Ivan Franko Theater’s premiere, Terry Johnson’s Hysteria (Ukrainian version by Tetiana Nekriach), attracted keen public interest in Kyiv. Staged by the prominent Ukrainian Canadian director Gregory Hlady (art director Volodymyr Kovalchuk), it is a story about the last days of the famous Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, starring Bohdan Stupka, who proved his usual brilliant self. Apart from the actual historical personalities — Dr. Yehuda (Les Zadniprovsky), Freud’s friend and opponent; the surrealist painter Salvador Dali (Ostap Stupka), and his daughter and dedicated assistant Anna (played by Liudmyla Smorodyna and Larysa Rusnak) — the cast includes his patients, characters appearing in his dreams and delirious visions. Freud’s conscience is haunted by Jessica. In his mind he sees two Jessicas (Polina Lazova and Oksana Batko). The play is rendered as a tragic farce, lasting more than four hours. Gregory Hlady offers a sophisticated approach, dividing the audience and critics, the former enchanted and the latter saying the experiment has bungled even before the curtain is rung down. Indeed, the performance is meant for connoisseurs, not mass audiences.
LIFE, DEATH, AND SEX
“Mr. Hlady, you don’t visit Kyiv too often, having work to do on different continents. Why did you choose Johnson’s Hysteria for your debut as a stage director in Ukraine?”
“I’ve lived in Canada for almost fifteen years, after settling in Montreal. I can concentrate on creative work there. Before emigrating, I actively cooperated with the noted Russian stage director Anatoly Vasilyev at the School of Dramatic Art. Eventually, I toured other countries with his plays. Before that, I had problems in Ukraine; Soviet authorities wouldn’t let me out of the country. It was then that I created an inner module, so while living in Kyiv, I was mentally abroad, traveling wherever I wanted. And then Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s El Principe Constante [The Constant Prince] was banned by censors at the Youth Theater. It was a very heavy blow and I decided to quit and try other drama companies, elsewhere. I spent some time playing in Lithuania, and then became a citizen of the world, settling in Canada. For me, the theater is a mission of utmost importance, having to do with various planes of human consciousness.
“Bohdan Stupka at the Ivan Franko Theater in Kyiv suggested a joint project. I liked the idea. Negotiating it took quite some time. We had to decide on a play and eventually selected Terry Johnson’s Hysteria. It’s a strange play outwardly. A mixture of the hero’s realities and delirious visions. Johnson wrote it in 1993. The setting is in London, in 1938, where Freud immigrated after Vienna had become part of the Reich. There are actually only four living characters — Sigmund Freud, Jessica, Abraham Yehuda, Salvador Dali — and symbolic figures: Love, Death, Conscience, Horror, Patriarch, and so on. I decided to make a grand rather than a chamber rendition, now that I could stage it at a leading Ukrainian company, so I made the most of the powerful Franko cast.
“During the rehearsing period I actually lived at the theater. The schedule was very tight; I had no time to take a walk in the city. At night, I heard creaking sounds and even saw shadows. Were they the souls of actors unwilling to part with the place? The Ivan Franko Theater is rich in talent, dead and living. There is a spring under the stage... I wanted my rendition to convey that energy to the audience. We all worked on the Hysteria with great enthusiasm. I want to make it perfectly clear that the cast is excellent, so all criticism should be addressed to yours truly.
“One may well wonder about Freud and Ukraine. The two don’t seem to connect in any way. The remarkable fact remains that the brilliant scientist was born on May 6, 1856, in Tysmennytsia, a town in Galicia [Halychyna]. When he was three years old, the family moved to Vienna. Hysteria broaches the universal subjects of life, death, and sex. Freud trespassed on human consciousness, the realm of God. I was thrilled to investigate the phenomenon of that genius whose psychoanalysis turned everything upside down. His discoveries are perhaps as important as Copernicus’ heliocentric concept of the universe (meaning that the Earth is not the center of the Universe) or Darwin’s theory of evolutionary selection. Freud, however, dared trespass even further, reaching into the twilight zone of human consciousness. He came up with a revolutionizing psychoanalysis, claiming that everything boils down to instinct, primary impulse; that physical love embodies man’s thirst for life and accomplishment. Freud placed all this in the human ego. He wanted to help mankind, but everything turned out the other way around. In the 1930s, those supporting his theory began talking about a war of the sexes. Emancipation was now in vogue, with women sporting pants as a challenge, behaving in a scandalous manner, publicly displaying their sexual preferences. In a word, hysteria had broken out. Although all of us being into the arts or psychology are looking for ways to control the subconscious, in reality it all turns out an illusion. And so we at the Franko Theater tried an improvisation on a Freudian theme.”
“PASSPORT ISN’T THE MAIN THING”
“Some of the actors said your rehearsals were unusual.”
“It’s important for me to have the cast free from cliches. During the rehearsal, I try to make every actor aware of the space he or she is in and forget about previous solutions. I also believe that if we want to get back to the original sources, reaching deep strata in our profession, we must constantly polish our skill, gradually ascending to existentialistic philosophic issues.”
“What creative traditions do you uphold as a stage director?”
“First of all, those originating from my teachers Stavytsky and Chubasov. I passed through a great school under Anatoly Vasilyev’s tutelage. In Lithuania, I spent a very interesting period working with the noted stage director Jonas Vaitkus, and I like Eimuntas Njakroshus’s creative quest. In fact, I think that his Hamlet and Cherry Orchard are brilliant renditions. Jerzy Grotowski (God rest his soul), with his genius, opened a whole new theatrical world for me. From the theoretical point of view, I am interested in Eugenio Barba. I regard his works as the ritual theater’s ABCs. Nor do I reject Stanislavsky’s system, strange as it may seem. Les Kurbas is alpha and omega to me, especially his dramatic transformations. Also, Mikhail Chekhov’s theosophy, with traditional transformations, when the invisible becomes visible.”
“Among your roles is one in the US film Hysteria. Is it based on Johnson’s play?”
“It has nothing to do with the play, even though it’s a thoroughly psychological movie. The original idea was conceived by the Hollywood director Rene Daalder and I don’t think he knew about Johnson’s play. It’s a coincidence and Hysteria sounds good as a film title. I played with good actors like Patrick McGoohan and Amanda Plummer. When released, the film had problems because of a conflict between the producers and distributors.”
“You spent several years at the Franko Theater and you were partners with Bohdan Stupka onstage and onscreen. Now you met with him as a stage director. How was it this time?”
“I was lucky every time. Working with Bohdan Stupka is always a pleasure. There are few other actors like him, anywhere in the world. He is a perfect pro with tremendous talent and energy. He can do his part spontaneously. He is also a very disciplined actor, outwardly as well as inwardly. I only hope we’ll work together on more than one occasion.”
“Actors often going on tours are fond of saying that their home is aboard a jet. Where is your home now? How long did it take to get adapted abroad?”
“My home is in Montreal. When I came to Canada I knew only English, not a word of French, so I took a crash course and now I mostly speak French. I flew to Canada at a drama company’s invitation to stage a play. Then I received other business offers and stayed there. As for adaptation, problems disappear along with the language barrier.
“I try to visit Ukraine at least once a year. Yes, I am a Canadian national, but inwardly I have a dual citizenship. Passport isn’t the main thing.”
“IN A MONTH AND A HALF I WAS PLACED ON THE CAST OF A PLAY THAT TOOK VASILYEV’S TEAM THREE YEARS TO REHEARSE”
“Actors invited to play abroad are usually assigned foreign characters’ roles.”
“I also often play foreigners, less often locals (Americans or Canadians). Stage directors see me as a Scandinavian, German, Irish, French, Russian, even Italian character. I have played in several TV series and there were several good productions among the soap operas; it all depends on the film director, script, and casting. I think that Le Femme Nikita turned out rather good. I was a guest star in an episode and had to act as an abductor. I guess the audience heaved a sigh of relief when my character was killed.
“TV series have mind-boggling audiences and their actors can quickly become movie stars, yet some may be taken hostage by their impersonations, so if I have a choice, I prefer movies. There you can meet very interesting professional crews. Also, we all know that movie roles are better paid.”
“What films are you likely to appear in shortly?”
“I’m not sure you’ll have them in Ukraine. I’ve played in several movies of late, including the French Quagmire, Robert Lipage’s Other Side of the Moon, and several Canadian productions.”
“Your worked in one of the Baltic States. Do you have plans there?”
“We stay in touch. I meet with Njakroshus and Vaitkus now and then. Several of my students are in Lithuania, showing a good performance. Too bad our contacts are not professional, just friendly. Anyway, we plan to make a joint project one of these days.”
“What about the School of Dramatic Art in Moscow?”
“I’ve never severed contact. Anatoly Vasilyev offered me to play Salieri, although it was a tragic necessity as the actor playing the part died in an accident, so Vasilyev decided I was the only replacement. No time left for rehearsing, as the play was opening a prestigious festival in Rome. And so I joined the cast in a month and a half to appear in a play rehearsed by Vasilyev’s team for more than three years. Critics wrote that we made a good job.”
“There is a large Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. Do you have contacts with them?”
“I don’t make a point of establishing such contacts and most my practical contacts have nothing to do with the diaspora. Those going to the theater and movies are people fond of this art and their ethnic belonging isn’t the point. The Ukrainian Canadian diaspora apparently has inner trends, considering that there were different immigration waves. I believe the important thing is for all those old- and new-wave [Ukrainian] Canadians to remember about their roots. For example, working with a foreign cast, staging a play having nothing to do with Ukraine, I retain my Ukrainian mentality.”
