A week passed - my dreams haven’t changed
Endless celebrating faces, colourful flyers on the ground, the city covered with thousands
of posters, all the shows, performances, concerts…
We’ve barely left and we want to come back again
To go out in the street and look around, proudly thinking: there’s more of us, actors, here
than of you, visitors.

We played 24 shows in 26 days

What happened:
Makhina debuted in the role of Oleg
Alexey Popov debuted as Cupid
Never sleeping, Merkushev drove his standard 5000 km
People came who saw ONCE… 20 years ago
People came who had never seen ONCE… the children of those first ones

David ran onto the stage for the first time

What didn’t happen:
Guiness beer (god knows why)
A visit to ‘Sharmanka’ (what a shame)
Any quarrels coming from exhaustion (surprising for the Fringe)

I think a hamster running in a wheel must be happy!
His road never ends.

Anton

I’ve started rehearsals of the new project dedicated to Osip Mandelstam at the Gogol Centre in Moscow.
Chulpan Khamatova ― the Soul
I ― the Chitin of a Poet
and eight of the coolest guys from Kirill Serebrennikov’s troupe. We have already worked together in “Who Is Happy In Russia”.

Made the first photo proofs for my solo work “The Well-Tempered Clavier”. My knowledge of Uber-Marionette theory will be put to a full use here.
Lena Yarovaya did 12 solo performances at the medieval fair in Dresden.

We’re going to Edinburgh! What for? I do not know. No. I know.
There, in Edinburgh, we’re at home, on the street every second person - an artist, and the bartenders are not versed in art worse than the pros from the Scotsman or Herald.
Why are we bringing ONCE… ?
It’s more complicated to answer.
Four years we’re searching for fun for our kids ― a task more and more difficult.
A serious and troubled world doesn’t do much for children.
Hard times.
And you can’t go far with cartoons from the 50s and 60s.
And I want to take them to the theatre, a fairy-tale. Splendid and rich…
And even more, I MYSELF want to go to a good film. And that takes a long time to find.

Although “good” ― it’s not the right word. Well… at least I don’t want any morals: children are smarter than adults; drinking is bad; insects are aliens (or vice versa); Galápagos giant tortoises sacrifice themselves to stop evolution…

From the first line, the first picture, the first sound, I know whether they will eat a piece of my life… or… suddenly the heart beats stronger, the sparks run around my fingers and someone’s soul embraces my face like an oxygen mask. I, after all, like everyone else, I guess, someday everything will be fine. And I have to believe that in these hidden dreams I am not alone.

“ONCE…” ― it is eternal. Like Robinson Crusoe or Gagarin, or artificial snow under the Christmas tree, like a thundering old tram, like the drumming of domino stones in the backyard.
A ray of light leaves my chest and turns to a moon. It rises to the stars and suddenly there’s a shadow! It’s me. I’m so small, crossing the moonpath on a toy comet!
And this is what I’m ready to watch forever.
During August, every day we will catch a Miracle by the ear.

Anton

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editor: David Kemp
Video: Andrey Gladkikh
Photos: Makhina Dzhuraeva, Elena Imamova, Igor Fomin

P.S. Such an irony: yesterday in the middle of the show the fire alarm has set off, so the audience and we too - accompanied by friendly clapping - were escorted outside. We spent a couple of relaxed minutes in the sun together with Mary Brennan.

We knew a guy we called Nesta. I don’t remember - whether it was a nickname or from a cut-down surname.
Nothing special: soft voice, always half-turned to his companion,
Always the same sweater a la mid-60’s bard,
Stout white arms.
But two things made him stand out from our bunch.
First, for example, he would ask if anyone had the book “Unhurried Pace” by Lorca, or if someone had heard the metal band “The Cheekbone” from Volgograd.
Fabrications both, one and the other, which would lie firmly memorized!
And second.
After lunch in the college canteen, we walked into the courtyard, sat on a secluded bench,
Nesta pulled up his singlet, and we could see his stomach working. On the belly were waves of digestion.
The sight was mesmerising. While we were watching it for the first time, he said - “The Ships of Liss”, forever encoding us, invoking the black and white moustache of Alexander Grin against the background of a dancing navel.

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editor: David Kemp
Photo: Elena Yarovaya

Hello to you, Gods!
I’m writing with a big “G”, hoping that you’re not snorting offended and that you’ll read it to the end.
Greetings to all of you!
To the sly and bearded, to the bald and invisible, to the painted and gilded, to those of clay or wood, to the unspeakable.
Did I forget someone?
Oh.. there was another one of Sun Ra descendants, born in a joint.

As I can see you’re working hard and diligently.
Wars and more wars, deaths, hunger…
And those are not wars because of princesses or fields or land.  Rather because of yourselves, my dears.

But you’ll have no success after all…
You’d better meet somewhere up in your clouds to measure your strengths or the lengths of your tongues..

And we shall keep making people happy. You cannot stop us!

I’ll outlive you!
And don’t you dare to lay the blame for the miseries of humankind on the Devil!

“The devil’s role has been greatly exaggerated”, Alexander Sokurov

I’ll outlive you, you cardboard figures…

Happy New Year, people!
Go on, do your business!
You were born to be happy!
So be happy!

Anton Adasinsky
DEREVO group

post scriptum

I’ve been asked about it many times…
But didn’t want to answer.
Now I’ll say:
While working on the Faust filmset I’ve been through many things.
Every day some “signs”, “encounters”, “visions”…

I thought I couldn’t cope with it.
However, the Old Pulteney and Morton Feldman were of great help.

Some time later the sensations subsided. But mirrors and the sound of the wind still can get on my nerves…

Therefore I’m writing in the first person.
Though in the meantime I’m not quite sure of it.

“ONCE…” final bows have been filmed on 28 Dec. 2013 at the Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden

Camera: Makhina Dzhuraeva
On stage: Anton Adasinsky, Elena Yarovaya, Tatyana Khabarova, Oleg Zhukovsky, Pavel Alekhin
Sound: Daniel Williams
Light: Falk Dittrich
Management: Isolde Matkey

Text: Anton Adasinsky
English text editors: Daniel Williams, David Kemp
Video: Makhina Dzhuraeva

Hello all,

the rehearsals in Voronezh are finished!

Tonight, on 27th November 2013 the ONCE… show by DEREVO has been revived on stage in Voronezh with:

Andrey Merkulov
Ekaterina Khmelevskaya
Makhina Dzhuraeva
Mikhail Bagramyan
Dmitry Krivochurov
Alexander Gromyko

and

Yana Kuzina
Elizaveta Polyanskaya

All the best, guys!
Merda!!

and on November 29th in Voronezh concert hall ONCE… is going to be presented by the classic cast:
Anton Adasinsky
Elena Yarovaya
Tatyana Khabarova
Oleg Zhukovsky
+ Pavel Alekhin

Anton Adasinsky

Anton Adasinsky (from an interview for “Kultura” TV): «They brought 60 children to choose from – everyone a genius. I chose 12, then cut the number down to 10. And they learned our most complicated show in just 4 days, and it’s really complicated with all those anchor points, props and stuff, just a huge pile of stuff… Absolutely genial kids!»