Her role in the classification adopted in the theatrical environment in time immemorial is called "comic old woman". But true lovers of theater and cinema know that all facets of the human character were available to her for expression in the role.
They appreciate everything that has survived from her work: films and video recordings of performances. And even a small spectator of the 21st century knows this actress: Anastasia Zueva in the image of a storyteller from classic Soviet movie fairy tales that children love and watch, and now remains in memory for a long time.
A young lady of peasant origin
She was born in 1896 in the village of Spassky, Tula province. Anastasia Zueva's father was a skilled man who owned many professions - from a blacksmith to an engraver, so their family was we althy. The head of the family died early, and his widow quickly married a gendarmerie officer, so Nastya and her sister were given to be raised by an aunt. She was a strict woman of conservative views, so when, after studying at the gymnasium, her niece announced her desire to become an actress, she spoke out sharply against it.
But the girl showed character and that's all-I went to audition for the School of Dramatic Art. It went well, and Anastasia Zueva was accepted. The indignation of the strict relative was so great that for some time she drove her niece out of the house. The aunt relented only when she found out that the teachers really liked Nastya, and she was accepted, as an exception, for free education.
Actress of the second generation of the Moscow Art Theater
In 1916, Anastasia Zueva entered the 2nd studio of the Moscow Art Theater. It was a famous theater school. Transformed from a private theater school, led by the Moscow Art Theater, three Nikolai - Massalitinov, Alexandrov and Podgorny - she left the brightest mark in the history of the national theater. Her repertoire was dominated by modernist plays, and her directing methods were truly innovative. The very first production - "The Green Ring" based on the play by Zinaida Gippius - made a splash among the progressive Moscow society.
Those who were classmates of Zueva later formed the core of the troupe of the main Russian theater - the Moscow Art Theater - in its second generation. Olga Androvskaya, Nikolai Batalov, Alexei Gribov, Boris Dobronravov, Boris Livanov, Mark Prudkin, Angelina Stepanova, Alla Tarasova, Mikhail Yanshin - these names not only thundered throughout the country for many decades, but, thanks to the Moscow Art Theater's foreign tours, they were known theatergoers around the world. Anastasia Zueva, despite the fact that she was a sharp-witted actress and rarely played the main roles, occupied a worthy place in this series.
Little roles of a big actress
Participate in the Moscow Art Theater productions of the studiobegan even before the revolution, but officially Anastasia Zueva, an actress of a certain role, was enrolled in the famous troupe in 1924. She served in it for 62 years, having survived with the theater times of unthinkable glory and difficult periods of crisis, inevitable for any creative team.
Her work in plays of the classical repertoire - in performances based on Ostrovsky, Gorky, Chekhov - delighted colleagues, critics and spectators. The role of Matryona performed by Zueva from the staging of Tolstoy's "Sunday" struck Gorky, who turned to her with words of admiration. Later, she played in the famous film adaptation of Mikhail Schweitzer, making her episode one of the most poignant in the film.
Unforgettable Box
There is a role in which the best properties of the artistic gift inherent in Anastasia Zueva were manifested. Starting to work in Bulgakov's staging of Gogol's "Dead Souls", Anastasia Platonovna proved to be a faithful follower of Stanislavsky's system. In addition to penetrating the psychology of the "landowner-child", she used her life observations, in her Box - the features of people she knew well or accidentally seen on the street. She carefully worked on makeup and clothing, using expressive details.
The result was a character that delighted audiences for half a century. She played this role on the Moscow Art Theater until her death, played on the stages of many countries and continents. For many, the Box cannot have a different appearance,different voice, different gestures. Fortunately, this work of the actress can be enjoyed in the classic film adaptation of 1960.
Episode star
The film works of the actress are few, but surprisingly expressive. For many directors, and then for the audience, there was the only embodiment of an elderly Russian woman - good or evil, reasonable or absurd, funny or touching - Anastasia Platonovna Zueva. Films with her participation invariably became popular, bringing fame to the actress.
Words from her roles went to the people. The phrase of the unforgettable widow Merchutkina: "I am a weak, defenseless woman …" from the short film based on Chekhov's vaudeville "Jubilee" (1944) should have been pronounced, imitating Zuevsky's voice and facial expressions.
Zueva's appearance as a storyteller in the films of Alexander Row was surprisingly harmonious. "Fire, water and … copper pipes" (1968), "Barbara-beauty, long braid" (1969), "Golden Horns" (1972) - the world of these fairy tales would be poorer without the amazing storyteller grandmother, who became, in modern terms, brand.
Talent is the only news…
Contemporaries recall that they knew little of the women who aroused such interest of others as Anastasia Zueva. Photos of the actress in her youth speak of the absence of classical female beauty in her. But her charm did not leave indifferent many men. Among the admirers of her artistic and female talent were such different personalities as Valery Chkalov and Boris Pasternak. The latter dedicated several poems to her, andthe lines of one of them - "The Actress" (1957) - became classics:
The severity of times softens, Lose the novelty of words.
Talent is the only news
Which is always new…
Her life is another confirmation of the old truth: in order to live a bright life, leave a mark in the memory of descendants, it is not necessary to always play only the first roles. The main thing is talent and dedication.
