42-year-old Anton Shagin takes on Ostap Bender 0 11

The new play by Vladimir Pankov based on the brilliant work of Ilf and Petrov is a true rogue novel set against the backdrop of the decline of the NEP era. "The Golden Calf" is a reference to a biblical image symbolizing the destructive passion for profit, greed, and vanity for which people are willing to sell their own souls. For the characters in this novel, such a "golden calf," or rather a "milking cow," becomes the underground millionaire Koreiko – their source of easy money. The premiere will take place on June 9 and 10. The lead role is played by Anton Shagin (1984).

The title of the play features the ironic nickname of Ostap Bender – a charismatic charlatan who practices "honest ways of extracting money." The main character of the production, portrayed by Anton Shagin, is an incorrigible dreamer whose main talent lies in his inner freedom, sharply contrasting with the gray, down-to-earth reality; he is "fed only by ideas." Behind the sharp satire lies a high social pathos: all the characters are obsessed with the thirst for money in their own way, losing their human face and straying from the true meaning of human life.

As always in sound drama genre productions, music becomes an independent character in the play, revealing an additional layer of meaning to the story and transforming the familiar plot from school into a parable about eternal human passions and vices. The musical composition of the play will be based on the jazz of the "roaring" twenties, domestic chanson, and, of course, original music.

Vladimir Pankov: "The atmosphere of the Lenkom Theater itself encourages the choice of material for the premiere. Mark Zakharov was interested in Bender; he even played this role in his youth. Then there were the legendary 'Twelve Chairs' with Mironov, Papanova, and stars of our cinema. With such wonderful artists as Ivan Agapov, Maxim Averin, Anton Shagin, Andrey Leonov, Alexey Maklakov, and such a musical troupe, it is wonderful to work specifically with the material of Ilf and Petrov. Our team is close to the adventurous plot of 'The Golden Calf,' as in the theater we are all, in a sense, dreamers and adventurers."