor. By

ropes of latitudes and longitudes are crossed by ladders around the globe. Between two

walruses propping up the world, the Eskimo hunter, with his finger on the ground, yells

another, stretched out before him by the fire.

Eskimo hunter

bawl.

There is no other business -

poke the ground with your finger.

Where is the hole?

What is flowing?

(jumping up, running up and looking under the clamping

The work of unclean hands.

I'll go warn the polar circle.

Runs. A Frenchman squeezing out his sleeves jumps on him from behind the slope of the world.

He looks for a second for a button and, not finding it, grabs the fur of a fur coat.

PHENOMENON FIRST

Monsieur Eskimo!

Terribly fast!

70 couple of minutes...

at home in Paris

I'm sitting this

I don’t remember if I ate something else,

ain't right big Eiffel,

80 I don't think it's a bluff?

Suddenly a hum.

I run to the roof.

Waving around the house frame,

waterless surf

hustle and bustle

flooded the quarters.

Paris is a disturbing sea of delirium.

Invisible waves bass notes.

dreadnought houses.

And before I could spread my thoughts,

whether from the Germans, or from ...

wet to the thread,

100 Watching -

everything is dry

but it pours, and it pours, and it pours.

And suddenly, -

the ruins of Pompeii are more pompous, the picture opened

Paris has been torn out

and drowned in the abyss

at the world in a molten forge.

I woke up on the crest of current villages,

but I collected all my yacht club experience, -

in front of you

dearest,

what is left of Europe now.

N-a little.

Calm down of course...

day-to-two-s!

Yes, you say without these European yuleniya!

120 What do you want? It's not up to you.

(pointing horizontally)

Allow me ... near your dear

The fisherman angrily waves his hand to the fire, goes in the other direction - to warn

circle - and stumbles upon the wet ones running out from behind another slope

Australians.

PHENOMENON TWO

(retreating in surprise)

And there were no more disgusting faces ?!

Australian with wife

We are Australians.

Australian

I am Australian.

We had everything.

platypus, palm tree, porcupine, cactus...

Australian

(crying, in surging feeling)

And everything sank...

All at the bottom...

(pointing to the slumped Frenchman)

130 Here, go to them!

And then they are alone.

The Eskimo, who was about to go again, stopped, listening to two voices with

Getting stronger!

Hold on to north latitude!

Grab the south longitude!

PHENOMENON THREE

On the ropes of latitudes and longitudes, German and Italian roll down from the globe.

officers rush to each other in a friendly manner. Both together.

Let me shake!

Recognizing enemies, they pull back their outstretched hands and, snatching sabers on the move,

rush.

Italian

If only I knew!

140 Cursed Swabian!

Damn Italian!

If I knew, yes I would!

Italian

Eviva Italy!

Goh fatherland!

The Frenchman throws himself between the clinging, the Australian embraces the Italian,

Australian - German.

Throw you!

There are no fatherlands.

(putting sabers in)

no, you don't have to.

(shaking head)

150 Here's the gang!

Right on the head of the Eskimo, who is about to leave again, our merchantman falls down.

PHENOMENON FOUR

venerable,

this mess!

Am I Asia?

"Destroy Asia" - the decision of the Council of Ministers.

Yes, I've never been an Asian!

(Calming down a little.)

At first it dripped

more - higher

160 poured into the streets,

roofs blew...

Do you hear the thud?

Flood! flood! flood! about the flood! flood!

FIFTH PHENOMENON

Negus is ahead, followed by a Chinese, Persian, Turk, Raja, pop, student,

hysterical lady. The procession is closed by all seven couples pouring in from all sides.

impure.

At least a little blacker than snow, sir,

but nonetheless

I am an Abyssinian Negus.

170 My respect!

I have now left my Africa.

The Nile meandered in it, a boa-river.

How the Nile was furious, squeezing the kingdom into a river,

and drowned my Africa in it.

Although there is no estate,

but nonetheless...

(annoyed)

But nonetheless

my regards.

Heard! Heard!

180 Please do not forget!

Negus speaks to you,

and the negus wants to eat.

Must be a delicious dog?

I will give those - doggy!

It's a walrus, not a dog.

Go sit down, but don't get anyone dirty.

(Turning to the others.)

What about you?

190 Nothing!

Drown my China.

my Persia went to the bottom.

Even India,

Celestial India, and that ...

And only one memory remains of Turkey!

What is this hum!

tantrum lady

(wringing his hands, he separates from the crowd)

200 Listen,

I can't!

I can not among the animal snouts!

Let me go

Who are these railings?

These railing shadows

standing by the banks of bloody rivers?

Listen

210 I can't!

Even how to love, I forgot already.

Let go!

I want children,

I want husbands

I can't live unloved.

Look, I can't!

(soothing)

Don't rub your eyes...

220 don't bite your lips...

(Advanced to the fire unclean, arrogantly.)

And which nations are you?

Unclean

Chase around the world

accustomed to our wandering people.

We are no nations.

Our work is our home.

They are proletarians!

Proletarians...

(to the Frenchman, patting him on his belly)

230 Noise of the flood, I suppose, in your ears?

(to him, mockingly and shrillly)

Would you lay down and sleep on the bed now?

Let you into the trenches and into the mines!

Passing Miner

(smugly)

we are nothing

got wet.

The unclean pass by, separating the squeamishly squeezing crowd of the clean, and sit down at

campfire. The crowd of the pure closes behind them in a circle. Pasha climbs into the middle.

Faithful!

Should we talk about what happened?

Let's delve into the essence of the phenomenon.

It's a simple matter -

240 doomsday.

And I think it's a flood.

And not a flood

it was raining.

there was no rain.

Italian

So, this idea is also wild ...

But anyway -

What is it, the faithful, happened?

250 Let's, believers, look at the root.

The people, in my opinion, became rebellious.

Think war, me.

I think the reason is different.

I think it's metaphysical...

(displeased)

War - metaphysical!

We started with Adam.

In turn!

260 Don't make sodom!

Let's talk gradually.

Your word, student.

(Justifies himself to the crowd.)

And then he even has foam on his lips.

everything was simple:

day changed to night

the dawn was too raging alo.

270 Then -

granite piles of capitals

and the sun itself motionless redhead -

everything seemed to be a little fluid,

creep a little,

a little liquefied.

Then how it spills!

280 The streets are pouring,

the melted house falls on the house.

The whole world,

melted in the blast furnaces of revolutions,

Gentlemen, attention!

It's drizzling here.

Australian wife

Pretty drizzle!

Wet like pigs.

Maybe the end of the world is near

we rally, yell and laugh.

Italian

(snuggles up to the pole)

Get here!

It doesn't drip here.

(kneeling the one who is clamping the hole with the inherent

this people with the patience of an Eskimo)

Went to the walruses!

The Eskimo hunter flies off, and from the open hole scored in those present

jet. The clean ones scattered like a fan, yelling inarticulately.

A minute later, everyone rushes to the jet.

300 score!

Shut up!

Receded. Only the Australian remained at the globe with his finger in the hole. IN

general commotion perched on a couple of pop logs.

We lose the last inch.

Who is that closet with the beard?

This is for forty nights and forty days...

Right!

310 The Lord advised him wisely!

There has been a similar precedent in history.

Remember the famous adventure of Noevo.

(moving into the place of the priest)

Nonsense -

and history, and precedent, and in general ...

Get to the point!

Let's build an ark, brothers!

Australian wife

Right! The ark!

Here is the hunt!

Let's build a boat!

320 Two steamboats.

Right!

I will invest all my money!

Those were saved, but we are smarter than those, in any way.

General hum

Long live,

long live technology!

Raise your hands -

General hum

And you don't need hands.

It is visible behind the eyes.

Both the clean and the unclean raise their hands.

(having taken the place of a merchant, he looks angrily at

the blacksmith who raised his hand)

330 Are you there too?

And don't you dare!

let's not take the unclean!

Do you know how to saw and plan?

(drooping)

I changed my mind.

Take the unclean.

We will only select the non-drinkers and the broad-shouldered.

(getting into the place of the Frenchman)

Shh! Lord

340 may still not have to put up with

impure.

Fortunately,

we don't know what's up with a fifth of the world.

Chatter, and did not even bother to find out

Are there Americans among us?

(joyfully)

Well, the head!

Not a man, but a German chancellor.

Joy cuts through the cry of an Australian.

An American bursts in directly from the hall to the tensely peering.

American

Gracious sovereigns,

where is the ark being built here?

(holds out paper)

from drowned America

two hundred billion checks.

Silent sadness. And suddenly the cry of an Australian pinching the water.

Australian

What did they glare at? Will stare!

By God, take it out!

Fingers numb...

The pure fussed. Ingratiatingly rubbing towards the unclean.

(to the blacksmith)

Well, comrades,

let's build,

Gentle Blacksmith

What about me!

360 For me though...

(Waving his hand to the unclean.)

Aida, comrades!

Ride, so ride!

The unclean are rising. Saws, planers, hammers.

ACT TWO

Ark deck. In all directions, a panorama of lands crumbling into waves. IN

low clouds rests against a mast tangled with ropes of ladders. In the side cabin

and entrance to the hold. The clean and the unclean lined up along the close board.

I wouldn't want to go overboard today.

Look there:

not a wave, but a fence!

In vain I confused it with you.

Always like this

to no avail.

370 Mariners too!

Found a sea wolf.

Lamplighter

Look, brought it up!

Humming and groaning.

What a fence!

Closed by a wall.

Very stupid!

I tell you with sorrow and pain, sir.

Would sit.

380 The earth is still holding.

Whatever it is, but still a pole.

What are your wolves

waves caress.

Both Eskimos, the driver and the Australians - at once.

What about Alaska?

Well, it jumped!

What a stone sling.

Hooted!

390 Isn't she?

Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

(crying over the memory)

My God!..

the whole family

let's gather at the tea table -

Baker

(measuring the tip of the nail)

400 Wonderful, by God!

Well, it's not a pity

not so much.

Shoemaker

I stocked up the vodka.

Got a glass?

There will be.

let's go to the hold!

Well, how's the walrus?

Isn't it very hot?

410 Nothing is lean,

nicely fried.

Clean ones. The unclean descend into the hold, singing along.

What do we have to lose? Are we afraid of the flood?

Legs loosened - they stomped around the world.

Oh, and rest in steamboats!

And eating walrus and sipping vodka is not a sin.

Oh, it's not a sin!

The clean surrounded the whimpering Frenchman.

It's embarrassing, right!

Stop yelling!

420 We'll get by somehow,

crawl to Ararat.

You will die of hunger, while the mountain is.

(Listens to the noise in the hold ..)

Look, roar!

Caught fish and eat.

Let's take a net or a prison and let's catch it too.

O-s-t-r-o-g-y?

And how to deal with her?

I only know how to pick at a man with a sword.

430 I cast my net,

I thought - I'll take out the fish,

and nothing -

one herb.

(contritely)

What have they grown up to?

the first guild - and eat algae.

Italian

(raises a finger pointedly)

Listen!

Why are we like this then?

440 What's got us so hurt?

We now have a common enemy.

(Points to the hold. Takes it by the arm and leads it away,

on the go.)

I have something for you...

Whispering, they return.

(holding a speech)

We are all so clean.

Do we shed sweat at work?

Let's force the unclean to attack us

worked.

I would make them!

Yes, where do I

450 And any of them - oblique in the shoulders.

Italian

God save the fight!