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An Immigrant With a Heavy Heart |
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| By Francoise Arnould |
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Some time ago, Kafka's 'Trial' was presented in Paris (2000) by Emile Salimov, a director newly arrived in town from Moscow. Then, with 'Amerika' (2001), another Kafka play, Salimov brought a new mastery and rhythm to the story of Karl Rossman, the young German citizen who discovers the social beauties and horrors of New York City. There were eight actors on stage (six men and two women) playing twenty-one parts as they told the story while staying faithful to the play's rapid pace. Burlesque, grotesque, half way between musical comedy and pantomime, using the music of Chaplin and Fellini, illusion is Salimov's trademark...
Salimov is a virtuoso director who takes his cast on a trip to nowhere. He is a professional, but with very
little money. The stage is very often bare, some mobile tubular structure here and there to suggest a change of scenery in Amerika. This is the adventure of an expatriate hero, so naive with his bowler hat, his cardboard suitcase and umbrella, obviously a relative of Charlie, or three wardrobes on wheels to suggest the doors in 'The Trial', turning the heavy atmosphere into a sort of absurd painting.The man loves fantastic tales and poetry. He is very talented but most of his colleagues doubted his creative approach to more traditional theatre. Salimov chose Paris for his art to bloom, just as Karl Rossmann sailed to America where Kafka had never set foot; something which did not prevent the writer perceiving the dryness of heart under the flamboyant facade. Would not Salimov be such a heavy-hearted immigrant, eager to succeed in a world to which he does not really belong, but which he has befriended in order to weave the daring way of a gifted pupil?Emile Salimov was born in 1956 in Baku. A graduate of the Moscow High Institute of Culture, he began his theatre activities in the various cultural centres, parks and stadiums of Moscow. Co-founder and director of the Studio-Theatre, he also founded and directed the children's theatre Skazka where, from 1983 to 1985, his talent gained recognition. Then he collaborated with V. Pioutchek, astudent of Meyerhold, at the Moscow National Theatre Satire, and in 1986 won a special award from the Ministry of Culture for his play 'Top Hat' by E. De Filippo. In 1987, he founded another
independent theatre, Staria Chliapa. He then taught drama and theatre direction in Moscow and Paris and directed 17 plays which were as successful as 'The Trial' and 'Amerika': Becket's 'Waiting for Godot', Ionesco's 'The Bald Soprano', Pushkin's 'The Queen of Spades', Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment', 'The Dream (of a Ridiculous Man)', and Gogol's 'Diary of a Madman'.Emile Salimov often takes part in conferences and international discussions on theatre history and theory and is himself a reference point on the evolution of the Russian theatre and its theoreticians over the past 25 years. He has lived in Paris since 1990 and enjoys his reputation as an "energetic, talented and inventive director. What makes him particularly special and precious is that he loves actors, and his love for theatre is practically limitless..." We are talking about an inexpressible joy in the act of communication, as all the actors who work with him confirm. And even if during rehearsals he demands maximum concentration, active participation and self-denial; if he is uncompromising in the face of laziness and, above all, mental sluggishness nevertheless, "It is very easy to work with him because his spontaneity frees you, he is a good person, full of wit and highly educated... A magical bond is all that we need to understand each other..."
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