Such a strange "duck hunt". Such a strange "duck hunt" The beginning of literary activity

Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov (August 19, 1937, Irkutsk region, RSFSR, USSR - August 17, 1972, near the village of Irkutsk region, RSFSR, USSR) - playwright and prose writer.

Encyclopedic help

Born in a teacher's family. His father, a rural teacher, was innocently repressed in 1937 and died, his mother continued to work, raising three children. The parents of the future writer lived in the regional center Kutulik. Although often the birthplace of A.V. called the regional center Kutulik, in fact he was born in the maternity hospital of the neighboring town of Cheremkhovo.

From childhood he was fond of music, played in a drama club, went in for sports. After leaving school (1955) he entered the Faculty of History and Philology. The first stories, which later compiled the book "Coincidence of Circumstances" (1961), were published on the pages of the newspaper "" and "Irkutsk University". In 1960 he defended his diploma, a year later his first book was published, in 1964 - the first one-act play "The House with Windows in the Field".

Already the first "full-length" play by Vampilov "Farewell in June" attracted attention. It was still in manuscript when it served as a pretext for Vampilov's admission to the USSR Writers' Union, and a year later, published in the Theater magazine (1966. No. 8), it began its march through the country's theater groups, was staged in many European theaters. His play "", completed in 1965, during the life of Vampilov went around the world. The only city where she was forbidden to enter was the capital of our homeland, Moscow. Three times in different years the Yermolova Theater handed over The Elder Son to the official commission, and three times the performance was not accepted (only six months after the death of Vampilov, the same commission allowed The Elder Son to be staged).

“From the very beginning, this became a creative feature of A. Vampilov as a playwright - to take a person who, at first glance, seems either ridiculous, unlucky, or frivolous, carefree, or almost downcast, waving his hand at himself, and show what resources of humanity really are. he has”, - notes the literary critic A. Ovcharenko.

Having told about how two young people, having missed the last train, are looking for an overnight stay, Vampilov introduces his heroes to the house of the failed musician Sarafanov.

“...According to the properties of his soul, Sarafanov cannot only drag existence through everyday life,- wrote literary critic V. Lakshin. - He certainly needs to live some kind of dream, at least a domestic myth, that he works in a philharmonic society or is about to write an oratorio that will glorify him. Thanks to Busygin, Sarafanov begins to face the truth, realizes that even without fulfilling his cherished dream, he lives usefully, that people also need playing the clarinet. And let Sarafanov be naive and a little ridiculous, but he evokes sympathy because “he doesn’t want to become stale, moldy, dissolve in the bustle”.

Vampilov's earliest records relating to the play "The Elder Son" date back to 1964: the title is "Peace in the House of Sarafanov", future characters: Sarafanov Alexei Nikolaevich - retired colonel, Emma - his daughter, Vasya - his son, ninth grader, Zabrodin - a student on vacation, Kemerovo - a typist, Chistyakov - an engineer.

Even earlier, in Vampilov's notebooks, the names and characteristics of future characters are mentioned, different from the final version: Nikolai Zabrodin - a student on vacation, a physicist (22), a tramp and a fatalist (embittered). Aleksey Nikolaevich Sarafanov - tuner (50), kind-hearted, cheerful, understood everything and forgave everything, a gentle person. Loves work. Olenka Sarafanova - a girl making her way onto the stage. Sober, cold, but sweet, etc. Greta Komarovskaya is a woman who is waiting for an opportunity. Secretary typist. Vasenka Sarafanov - an infant, a novice bastard, behind his back the first two courses. Yuri Chistyakov is an engineer, a person with a Moscow residence permit, Olenka's fiancé.

The first version of the play was created in 1965 and published in excerpts under the title "Grooms" on May 20, 1965 in the newspaper "Soviet Youth". In 1967 the play was called Suburb and in 1968 it was published in the anthology Angara.

In 1970, Vampilov finalized the play for the Art publishing house, where The Elder Son was released as a separate edition.

The playwright Alexei Simukov preserved Vampilov's letter, in which he explains Busygin's actions:

“... At the very beginning ... (when it seems to him that Sarafanov went to commit adultery) he (Busygin) does not even think about meeting him, he avoids this meeting, and when he meets, he does not deceive Sarafanov just like that, out of evil hooliganism, but rather , acts like a moralist in some way. Why shouldn't this (father) suffer a little for that one (Busygin's father)? Firstly, having deceived Sarafanov, he is always burdened by this deception, and not only because he is Nina, but also before Sarafanov he has downright remorse. Subsequently, when the position of the imaginary son is replaced by the position of the beloved brother - the central situation of the play, Busygin's deception turns against him, he acquires a new meaning and, in my opinion, looks completely harmless.

Duck Hunt (1967)

"Duck Hunt" (1967) is Vampilov's most bitter, most bleak play, the most suffered in his work.

In the eyes of the protagonist of the play, Zilov, there is boredom and indifference to everything: work, wife, friends, life. As if from boyhood, he immediately entered the old age of the soul, having passed maturity. This is not only his fault, but his misfortune - because he has lost the meaning, the justification of life. Another would have lived without thinking about anything, like many others, but Zilov cannot do that. And not finding something to live for, he loses himself, becomes a vulgar consumer. The energy of his soul as a result is spent on self-destruction.

“Vampilov was vitally interested in why people who enter life young, healthy, morally strong, far from reaching the pinnacle of their destiny, break down and die. How to overcome the process of moral degradation, how to keep honest and strong convictions? Vampilov's answer turns us to ourselves, to those inexhaustible reserves of the human soul that every person has - if only he does not stop believing that he can and should live with dignity.”, - notes V. Lakshin.

Last Summer in Chulimsk (1972)

In 1972 A.V. Vampilov is finishing work on the play Last Summer in Chulimsk.

“Together with Vampilov, sincerity and kindness came to the theater, - wrote V. Rasputin. - Valentina stepped on the stage (“Last summer in Chulimsk”), and involuntarily everything low and dirty retreated before her ... Weak, unprotected people who do not know how to defend themselves in front of the prose of life, but look how persistent, what complete inner conviction they have in the main and holy laws of human existence...”.

The play was written in early 1971. The first version was created specifically for Moscow Academic Theatre. Vl. Mayakovsky, but was not put on stage. One version of the play ended with Valentina's suicide.

Initially, Vampilov called the play "Valentina", but the name had to be changed, because while the play was being approved by censorship, M. Roshchin's play became widely known " Valentine and Valentine", written later. The name was changed to “Red Summer - June, July, August ...” In his first one-volume book, A.V. Vampilov included the play under the working title "Last Summer in Chulimsk" - and after the author's death it became final.

Expert opinion

Literary critic A. Ovcharenko:

"From the very beginning, this became a creative feature of A. Vampilov as a playwright- take a person who, at first glance, seems either ridiculous, unlucky, or frivolous, carefree, or almost downcast, waving his hand at himself, and show what resources of humanity he actually possesses.

I remember the time when Vampilov's plays were triumphant across the country. Together with them there were legends about a provincial playwright who wrote five plays, went to Moscow, where one of them was accepted for production, he returned home and ... drowned. Like a true genius, at the age of 35.
It was then that I watched four of Vampilov's five plays. The fifth, "Duck Hunt", for some reason did not go anywhere, and this was intriguing.
I read the play a few years later in a book and understood why perhaps they were afraid to stage it. The fact is that in addition to the obvious realistic plot, there is another layer in it, not quite clear, reeking of phantasmagoria. And in fact, an open end, leaving room for a variety of interpretations.
The film, staged by V. Melnikov (director of the magnificent "Elder Son" based on another play by Vampilov), I think, turned out to be not entirely successful, despite the brilliant Oleg Dal in the title role and a lot of other wonderful actors (it was called "Vacation in September"). Melnikov shot a realistic film, the result was a story about a disgusting and immoral drunkard, who was absolutely incomprehensible for what women loved and about whom it is not clear why they wrote a play and made a film. But the play is about the tragedy of the "superfluous man" of the middle of the 20th century, and its hero Zilov is a descendant of Onegin and Pechorin.
Now I think you will understand why it was so interesting for me to see "Duck Hunt" in the theater for the first time, especially since, judging by the reviews, the performance of the theater Et Cetera was by no means realistic.
What did they get?

For my taste, Et Cetera turned out to be too much phantasmagoria. In addition to the actors, there are three "mourners" on the stage (who at some point turn into brides), a guitarist, an orchestra, a male and female "choir" (as it is stated in the program, although rather a corps de ballet). They all play, sing, dance and quack. Some of the characters' lines are spoken by one of the "additional" characters, and the characters scream much more often than they just talk. The hero's girl is Buryat, in some places she speaks Buryat, and in one scene she comes out in an unimaginably complex national costume. The stage is flooded with water, some of the characters walk in wading boots, some in model shoes, and those and others periodically flop into the water and get wet (it's a pity for the actors). You get tired of all this noise very quickly, and additional effects drag out the performance, which lasts three and a half hours.
Is there any point in all these "additions"? To be honest, I didn’t take it, except for the fact that horror and hopelessness are on the rise. Perhaps this is exactly what the director wanted to achieve. Then we can say that he coped with his task. The performance was terrifying and hopeless. And the main character is simply disgusting (an order of magnitude more disgusting than the cinematic Dahl). So the theme of the "superfluous person", who wants to empathize, has remained undisclosed here.
While preparing the post, I found out that another film adaptation of "Duck Hunt" has recently appeared - with Evgeny Tsyganov and Chulpan Khamatova.
I don't think I'll risk watching after this show...
To cheer up, I will give a photo of the monument to playwrights in the courtyard of the Tabakov theater-studio (Chaplygina Street, 1a). Alexander Vampilov - in the center.

vampil dramaturgy genre play

From the very beginning, Duck Hunt (1967) gained a reputation as the most mysterious and complex play by A.V. Vampilov, including at the level of defining the genre of a work. Numerous research papers devoted to "Duck Hunt" provide quite diverse interpretations of its genre basis: farce, phantasmagoria, tragicomedy, psychological drama.

In the plays preceding Duck Hunt, Vampilov appeared to the reading and theatrical audience primarily as a comedic author, somewhere in a vaudeville style cheerful and ironic, somewhere truly witty and mocking, somewhere lyrical and soft. "In "Duck Hunt", the tonality of the narration and the overall sound of the play become serious. "Duck Hunt" is built as a chain of Zilov's memories," Ї rightly considers M.B. Bychkov.

Consistently staged, but scattered, memorable episodes from the hero's past life present not only to the reader and the viewer, but also to Zilov himself the story of his moral decline. Thanks to this, from the very first episode of the play, a real drama of human life, built on deceit, unfolds before us. The drama of Zilov's life gradually turns into a tragedy of loneliness: indifference or feigned participation of friends, loss of a sense of filial affection, vulgarization of the sincere feeling of a girl in love with him, the departure of his wife ... Signs of tragicomedy in the play are obvious (Zilov's conversation with Galina at the time of her departure; Zilov's public denunciation of vices friends; preparing Zilov for suicide). However, the leading methods of constructing a play, creating a genre orientation of the work, are the methods of psychological drama. For example, there is the fact that the hero A.V. Vampilov is shown at the moment of an acute spiritual crisis, shown from the inside, with all his experiences and problems, almost ruthlessly turned inside out, psychologically naked. The playwright focuses on the content of the moral world of his contemporary, while there is no definition of the hero as good or bad, he is internally complex, ambiguous. Complicated, according to E. Gushanskaya, the “triple” finale of “Duck Hunt”: the play could have been completed before the main finale twice: when Zilov put a gun to his chest or shared property with Sayapin (then it would be more in line with the canons of tragicomedy). The main ending of the play is open and solved in the tradition of psychological drama.

A play by A.V. Vampilov's "Duck Hunt" is usually regarded as a socio-psychological drama (less often as a tragicomedy with elements of industrial conflict, farcical and melodramatic inserts), in which the playwright revises the problems of his early works.

In the first two multi-act plays ("Farewell in June", "Elder Son"), the playwright was interested in the alignment of forces in revealing the subjectivity of a person hidden under a social mask in a situation generated by unique manifestations of omnipotent life. "They were understood as a combination of circumstances, which is an echo of the multi-event and diversity of life, and a happy or unfortunate event as a form of its individual will" .

According to E.V. Timoshchuk, "the problems of plays were born at the intersection of relative constancy, internal orderliness, regularity in the reproduction of living conditions, shown not from the material side, but from the socially effective side, the subjectivity of a person seeking self-determination and access to reality, and being as a kind of good god who is able to lead life in motion."

Such dramatic tasks were conveniently solved within the framework of the comedy genre: for this, it was practically not required to deviate from its canonical structure. However, even with a slight shift in emphasis from describing the situation to the process of self-knowledge of the individual, a change in genre forms was required, which led to a revision of the disposition in the Vampilov triad of man - life (people) - being.

On the one hand, for the playwright, the infinity of manifestations of the act of self-knowledge and the impossibility of its completion became obvious, on the other hand, social life in reality showed the limitations of its offers to a person and was not able to satisfy his growing need to find a common substantial meaning, from which an individual meaning would be derived. .

"The favorable existence of comedies was, in fact, not a reality of life, but a reality of literature - the playwright was convinced of this by personal example, trying to get through to the reader and encountering constant resistance on his way" . Life retreated from a person, offering him, at the risk of everything, to be active, to fight, without objective reasons, effective methods and faith in a positive outcome of the struggle.

The complication of the picture of the world, the unstoppable actualization and self-generation of models of being that claim to explain the true reasons for its existence and the vector of development, the loneliness of a person in a world that has lost interest in him, pushed Vampilov to move from the comedic element to the tragicomic one, from the canonical features of the drama to its novelization ( term M. M. Bakhtin).

This was expressed not only in the intentional incompleteness of the fate of the protagonist, immersed in the eternal present without the possibility of realizing any future, but also in the complex plot and compositional structure of the play, previously uncharacteristic of Vampilov's poetics.

The "fabric" of "Duck Hunt" is divided into three layers: Zilov's past, which is a chain of episodes, to a small extent interconnected by plot and aimed at revealing as many aspects of the manifestation of his personality as possible, the present of the hero, in which he is deprived of the opportunity to act, and representations of the hero, tied to the moment of the present and showing his capabilities as an interpreter" .

Vampilov freely connects parts of the text, using the logic of memories generated by mentally turning over the phone book. After a party in the cafe "Forget-me-not" (the name is symbolic: the inability to forget the past), Zilov receives a mourning wreath from his friends.

The first episode of the hero’s performances, stage-marked with music and blackout, shows how he sees the reaction of the environment to his own death, if it really happened: Sayapin’s doubts about the veracity of the rumors (“No, he was joking, as usual”), Kuzakov’s confidence in the realization pessimistic version of events ("Alas, this time everything is serious. There is nowhere more serious"), Vera's ironic epitaph ("He was an alik of aliks"), sanctimonious condemnation of Kushak ("Such behavior does not lead to good"), the union in grief of Galina and Irina ("We will be friends with you") and the sinister role of the Waiter, who collects money for a wreath, making the fact of death socially irrefutable.

The described scene gives an idea of ​​Zilov as a psychologist and interpreter of human nature: his assumptions about the possible behavior of the environment are accurate and plausible - this is confirmed by the further course of the play.

In addition, this fragment reveals the specifics of building the figurative system of the play (its concentration around the image of Zilov) and the dual definition of the subjectivity of the characters - through the identification of their attitude towards Zilov (acceptance / rejection) and the characterization of their positioning strategy, which involves the following methods: declarative statements: " Kuzakov Who knows ... If you look, life, in essence, is lost ... ".

According to M.B. Bychkova, in this case, a replication of the stable Chekhovian motif "life is gone" is presented.

This is supported by the frequency of occurrence of the phrase in the text, and its contextual environment (it is said at the wrong time, at the wrong time), and lexical design.

In Vampilov, we are dealing with a passive construction, in which a grammatical subject, expressed lexically, and a logical subject, hidden, but easily recovered from the context, are distinguished - life is lost [by us] (accusatory mode). The heroes of "Duck Hunt" are characterized by a partial awareness of their own role in the formation of fate, begun but not completed, and therefore an incomplete recognition of responsibility for life.

Complexes of statements and actions aimed at creating and maintaining a socially approved image: "Sash.<…>I'm far from being a hypocrite, but I must tell you that he behaved very ... mm ... imprudently ". The image of the Sash is more satirical than all the others. The comic mask of an influential, but burdened with vices face is presented here in almost all their basic qualities.

There is neither a tragicomic shift in emphasis (hyperbolization of vice, layering of monstrous features), nor a dramatic complication of subjectivity.

In criticism of the 70-90s. there has been a tendency to interpret "Duck Hunt" primarily as a drama of losses, since the play consistently exposes value ranks: the hero realizes - or makes visible for awareness - that which could become a solid support in his life, but no longer. And yet, "Duck Hunt" is primarily a tragicomedy of existence and self-valuable awareness: its conflict is born where reality, taking the form of a mercilessly objective mirror, provides the hero with the opportunity to look at himself from the outside.

The vision of subjectivity as an invariably stable, long-standing and correctly understood entity, which gives the hero self-confidence, conflicts with the image that appears before him when he is not in the role of a participant in events, but in the role of an eyewitness.

The question “Is it really me?” that is not verbally expressed in the play, the catastrophic divergence of I-for-myself and I-in-really, the unwillingness to be myself give rise to an existential conflict that involves two ways of resolving: the destruction of the unwanted “I” by physical elimination (suicide) or by transfiguration."

Zilov consistently tries both. The open ending of the play does not leave us the opportunity for an unambiguous statement about the transformation of Zilov: Vampilov did not want categorical certainty. The consciousness of the hero, weighed down by the burden of dramatic guilt, having acquired the ability to reflect, is thrown open into life, like the consciousness of the reader and the author. Subjectivity has no limit, it is capable of change.

Speaking about the play and about Zilov: "It's me, you understand?" - Vampilov, apparently, wanted not only to point out the limitations of the vulgarly sociological interpretations of the play, but also to declare it as a drama of self-comprehension, in which the hero, reader and author are equal.

Vampilov's theater is an open, unfinished system in which three dramatic knots are clearly distinguished: plays devoted to the problem of existence, in the center of which stands an individuality cut off from the world ("Farewell in June", "Duck Hunt"); plays in which the object of the image is a utopia under construction or collapsing ("The Elder Son", "Last Summer in Chulimsk"); plays depicting a deformed, "inverted" world ("Provincial Anecdotes", this line was apparently to be continued by the vaudeville "Incomparable Tips", work on which was interrupted by the death of the playwright).

In the creative system of A. Vampilov, there is a dialogical tension between comedies, on the one hand, and tragicomedy and drama, on the other: the former are positive arguments in favor of the possibility of building an ideal strategy for human existence in the world, and the latter are negative.

Elements of other genres are included in the general comedic logic of the first two multi-act plays as factors for expanding the interpretive field: "Farewell in June" reveals a thematic proximity to the tragicomedy "Duck Hunt", "The Elder Son" has vaudeville and melodramatic features that determine the breadth of the idea, its irreducibility general schemes for the construction of dramatic works.

Genre features of plays A. Vampilova

"Elder Son" and "Duck Hunt"

Creativity A.V. Vampilov occupies a worthy place in the history of Russian literature. Plays by A.V. Vampilov's works form an original, multifaceted and bright artistic phenomenon, rightfully called by the researchers "Vampilov's Theatre".

Represented by plays of various genres, ranging from lyrical comedy to psychological drama, Vampilov's theater has a profound psychological impact, makes viewers and readers rethink their own existence and the philosophical foundations of life.

Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov passed away early. Almost unnoticed during his lifetime, praised after his death, A. Vampilov became one of the mysterious figures in the history of Soviet and Russian drama. He had a significant impact on the development of modern drama.

"Alexander Vampilov's Theatre" is viewed as a developing artistic phenomenon in which the social and moral problems of their time turn into the plan of universal "eternal questions" of spiritual existence. It should be noted that the majority of dramaturgy researchers A.V. Vampilov find it difficult to accurately define the genre of his plays, speaking only about their genre originality and highlighting the presence of various genre forms, which, in turn, leads to the emergence of such terms as “poly-genre”, “genre synthesis”, “genre polyphonism”, genre syncretism.

A.V. Vampilov already in his early plays-stories of the late 50s - early 60s shows the genre originality of his dramaturgy, experimenting with dramatic genres and creating an innovative play based on the traditions of the lyrical drama of I.S. Turgenev, satirical comedy N.V. Gogol and psychological dramaturgy of A.P. Chekhov, building the action as a psychological experiment.

The playwright owes his real theatrical fame mainly to the play "The Elder Son", which for several years occupied a leading place in his repertoire.

Freedom of fiction and poetics distinguish the play "The Elder Son", the play gravitates towards non-everyday, phantasmagoric, parable forms that take them beyond the scope of an everyday anecdote. The play "Elder Son" carries quite specific and recognizable motives of the era. The theme of sudden or false acquisition of relatives, which is widespread in world dramaturgy, also receives its historically determined popularity in these years.

On the one hand, comedy is characterized by frank gaiety. A. Vampilov uses such well-known comedic plot development techniques as eavesdropping, the issuance of one character for another, imposture, sincere belief in a hoax. Vampilov masterfully masters the techniques of creating comic situations and characters. He knows how to introduce his peculiar hero, not without comic features, into the most ridiculous situations.

On the other hand, the play "The Elder Son" reproduces the atmosphere of an unsettled life, disintegrating family ties so psychologically accurately and correctly, as was characteristic of the psychological drama of the 60s of the XX century.

Due to the fact that in the comedy several moral and aesthetic perspectives of depicting reality are set simultaneously, “The Elder Son” acquires the features of a tragicomedy, which complicates the genre of lyrical comedy.

The play is fitted by the young playwright into a classical trinity. And at the same time, there is no dramatic predetermination in it. On the contrary, she is characterized by absolute spontaneity, the unintentionality of what is happening: Busygin and Silva actually get to know each other before our eyes, not to mention the Sarafanov family, with whom both the viewer and the characters get to know at the same time.

The comedy "The Elder Son" is built on a hard paradoxical breakdown, a paradoxical transformation of events arising from the "wrong", non-canonical reaction of the characters to circumstances.

From the very beginning, the reputation of the most mysterious and complex play by A.V. Vampilov, including at the level of defining the genre of a work. In "Duck Hunt", the tone of the story and the whole sound of the play are serious. "Duck Hunt" is built as a chain of Zilov's memories.

Consistently staged, but scattered, memorable episodes from the hero's past life present not only to the reader and the viewer, but also to Zilov himself the story of his moral decline. Thanks to this, from the very first episode of the play, a real drama of human life, built on deceit, unfolds before us. The drama of Zilov's life gradually turns into a tragedy of loneliness: indifference or feigned participation of friends, loss of a sense of filial affection, vulgarization of the sincere feeling of a girl in love with him, the departure of his wife ... Signs of tragicomedy in the play are obvious (Zilov's conversation with Galina at the time of her departure; Zilov's public denunciation of vices friends; preparing Zilov for suicide).

However, the leading methods of constructing a play, creating a genre orientation of the work, are the methods of psychological drama. For example, the hero A.V. Vampilov is shown at the moment of an acute spiritual crisis, shown from the inside, with all his experiences and problems, almost ruthlessly turned inside out, psychologically naked. The playwright focuses on the content of the moral world of his contemporary, while there is no definition of the hero as good or bad, he is internally complex, ambiguous. The finale of "Duck Hunt" is complicated: the play could have been completed before the main finale twice: when Zilov put a gun to his chest or shared property with Sayapin (then it would be more in line with the canons of tragicomedy). The main ending of the play is open and solved in the tradition of psychological drama.

A play by A.V. Vampilov's "Duck Hunt" is usually regarded as a socio-psychological drama (less often as a tragicomedy with elements of industrial conflict, farcical and melodramatic inserts), in which the playwright revises the problems of his early works.

In criticism of the 70s - 90s. there has been a tendency to interpret "Duck Hunt" primarily as a drama of losses, since the play consistently exposes value ranks: the hero realizes, or makes visible for awareness, what could become a solid support in his life, but no longer. And yet, "Duck Hunt" is, first of all, a tragicomedy of existence and self-valuable awareness: its conflict is born where reality, taking the form of a mercilessly objective mirror, provides the hero with the opportunity to look at himself from the outside.

With the playwright's constant attraction to the genre of comedy throughout his creative life, tragicomedy nevertheless became the genre dominant of his work.

Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov(August 19, 1937, Kutulik, Irkutsk region - August 17, 1972, Port Baikal) - Soviet playwright.

During his literary work, A. Vampilov wrote about 70 stories, sketches, essays, articles and feuilletons. In 1962 A. Vampilov wrote a one-act play "Twenty Minutes with an Angel". In 1963, the one-act comedy "The House with Windows in the Field" was written. In 1964, while studying, the first big play was written - the comedy "Farewell in June" (the playwright returned to work on it more than once: four versions of the play are known). In 1965, A. Vampilov wrote the comedy "The Elder Son" (the first name was "Suburb"). In 1968, the playwright finished the play Duck Hunt. In early 1971, A. Vampilov completed work on the drama Last Summer in Chulimsk (the first title was Valentina).

“A chance, a trifle, a combination of circumstances sometimes become the most dramatic moments in a person’s life,”- Vampilov developed this idea in his plays. A. Vampilov was deeply worried moral problems. His works are based on real life material. Awakening conscience, nurturing a sense of justice, kindness and mercy - these are the main motives his plays.

Type of hero of time - eccentrics, strange people, strange women, carrying a holiday (Valentina in the play “Last Summer in Chulimsk”.

Sound. There are no musical sequences - there is an interesting speech of the characters. The case is important - the random circumstance of the episodes, the case is a test for the heroes. The personality of the hero is revealed through dramatic and tragic episodes.

During his studies, he wrote the comedy Fair (other name Goodbye in June, 1964), which was highly appreciated by playwrights A. Arbuzov and V. Rozov. Vampilov's own theme is heard as a foreshadowing. She has not yet gained strength, only cut through the plot of the “student comedy”, sometimes too intricate, sometimes too simple, in the style of a faculty skit. There are many more spectacular provisions, they are generously sketched and illegible. An upset wedding, a failed duel, a hero serving fifteen days in forced labor ... The author still does not quite believe that he can hold our attention with a character sketch. And the character has already been presented, its own theme has been announced by the fate of the young Kolesov.

Zolotuev seems to be a completely introductory comic person, but the most important in the plan of the play. Violating all the laws of the genre, he delivers a three-page monologue. This monologue is about the misfortune of an old bribe taker who ran into an honest man. He still cannot believe that he would not take bribes - everyone takes it, it is important not to miss the price offered. Zolotuev is offended, indignant at his ostentatious honesty, and, even after serving his term, he is sure that he was sitting in vain: it means that he gave little.

But what does the pensioner Zolotuev have to do with it, when we are interested in the dashingly brave, honest and charming guy Kolosov? In Kolesov, the energies of the young are seething, harmless mischief, but in general he is an excellent fellow and, when he is kicked out of the institute, most of the guys are on his side.

The trouble comes to the young hero from the other side: when it is necessary to make the first serious life choice. It’s not the blood that flows through the veins, it’s a serious matter: institute or love?

Having laughed at Zolotuev, Kolesov himself does not notice how he is converting to his faith: everything is bought and sold, the price and goal are important. Leaving the girl you love, as her father demands, is both hard and mean. But if the diploma burns? If fate is at stake? Kolesov was characterized by everything that is characteristic of a good, honest young man: next to enthusiasm and across it - a skeptical pose, next to the romance of the soul, distrust of the phrase, educational pressure, moral prescriptions that the elders always annoy. Hence, perhaps, mischief, youth. Hence the demonstrative practicality, ostentatious rationalism, a little funny and still innocent at a young age, but imperceptibly, like Kolesov, justifying the first deals with conscience.

In Kolesov, the negative shines through, which will be the essence of Victor in Duck Hunt. The transformation of Kolesov - a wheel, betrays the girl for the sake of a diploma, scientific work. It can roll here and there. Zilov in "Duck Hunt" - a Zil truck, goes according to fate. Between these heroes 20 years, the winner of the student became selfish and scoundrel. 3 stories in "Farewell in June" - Kolesov and Tanya, a student wedding and a mono drama - a man who measures everything for money.

In 1967 Vampilov wrote plays Elder son and duck hunting in which the tragic component of his drama is fully embodied. In the comedy The Elder Son, within the framework of a masterfully written intrigue (a deception by two friends, Busygin and Silva, of the Sarafanov family), it was about the eternal values ​​​​of being - the continuity of generations, the breaking of spiritual ties, love and forgiveness by close people to each other. In this play, the "theme-metaphor" of Vampilov's plays begins to sound: the theme of the house as a symbol of the universe. The playwright himself, who lost his father in early childhood, perceived the relationship between father and son especially painfully and sharply.

At the forefront are not love stories, but the relationship between father and son, although they are not blood relatives. Remember the return of the prodigal son from the bible . Theme to go crazy or not to go crazy– they all go crazy with feelings. All this develops into a love relationship.

The plot of the play "Elder Son" is simple. The name of the play "The Elder Son" is the most successful, since its main character - Volodya Busygin - fully justified the role he took on. He helped Nina and Vasenka understand how much their father means to them, having raised both of them without a mother who left the family. The gentle character of the head of the Sarafanov family is manifested in everything. He takes everything to heart: he is ashamed of his position in front of the children, hides that he left the theater, recognizes the “eldest son”, tries to calm Vasenka, to understand Nina. You can’t call him a loser, since at the very peak of his mental crisis, Sarafanov survived, while others broke down. Unlike the neighbor who refused Busygin and Silva an overnight stay, he would have warmed up the guys, even if they had not invented this story with the “eldest son”. But most importantly, Sarafanov cherishes his children and loves them. Children are callous towards their father.

Silva, like Volodya, is also essentially an orphan: with living parents, he was brought up in a boarding school. Apparently, his father's dislike was reflected in his character. Silva told Volodya about how his father “admonished” him: “Hey, he says, you have the last twenty rubles, go to a tavern, get drunk, make a brawl, but such a brawl that I won’t see you for a year or two.” Vampilov did not accidentally make the origins of the fates of the heroes similar. By this, he wanted to emphasize how important a person’s own choice is, independent of circumstances. Unlike orphan Volodya, "orphan" Silva is cheerful, resourceful, but cynical. His true face is revealed when he "exposes" Volodya, declaring that he is not a son or brother, but a recidivist. Nina's fiancé - Mikhail Kudimov - is an impenetrable man. Such people are found in life, but you will not immediately understand them. “Smiling. He still smiles a lot. Good-natured,” says Vampilov about him. In fact, the word that he gave himself for all occasions is dearest of all to him. He is indifferent to people. This character occupies an insignificant place in the play, however, he is a pronounced type of “correct” people who create a suffocating atmosphere around themselves. Involved in a family intrigue, Natasha Makarskaya is shown as a decent, but unhappy and lonely person. Vampilov deeply reveals in the play the theme of loneliness, which can bring a person to despair. In the image of the neighbor Sarafanovs, a type of a cautious person, an inhabitant, who is afraid of everything (“looks at them with apprehension, suspicion”, “removes silently and timidly”) and does not interfere in anything is deduced. The problematics and the main idea of ​​the play are stated in the very title of the dramatic work.. It was no coincidence that the author replaced the original name "Suburb" with "Elder Son". The main thing is not where the events take place, but who participates in. To be able to think, to understand each other, to support in difficult times, to show mercy - this is the main idea of ​​the play by Alexander Vampilov. The author does not define the genre of the play. Along with the comic, there are many dramatic moments in the play, especially in the subtext of the statements of Sarafanov, Silva, Makarska.

The play "Duck Hunt" written by Vampilov in 1968. Researchers note that ""Duck Hunt" is Vampilov's most bitter, most bleak play. As critics point out, Alexander Vampilov "managed to sensitively capture and convey the loss in everyday bustle of a sense of kindness, trust, mutual understanding, spiritual kinship." “You need to write about what makes you unable to sleep at night,” Vampilov argued. "Duck Hunt" - personally experienced, felt, silent. The action of the play "Duck Hunt" takes place in the late 60s. Before the eyes of the reader is the city apartment of the main character, Zilov. Throughout the play, the hero's memories draw us separate episodes of his life. Zilov is “about thirty years old,” as the author notes in a remark. Despite the young age of the hero, we can feel his spiritual decline, the lack of moral and heart strength. Vampilov points out that “both in his gait, and in gestures, and in conversation, he shows some uncertainty and boredom, the origin of which cannot be determined at a glance.” In the course of the play, the reader learns that Zilov's outward well-being and physical health is an appearance. Something destroys the hero from the inside. Some kind of power overwhelmed him. This force is life itself, with which Zilov does not want to fight. He does not live - he outlives himself. At some point, fate swallowed up Zilov, the routine and routine of life became the norm, moreover, a habit, second nature. The theme of “outliving oneself”, spiritual decline, runs like a leitmotif through the entire action of the play. Funeral music, a funeral wreath, the phrase "life, in essence, is lost" are characteristic details that accompany the development of the action. The worst thing is that Zilov has long come to terms with his fall. “Come on, old man,” he says to Sayapin, “there will be nothing of us ... However, I could do something else. But I dont want. I have no desire." This phrase - “I have no desire” - is the personification of the entire inner and outer life of the hero: his relationship with his wife, women, friends, colleagues, himself. Zilov voluntarily surrenders. He enters into a vicious circle where the only action is to escape from himself. Zilov is surrounded by people with whom he can communicate without any effort - whether heartfelt or mental. Probably, the hero came to such an existence after a terrible shock. The researchers note that "...behind Zilov<…>an undoubted disappointment, a spiritual breakdown, as a result of which he is ready to stop believing in goodness, decency, vocation, work, love, conscience. He turns into a cynic after experiencing an internal catastrophe. Suffering is opposed by indifference and denial. "Cynicism from suffering?... Have you ever thought about it?" . However, it is cynicism that allows Zilov to be aware, to understand, to determine. Still, he does not live in a world of illusions. As writer Sergei Dovlatov, a contemporary of Alexander Vampilov, noted, “cynicism presupposes the existence of common ideals.” Of course, Zilov had ideals. But they could not stand the rough touch of reality, when "turbulent life turned into mean prose." Myself the image of the coveted duck hunt devoid of romantic, idyllic coloring. For Zilov, duck hunting is nothingness, silence on the hunt is “the silence of eternal oblivion, the silence of an almost otherworldly world”: “Do you know what kind of silence it is? You're not there, do you understand? No. You haven't been born yet. And there is nothing. And it wasn't. And it won't." Action is needed to break out of the dark circle. Not decorations, not preparations for action, but action. In spiritual despair, Zilov tries to commit suicide. But this act of his is a game with himself, a gloomy irony, a mockery: “I sat down on a chair, put the gun on the floor, leaned my chest on the trunks. Tried on the trigger with one hand, tried on with the other. He put down a chair, sat down, arranged the gun in such a way that it rested on the chest with the barrels, the butt on the table. He put down the gun, pulled off the boot from his right foot, took off his sock, and again arranged the gun between his chest and the table. I felt the trigger with my big toe ... ". In our opinion, the problems of the play "Duck Hunt" can be defined by the words of one of Alexander Vampilov's contemporaries - the writer Valentin Rasputin: “The main question that Vampilov constantly raises is: will you remain a man, a man? Will you be able to overcome all that false and unkind ... ". "Duck Hunt" is the tragic culmination of the main theme of the theater by Alexander Vampilov: "Will a living soul overcome the routine of life?" . And perhaps not all is lost for Zilov. Maybe the hero will get a second wind and he will see that “the rain has passed outside the window, a strip of sky is turning blue, and the roof of the neighboring house is lit by a dim evening sun.” Maybe Zilov's words “I'm ready. Yes, I’m leaving now ”- a real action, the beginning of a new life. Without a doubt, Alexander Vampilov possessed a rare gift - the gift of a dramatic writer. His work is alive; a sense of proportion, talent, a considerable share of genius are the hallmarks of Vampilov's dramaturgy. In the play "Duck Hunt" there is no place for untruth. That is why it is read freely and at the same time turns thought into the depths of human existence. The author managed to turn the dialogical speech of the characters into a "sparkling, energetic stream" . Truthfulness and the gift of human sensitivity - this is what provides the work of Alexander Vampilov with an incomparable attraction.

in drama Last summer in Chulimsk(1972) Vampilov created his best female image - a young provincial tea worker Valentina. This woman strove to preserve the “living soul” in herself with the same persistence with which throughout the play she tried to preserve the front garden, which was trampled down by indifferent people every now and then.

Almost all heroes of Vampilov young and carefree. They easily go through life, doing their beautiful stupidity. But there comes a day when it becomes clear that carelessness is just a game, a shield covering the vulnerable core of the soul. The day is coming when they must show their true self, make a choice on which their future fate will largely depend. They say that we all live for some most important moment of life, when we have to pour everything that we put into it out of the bag of our life in order to choose something most important - something that will help us not to break in a difficult situation. but get stronger. However, for the author, the hero is not the one who does not stumble, but the one who finds the strength to rise and move on.

In general, the peculiarity of Vampilov's plays is that he does not pronounce the final verdict on his heroes. The author prefers to put ellipsis. We see such an ending in the author's last play, Last Summer in Chulimsk. This play is rightly called the author's most "Chekhovian" play, from which even a comma cannot be removed. The image-symbol of this play - the fence of the front garden - is an indicator of humanity for the heroes of the play. Most of them are constantly destroying the gate, sincerely not understanding why Valentina stubbornly continues to repair it ("People walk across and will walk").