Watermelon cruel games theme idea. Alexey Arbuzov: Cruel Intentions. Arbuzov Alexey NikolaevichCruel Intentions

Time passes. Valya and Sergei gave birth to twins - Fedor and Lenochka. Sergei advises Valya to go study and then work. He believes that to be happy, a person needs his business to be at least a little better than himself.

Thirtieth of July. It's a very hot day. Sergei takes a towel and goes to the Angara to take a dip. On the way to the river, he meets a boy and a girl who join him: the children are going fishing.

Meanwhile, Victor comes to Valya. He still cannot forget her and suffers greatly. Valya loves Sergei. Suddenly their friend Rodik comes and tells them that Sergei has drowned. A boy and a girl who were fishing capsized on a raft. Sergei saved them at the cost of his life.

After Sergei’s death, his entire team decides to work for him and give the money to Valentina. There is only one against Victor. He believes that this should humiliate Valya. Valya, however, accepts the money. Then Victor accuses her of being a dependent. He loves Valya and wants her to maintain her human dignity. He tells her the same thing that Sergei once said: that she should go to study and work. He calls her to join them during his shift. Valya agrees. It seems that a new feeling for Victor is emerging in her, although she is in no hurry to admit it. Sergei's voice wishes Victor a happy journey in life.

Cruel Games Drama (1978)

The action takes place in the late 70s. of our century. Moscow. House on Tverskoy Boulevard. Kai Leonidov lives in a spacious three-room apartment. His mother and stepfather are abroad, they left for several years, so he lives alone. One day, a girl, Nelya, comes to his apartment. She is nineteen years old. Having arrived from Rybinsk, she did not enter medical school. She has nowhere to live, and her friends referred her to Kai. She promises if Kai will let her live here, clean and cook. Kai is twenty years old, but he is already tired of life and indifferent to everything. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer, but Kai dropped out of college and started drawing. Kai allows Nele to stay.

His friends Terenty Konstantinov and Nikita Likhachev often come to see Kai. They are his age and have been friends since school. Terenty left his father. Konstantinov Sr. also often comes to Kai, calling his son home, but he hardly talks to him. Terenty lives in a hostel and has no plans to return home. Nelya comes up with a nickname for everyone: she calls Kaya Boat, Nikita - Bubenchik, Terenty - Openkok. Nikita starts an affair with Nelya. He cares for every girl who appears in his field of vision. Nelya scares him that she will take him and give birth to a daughter.

One January evening, Mikhail Zemtsov comes to see Kai. This is Kai's cousin. He is thirty years old, he is a doctor in Tyumen. We'll pass Mikhail in Moscow. Mikhail talks about his work and life in the taiga in general. He is married. Recently his daughter was born. Nelya tells him that she also wants to become a doctor, that she worked as a nurse in a hospital. Mikhail says that if they had such a nurse in the hospital, he would make her rich. Leaving, Mikhail tells the guys that they live dimly, do not see life with its joys.

Early March. Western Siberia. Village of an oil exploration expedition. In the Zemtsovs' room are Misha and his wife Masha. She is thirty-nine years old and a geologist. Just ten weeks ago their daughter was born, and Masha is already bored. She cannot live without her job, which is why, as Mikhail says, three people left her ex-husbands. Masha is burdened by the fact that Mikhail can be called to the hospital at any time of the day or night, and she must sit alone with Lesya. Loveiko, the Zemtsovs' neighbor, enters. He is thirty-eight years old, he works with Masha. Loveiko says that the area in Tuzhka where they worked was called unpromising. Masha wants to prove the opposite to everyone, but she has a child in her arms.

At this time the door opens, Nelya is standing on the threshold. She is very surprised that Misha is married, she did not know this. Misha does not immediately recognize her, but then he is sincerely happy, because “there is no one to look after his patients.” Nelya wants to stay with them until the fall so she can try to go to college again.

Moscow. Kai's apartment again. The guys remember Nelya all the time. She left without saying goodbye to anyone, without leaving an address, without saying where she was going. Kai painted her portrait and considers it his only success. Nikita thinks that Nelya left because she is expecting a child from him. Unexpectedly, Oleg Pavlovich, Kai’s stepfather, arrives for just two days. He brings him gifts and a letter from his mother.

Village of the oil exploration expedition, second half of July, Zemtsov’s room. Masha and Loveiko are going to leave for Tuzhok. Nelya brings Lesya from the nursery so that they can say goodbye, but Masha does not want this: she “said goodbye yesterday in the nursery.” Misha is summoned to Baikul. Nelya is left alone with the child.

Mid August. Zemtsov's room. Misha and Nelya are drinking tea. Nelya tells him her story. She ran away from home after her parents forced her to have an abortion. She wanted to run away with her “boyfriend,” but he drove her away. Nelya asks Misha to marry her. Misha replies that he loves Masha. He “tells fortunes” to Nele’s palm. He tells her that Nelya loves someone else: he offended her, so she left. Nelya agrees. Misha says that everything can be fixed if the person is alive. And suddenly he reports that Masha has left them. Nelya asks him not to believe this.

End of September. Moscow. Evening. The guys are sitting in Kai's room. For the umpteenth time, Konstantinov Sr. comes, and Terenty is still as cold with him. Suddenly a woman comes. This is Nelya's mother. She is in her early forties. She is looking for her daughter. The guys say that Nelya left and did not leave an address. Nelya’s mother says that her husband is dying and wants to see her daughter one last time and ask for forgiveness. The guys can't help her. She leaves. Terenty believes that Nikita is to blame for Nelya’s departure. Kai says that everyone is to blame. They remember their childhood and wonder why they became so inhuman. Even Konstantinov Sr. suddenly opens up. He tells how he drank all his life, and when he came to his senses, he found himself alone.

Twentieth of October. Zemtsov's room. Masha came for one day. Nelya tells her how Mikhail died: he flew out to save a man, but due to an accident he drowned in a swamp. Now Nelya spends the night at their house, taking Lesya from the nursery - “so that life here will be warm,” she says that Misha loved her, Nelya, then admits that she came up with this in order to forget the other, and that Masha can be envied: such a person loved her! Masha leaves, leaving Lesya with Nelya. As a farewell, Nelya turns on Masha’s tape recorder, where Misha recorded his song for her.

Moscow. Beginning of December. Kai's room. Nikita and Terenty arrive. Kai says that Nelya has returned with her daughter. The girl caught a cold on the road. Nikita is not himself. Wants to leave. Nelya comes out of the next room with a girl in her arms. She says that she will leave when Lesya gets better, at least to her mother - she called her. Nikita wants to find out who the child's father is, but Nelya does not tell him. He asks if he would like this to be his child? He pushes her away. Nelya is crying. Terenty invites her to marry him.

Last days December. Kai's room. Lesya sleeps in a new stroller. Nelya bought a big Christmas tree. Kai is sorting through toys. Nelya reminds again that she will be leaving soon. Kai doesn't want to believe it. Terenty dressed up as Santa Claus. Terenty's father brought Lesya a mechanical toy as a gift. The guys turn off the lights and twirl to the music.

Suddenly Masha enters. She asks where her daughter is. Nelya says that she took the girl away because Masha left her, abandoned her. Masha takes her daughter and says that all the games, including her own, are over. leaves. Kai notices that the room has become empty. Nelya asks everyone for forgiveness. Nikita drives her away in rage. Nelya collects her things and wants to leave. Konstantinov Sr. asks Nelya not to leave, not to leave the guys, Nelya is silent. Kai slowly approaches her and takes her suitcase. Nikita takes off her jacket, Terenty takes off her scarf. They lit the Christmas tree and turned on the tape recorder. Terenty calls Konstantinov father for the first time and goes home with him. Kai gets dressed and goes out: he wants to look from the street at the Christmas tree in the house. Nikita and Nelya are left alone.

Alexey Nikolaevich Arbuzov 1908-1986

Alexey Nikolaevich Arbuzov

Cruel Games

Arbuzov Alexey Nikolaevich

Cruel Games

Dramatic scenes in two parts, eleven scenes

Then he grew up... He went for a walk... and walked between us, giving each of us a hand, knowing that we would support and teach him wisdom, feeling our tenderness and even love...

Edward Albee. I'm not afraid of Virginia Woolf

CHARACTERS

Kai Leonidov, 20 years, Nikita Likhachev, 20 years Terenty, 20 years, - school friends.

Nelya, arrived in Moscow, 19 years old.

Mishka Zemtsov, doctor, 30 years old.

Masha Zemtsova, geologist, 39 years old.

Konstantinov, father of Terenty, 50 years old.

Loveiko, neighbor of the Zemtsovs, 38 years old.

Oleg Pavlovich, stepfather of Kai, 43 years old.

Neli's mother, 44 years old.

Lyubasya, Nikita's younger sister, 18 years old.

A girl who looks like an angel, a girl who doesn’t look like an angel at all - the author offers these roles to be played by one actress.

The action takes place in the late seventies in Moscow and in the oil fields in the Tyumen region.

PART ONE

PICTURE ONE

End of September.

A house on Tverskoy Boulevard, built at the beginning of the century. Spacious three-room apartment on the second floor, somewhat neglected.

In the room that was once his nursery, Kai sits in his usual position in a chair. He is twenty years old, casually dressed, with short hair, and was a good-looking boy as a child. It’s starting to get dark outside, but in the window you can still see the yellowed foliage of the boulevard blown by the wind. It's pouring heavy rain. On the threshold, peering into the semi-darkness of the room, stands Nelya, a simple-looking girl, not yet Muscovite in appearance. At her feet is a small suitcase.

Nelya (I saw Kai sitting). Hello. Your staircase door was not locked...

Kai. And what?

Nelya (condemning him). Still... alone in the apartment.

Kai. And what?

Nelya. Thieves can come in.

Kai. They don't come in.

Nelya. You should turn on the light. It got dark outside. Why talk in the dark?

Kai (lit the table lamp. Looked at Nelya). And where did you come from?

Nelya. Which?

Kai. Wet.

Nelya. Why do you call me “you”? No good.

Kai. Who do you need?

Nelya. Leonidov.

Kai. Strange. I didn't think anyone would need it.

Nelya (looked around). Your apartment is not tidy.

Kai. Without a doubt, my darling.

Nelya. Dust is everywhere.

Kai. And this is not excluded, my joy.

Nelya (was indignant). Can you speak seriously?

Kai. Laziness, my friend.

Nelya (looked at the easel). Are you an artist?

Kai. Not quite sure.

Nelya (I saw an aquarium). And do you like fish?

Kai (grinned). More than anyone else in the world. ( After a pause.) Further?

Nelya. Do you remember Ivetochka Gorshkova?

Kai. Not very happy with her.

Nelya. She sent me to you.

Kai. What's so?

Nelya. Shelter me. ( Quiet.) Shelter.

Kai (after a pause). Are you crazy?

Nelya. I have no one to live with - that’s it, Leonidov. I spent two nights at the station.

Kai. And we don't need tears. Without them, please.

Nelya. And I'm not going to. She cried her own. ( Not right away.) You have a three-room apartment, and you are alone here.

Kai. Logically everything is correct. But get out of here.

Nelya. And don’t be rude, I’m talking to you like a person. My affairs are not important, understand, Leonidov? There is no Moscow registration, and there is nowhere to go - keep this in mind. I lived with Ivetka for two months - we met in Metelitsa... I was completely in trouble then. She noticed immediately. “You,” he says, “are funny, live with me.” And in her apartment, you know, it’s a mess, to put it mildly. First this one, then that one, music plays, doors slam, some stay overnight. Laughter and sadness... But still a roof over your head. And suddenly a telegram: parents are returning. She was in tears, and then she gave your address. “Go,” he says, “there’s something in him.”

Alexey Nikolaevich Arbuzov

Cruel Games

Arbuzov Alexey Nikolaevich

Cruel Games

Dramatic scenes in two parts, eleven scenes

Then he grew up... He went for a walk... and walked between us, giving each of us a hand, knowing that we would support and teach him wisdom, feeling our tenderness and even love...

Edward Albee. I'm not afraid of Virginia Woolf

CHARACTERS

Kai Leonidov, 20 years, Nikita Likhachev, 20 years Terenty, 20 years, - school friends.

Nelya, arrived in Moscow, 19 years old.

Mishka Zemtsov, doctor, 30 years old.

Masha Zemtsova, geologist, 39 years old.

Konstantinov, father of Terenty, 50 years old.

Loveiko, neighbor of the Zemtsovs, 38 years old.

Oleg Pavlovich, stepfather of Kai, 43 years old.

Neli's mother, 44 years old.

Lyubasya, Nikita's younger sister, 18 years old.

A girl who looks like an angel, a girl who doesn’t look like an angel at all - the author offers these roles to be played by one actress.

The action takes place in the late seventies in Moscow and in the oil fields in the Tyumen region.

PART ONE

PICTURE ONE

End of September.

A house on Tverskoy Boulevard, built at the beginning of the century. Spacious three-room apartment on the second floor, somewhat neglected.

In the room that was once his nursery, Kai sits in his usual position in a chair. He is twenty years old, casually dressed, with short hair, and was a good-looking boy as a child. It’s starting to get dark outside, but in the window you can still see the yellowed foliage of the boulevard blown by the wind. It's raining heavily. On the threshold, peering into the semi-darkness of the room, stands Nelya, a simple-looking girl, not yet Muscovite in appearance. At her feet is a small suitcase.

Nelya (I saw Kai sitting). Hello. Your staircase door was not locked...

Kai. And what?

Nelya (condemning him). Still... alone in the apartment.

Kai. And what?

Nelya. Thieves can come in.

Kai. They don't come in.

Nelya. You should turn on the light. It got dark outside. Why talk in the dark?

Kai (lit the table lamp. Looked at Nelya). And where did you come from?

Nelya. Which?

Kai. Wet.

Nelya. Why do you call me “you”? No good.

Kai. Who do you need?

Nelya. Leonidov.

Kai. Strange. I didn't think anyone would need it.

Nelya (looked around). Your apartment is not tidy.

Kai. Without a doubt, my darling.

Nelya. Dust is everywhere.

Kai. And this is not excluded, my joy.

Nelya (was indignant). Can you speak seriously?

Kai. Laziness, my friend.

Nelya (looked at the easel). Are you an artist?

Kai. Not quite sure.

Nelya (I saw an aquarium). And do you like fish?

Kai (grinned). More than anyone else in the world. ( After a pause.) Further?

Nelya. Do you remember Ivetochka Gorshkova?

Kai. Not very happy with her.

Nelya. She sent me to you.

Kai. What's so?

Nelya. Shelter me. ( Quiet.) Shelter.

Kai (after a pause). Are you crazy?

Nelya. I have no one to live with - that’s it, Leonidov. I spent two nights at the station.

Kai. And we don't need tears. Without them, please.

Nelya. And I'm not going to. She cried her own. ( Not right away.) You have a three-room apartment, and you are alone here.

Kai. Logically everything is correct. But get out of here.

Nelya. And don’t be rude, I’m talking to you like a person. My affairs are not important, understand, Leonidov? There is no Moscow registration, and there is nowhere to go - keep this in mind. I lived with Ivetka for two months - we met in Metelitsa... I was completely in trouble then. She noticed immediately. “You,” he says, “are funny, live with me.” And in her apartment, you know, it’s a mess, to put it mildly. First this one, then that one, music plays, doors slam, some stay overnight. Laughter and sadness... But still a roof over your head. And suddenly a telegram: parents are returning. She was in tears, and then she gave your address. “Go,” he says, “there’s something in him.”

Kai. Why did you appear in Moscow?

Nelya. It was necessary to.

Kai. Talk more thoroughly.

Nelya. So tell me everything.

Kai. Understood. Your story is simple. Which institute didn't let you in?

Nelya (not right away). To the medical...

Kai. Did you miss too much?

Nelya. I was surprised myself, so much.

Kai. Did it appear from afar?

Nelya. There is a city of Rybinsk.

Kai. Go home.

Nelya. No home, Leonidov.

Kai. And parents?

Nelya. I hate them. In general, I feel sorry for the mother. And father. But I still hate it.

Kai (looked at her carefully). What is your name?

Nelya. Nelya.

Kai. A dog's name, if I'm not mistaken.

Nelya. In truth, it’s Lena. Nelya - they came up with it in class.

Kai. And you got very wet... Helen?

Nelya. Actually yes. Somehow it got frosty... It’s the end of September, but it’s cold.

Kai. The bottle is next to you. Pay attention. And cups. Pour it out, we'll have Starka.

Nelya. I see. Not little.

Kai. In that case, let's shudder, Helen. Otherwise you'll catch a cold. ( They are drinking.) Everything is fine. How old are you?

Nelya. Turned nineteen on Thursday.

Kai. You look older. You're lying, obviously?

Nelya. Actually, I lie often. Keep this in mind, Leonidov.

Kai. Should I pour more?

Nelya. Just not full, otherwise I’ll fall asleep. Do you have anything to snack on?

Kai. Snack on some candy. They are in a box.

Nelya. Some kind of childhood.

Kai. In Chicago, people only drink Starka with chocolate. ( Drank.) Do you have money?

Nelya (sympathetically). Do you need a lot? Actually, I don't have much.

Kai. Take it. Ten re. ( Hands out money.) And we'll leave it at that. Hello old lady.

Nelya. What are you doing? Are you persecuting me, you unfortunate fool? It's great for you that I came here.

Kai. Seriously?

Nelya. I did everything around the house at Ivetka’s - going to the store, making tea, cleaning... even doing the laundry! Keep in mind, Leonidov, the same will happen to you. Your parents are abroad - you are alone here. And I don't need a salary. I’ll get a job, arrange my registration, and leave. ( Tries to smile.) You will still remember me.

Kai. You promise too much, Helen.

Nelya. And what? It's all true. ( Uncertain.) Maybe you're afraid of me? No need… ( She smiled, but it came out somehow pitifully.) I am cheerful.

Kai. Look, I'm ready for anything.

Nelya (very quiet). And what?

Kai (not right away). Why don’t you love your parents?

Nelya. They crossed out everything for me. ( She screamed.) All! Understood?! OK. Let's keep quiet.

Kai. Stay.

She sits silently for a long time.

Nelya. How old are you?

Kai. Two tens.

Nelya. You are the eldest. What's your name?

Kai. Kai.

Nelya. It's also not human.

Kai. Yulik. That's what my mother called me when I was a child.

Nelya. And what? Kai is better. And I will call you Boat.

Kai. Why Boat?

Nelya. Doesn't matter. Are you studying?

Kai. They wanted to see me as a lawyer. Left from the second year. Transferred to correspondence.

Nelya. You're not easy. Ivetka told me.

Kai. She's stupid. I love silence, mind you. So keep your nonsense down.

Nelya. I will try. And we won’t offend each other, right? ( After a pause.) Where will I sleep... here?

Kai. How is it... here?

Nelya. Well... With you?

Kai. What else.

Nelya (shrugged). What a strange one. ( With some surprise.) Thank you.

Kai (opens the door to the next room). There is a sofa in the corner, you can sit there, understand?

Nelya (looking back). You have it running here.

Kai. Occurs. ( After a pause.) And once upon a time they had fun here. There was a Christmas tree, Santa Claus came, everyone danced, and a beautiful woman in a white dress... Stop! To the kitchen! ( Almost evil.) Your farm is there.

The lights go out. But after a few moments it lights up again. Nelya is sleeping in the chair. In another corner Konstantinov sits motionless, old man unsightly looking. He's wearing a coat and hasn't even taken off his cap. Terenty appears, a nice, agile, obliging guy. He's in overalls, just home from work. I saw Konstantinov.

Late 1970s Moscow. House on Tverskoy Boulevard. Kai Leonidov lives in a spacious three-room apartment. His mother and stepfather are abroad, they left for several years, so he lives alone. One day, a girl, Nelya, comes to his apartment. She is nineteen years old. Having arrived from Rybinsk, she did not enter medical school. She has nowhere to live, and her friends referred her to Kai. She promises if Kai will let her live here, clean and cook. Kai is twenty years old, but he is already tired of life and indifferent to everything. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer, but Kai dropped out of college and started drawing. Kai allows Nele to stay.

His friends Terenty Konstantinov and Nikita Likhachev often come to see Kai. They are his age and have been friends since school. Terenty left his father. Konstantinov Sr. also often comes to Kai, calling his son home, but he hardly talks to him. Terenty lives in a hostel and has no intention of returning home. Nelya comes up with a nickname for everyone: Kaya is called Boat, Nikita - Bubenchik, Terenty - Honey fungus. Nikita starts an affair with Nelya. He cares for every girl who appears in his field of vision. Nelya scares him that she will take him and give birth to a daughter.

One January evening, Mikhail Zemtsov comes to see Kai. This is Kai's cousin. He is thirty years old, he is a doctor in Tyumen. Mikhail is passing through Moscow. Mikhail talks about his work and life in the taiga in general. He is married. Recently his daughter was born. Nelya tells him that she also wants to become a doctor, that she worked as a nurse in a hospital. Mikhail says that if they had such a nurse in the hospital, he would make her rich. Leaving, Mikhail tells the guys that they live dimly, do not see life with its joys.

Early March. Western Siberia. Village of an oil exploration expedition. In the Zemtsovs' room are Misha and his wife Masha. She is thirty-nine years old and a geologist. Just ten weeks ago their daughter was born, and Masha is already bored. She cannot live without her work, which is why, as Mikhail says, three ex-husbands left her. Masha is burdened by the fact that Mikhail can be called to the hospital at any time of the day or night, and she must sit alone with Lesya. Loveiko, the Zemtsovs' neighbor, enters. He is thirty-eight years old, he works with Masha. Loveiko says that the area in Tuzhka where they worked was called unpromising. Masha wants to prove the opposite to everyone, but she has a child in her arms.

At this time the door opens, Nelya is standing on the threshold. She is very surprised that Misha is married, she did not know this. Misha does not immediately recognize her, but then he is sincerely happy, because “there is no one to look after his patients.” Nelya wants to stay with them until the fall so she can try to go to college again.

Moscow. Kai's apartment again. The guys remember Nelya all the time. She left without saying goodbye to anyone, without leaving an address, without saying where she was going. Kai painted her portrait and considers it his only success. Nikita thinks that Nelya left because she is expecting a child from him. Unexpectedly, Oleg Pavlovich, Kai’s stepfather, arrives for just two days. He brings him gifts and a letter from his mother.

Village of the oil exploration expedition, second half of July, Zemtsov’s room. Masha and Loveiko are going to leave for Tuzhok. Nelya brings Lesya from the nursery so that they can say goodbye, but Masha does not want this: she “said goodbye yesterday in the nursery.” Misha is summoned to Baikul. Nelya is left alone with the child.

Mid August. Zemtsov's room. Misha and Nelya are drinking tea. Nelya tells him her story. She ran away from home after her parents forced her to have an abortion. She wanted to run away with her “boyfriend,” but he drove her away. Nelya asks Misha to marry her. Misha replies that he loves Masha. He “tells fortunes” to Nele’s palm. He tells her that Nelya loves someone else: he offended her, so she left. Nelya agrees. Misha says that everything can be fixed if the person is alive. And suddenly he reports that Masha has left them. Nelya asks him not to believe this.

End of September. Moscow. Evening. The guys are sitting in Kai's room. For the umpteenth time, Konstantinov Sr. comes, and Terenty is still as cold with him. Suddenly a woman comes. This is Nelya's mother. She is in her early forties. She is looking for her daughter. The guys say that Nelya left and did not leave an address. Nelya’s mother says that her husband is dying and wants to see her daughter one last time and ask for forgiveness. The guys can't help her. She leaves. Terenty believes that Nikita is to blame for Nelya’s departure. Kai says that everyone is to blame. They remember their childhood and wonder why they became so inhuman. Even Konstantinov Sr. suddenly opens up. He tells how he drank all his life, and when he came to his senses, he found himself alone.

Twentieth of October. Zemtsov's room. Masha came for one day. Nelya tells her how Mikhail died: he flew out to save a man, but due to an accident he drowned in a swamp. Now Nelya spends the night at their house, taking Lesya from the nursery - “so that life here will be warm,” she says that Misha loved her, Nelya, then admits that she came up with this in order to forget the other, and that Masha can be envied: such a person loved her! Masha leaves, leaving Lesya with Nelya. As a farewell, Nelya turns on Masha’s tape recorder, where Misha recorded his song for her.

Moscow. Beginning of December. Kai's room. Nikita and Terenty arrive. Kai says that Nelya has returned with her daughter. The girl caught a cold on the road. Nikita is not himself. Wants to leave. Nelya comes out of the next room with a girl in her arms. She says that she will leave when Lesya gets better, at least to her mother - she called her. Nikita wants to find out who the child’s father is, but Nelya doesn’t tell him. He asks if he would like this to be his child? He pushes her away. Nelya is crying. Terenty invites her to marry him.

Last days of December. Kai's room. Lesya sleeps in a new stroller. Nelya bought a big Christmas tree. Kai is sorting through toys. Nelya reminds again that she will be leaving soon. Kai doesn't want to believe it. Terenty dressed up as Santa Claus. Terenty's father brought Lesya a mechanical toy as a gift. The guys turn off the lights and twirl to the music.

Suddenly Masha enters. She asks where her daughter is. Nelya says that she took the girl away because Masha left her, abandoned her. Masha takes her daughter and says that all the games, including her own, are over. Leaves. Kai notices that the room has become empty. Nelya asks everyone for forgiveness. Nikita drives her away in a rage. Nelya packs her things and wants to leave. Konstantinov Sr. asks Nelya not to leave, not to leave the guys, Nelya remains silent. Kai slowly approaches her and takes her suitcase. Nikita takes off her jacket, Terenty takes off her scarf. They lit the Christmas tree and turned on the tape recorder. Terenty calls Konstantinov father for the first time and goes home with him. Kai gets dressed and goes out: he wants to look from the street at the Christmas tree in the house. Nikita and Nelya are left alone.

Retold

When contemporaries speak or write about Alexei Arbuzov, three amazing qualities of his personality and his work are always noted in one word or another.

Firstly, this is a rare ability to always remain young at heart, which manifested itself in everything: from freshness, spontaneity of perception of life, when, according to I. Vasilinina, “rain is not an annoying obstacle, but one of the wonders of nature,” to the ability to dress according to fashion; from a strong interest in youth and helping young fellow writers to the ability to be in in the best sense modern, that is, open to all the problems that quickly passing time poses in a given period, capable of capturing the spirit of the era, being imbued with it and conveying it in a work.

Secondly, this is his organic theatricality, deep, coming with teenage years attachment to the theater, subtle knowledge of its laws, thanks to which Arbuzov’s plays are always stage-like: they “ask to go on stage.” A certain theatricality was characteristic of the playwright in life. Having been an actor in his youth, he, as I. Vishnevskaya writes, “has forever retained his inner artistry, the desire for acting, for transformation. Even things play next to Arbuzov: they turn from everyday items into colorful theatrical scenery.” His younger contemporary, playwright V. Slavkin, also spoke about this same quality of Arbuzov’s character: “He played in life. All the time. And if there was no situation, he created a game situation around himself.

Our studio was also his game... He gathered around him people who were completely different from him... Because he understood that the beauty of life is diversity.”

Finally, thirdly, they write about Arbuzov as a bright and friendly person who knew how to sincerely rejoice at the success of others, and they invariably note the humanity and warmth of his works, in which even negative characters are warmed by the author’s understanding and forgiveness.

Vital and creative path Alexei Nikolaevich Arbuzov (1908–1986) was long and full of events. He was born in Moscow, but in early childhood moved with his family to St. Petersburg, where his family’s life was very unfavorable: his father left the family, his mother’s mental illness. Here he was also caught by the events of the October Revolution, which he recalled much later: “The most powerful impression was the capture Winter Palace in October 1917, which I observed as a boy. This event affected my fate and the fate of my family. Started new life. I was left to my own devices” (Theater 1986. No. 2). At the age of eleven, he was left alone, wandered and even ended up in a colony for difficult-to-educate people. The tutelage of his aunt changed little in his life, but the theater played a saving and decisive role. “Having been brought up by my aunt,” Arbuzov wrote in his autobiography, “I wanted to go wander again, but one autumn evening in 1920 prevented everything - I ended up at the Bolshoi Drama Theater, where Schiller’s The Robbers were being performed... Returning home after the performance, I I understood that now there was no life outside the theater. I was coming up with a new ending for “The Robbers,” I was dreaming of my future, and it was – theater, theater, theater... For four years, the gallery on the fourth tier was my home, my family – everything significant happened here.”

Arbuzov took the next step towards the stage by joining a traveling theater troupe as an actor. He will devote several years to acting in this and other groups and will retain his love for this profession for the rest of his life, dedicating his best plays to his favorite artists. At the end of the 20s, Arbuzov tried his hand at directing - he worked in the “living newspapers” of Leningrad, and led the crew of a propaganda train. In an effort to make the performances of his propaganda team as topical as possible, Arbuzov began composing skits and numbers, and making various montages. In November 1930, his first play “Class” appeared, written in a poster style, characteristic of the young dramaturgy of those years and reflecting the class maximalism of the people who won the revolutionary battles and their labor enthusiasm. It is interesting that it was precisely such an ideologically and politically pointed play (it was appreciated and staged by professional theaters) that the writer entered the dramaturgy, who would later be accused of “excessive intimacy” and advised to “bravely go into Big world life of a Soviet person." In fact, playwright Arbuzov never lost social activity, but serious social problems in his works they were resolved through the private, personal, family. The continuity of the playwright's early and mature works is also evidenced by the fact that it is in this first play that the Chorus appears, accompanying the action and commenting on the actions of the heroes.

This “antique” element, unusual at first glance for Soviet drama, brought journalisticism and solemnity to the text. In search of his own creative style, Arbuzov repeatedly uses the Choir, including in one of his best plays, “The Irkutsk Story.”

In the early 30s, Arbuzov moved to Moscow, where he became a volunteer student at a theater school, and soon headed the literary department of the Proletkult Theater of Small Forms. Together with the troupe of this theater, he travels to construction sites and mines, writes sideshows, and forms a current repertoire. True, a large play about the miners of Donbass (“Heart”), conceived at that time, the material for which the writer collected while living and working at the mine, was never written.

In Arbuzov's first dramatic experiments, neither Arbuzov's themes nor Arbuzov's style are heard. A departure from the schematism and straightforward sociologism of agitation theater and a turn to psychological drama was evident in two lyrical comedies of these years: “Six Loved Ones” (1934) - from collective farm life - and “ Long road"(1935) - about the builders of the Moscow metro, their difficult characters and relationships, romantic love.

In these plays, the author’s close attention to the personal life of the characters, the formation of the character of a young contemporary, which will become decisive in Arbuzov’s dramaturgy, is already noticeable. Interest in privacy He did not exclude heroics, but for Arbuzov it was the heroism of everyday life, natural and almost imperceptible. “My hero is dear and dear to me, who becomes positive as a result of the trials that befall him,” wrote Arbuzov. The play “Six Beloved,” published in the magazine “Collective Farm Theater,” was staged in 1934–1935 by many professional theaters. “So, completely by accident,” wrote Arbuzov, “I became a repertoire playwright.”

What made Arbuzov truly famous was the best of his early plays, Tanya (1938), a chamber drama about love and happiness. The young heroine is completely dissolved in her love, but finds the strength to abandon it after learning about her husband’s feelings for another woman. She finds herself in the profession, gains life experience and appears in the second part of the play as an accomplished person, an adult, open to new feelings. The play sounded convincing and talented main topic Arbuzov's dramaturgy is the theme of a person finding himself. The play traveled to almost all theaters in the country and caused a wave of heated discussions. She received her most vivid stage incarnation at the Revolution Theater (now the V.V. Mayakovsky Theater) in 1939, staged by A. Lobanov, where main role performed by Maria Babanova. The actress had a keen sense of modernity, lyricism, emotionality, and a depth of understanding of character. The performance was performed 1000 times with constant great success.

In the 30s, a number of significant meetings took place for Arbuzov, which largely determined him creative destiny. In 1934, he communicated with M. Gorky as part of a group of young playwrights, and often attended rehearsals of the innovative director V. Meyerhold, which became a school of theatrical art for him. No less important was Arbuzov’s rapprochement with Moscow creative youth (E. Garin, A. Gladkov, I. Shtok, V. Pluchek, etc.), which led in 1938 to the creation of the Moscow State Theater Studio, popularly called “Arbuzov’s” . It was he, always looking for new forms and concerned, despite his fame and solid literary reputation, by the absence of his own, creatively close theatrical group, who became the soul of this studio. Together with him, it was headed by the writer A. Gladkov and Meyerhold’s student, theater director V. Pluchek. From this moment begins the period that Arbuzov called best years own life. The studio's task was to create truly modern performances, in which the image of a contemporary would be truthfully and deeply reflected, appealing to his generation, telling him about himself.