Belevtseva, Natalia Alekseevna

Natalia Belevtseva came from a noble family of Russian intelligentsia of the XIX century . Then a lot of attention in education was given to literature, and the actress herself wrote poetry, she knew French well. According to the memoirs of her friend and partner on the stage of the Maly Theater, Irina Likso, she traveled a lot in her youth (visited even China , India ) and talked fascinatingly about her trips ^[2] . A graduate of the Alferov gymnasium , where she played a lot in the gymnasium theater under the direction of A. D. Alferov ^[1] .

Natalya Alekseevna told about her life herself in the memoir book “Through the Eyes of an Actress” (N. A. Belevtseva “Through the Eyes of an Actress.” M., WTO, 1974).

She was a late child in the family; when she was born, the elder sister Anna (ony's home) was 22 years old. She graduated from a theater school in the class of A.P. Lensky and entered the troupe of the Imperial Maly Theater, where she played under the stage name Matveeva ( Matveeva, Anna Alekseevna worked from the Maly Theater from 1898 to 1916). Among her roles: Agafya Tikhonovna in “The Marriage ” of Gogol , Cheboksarov in “ Mad Money ”, Khlestov in “ Woe from Wit ”, Kabanikh in “ Thunderstorm ”, Zvezdintsev in “ Fruits of Enlightenment ”. Natalia followed the path of her elder sister and after some time, together with her, played in the same performances. Since childhood, she was familiar with many actors of the Maly Theater troupe - co-workers of her older sister. Among them was N. M. Padarin , who, in fact, noticed the talent of young Natalia, who copied funny and accurate impressions of the people around her on vacation in Crimea . At his call, she entered the theater school of Fyodor Akimovich Ukhov in Merzlyakovsky Lane , where an older sister taught at that time.

And soon, in the same 1913, Natalia made her debut in the Sergievsky People’s House in the set of vaudeville "Checkers" set by her older sister. In the summer of the following 1914, the older sister, who organized a tour of the Maly Theater actors in the provincial cities of Russia, took the young actress with her younger sister. Despite the outbreak of war , artistic life in Moscow continued. In the autumn of the same year 1914, Onya opened her drama school. It was a spacious building of the former Adashevskaya school; it occupied the whole floor of a large Fabrizius house on Arbat Square. Both sisters settled here: one teacher of the school, the second student. Among the teachers of young Natalia of that time: N. M. Padarin , I. N. Khudoleev and I. N. Pevtsov .

“While still a student, she played Tanya in the play“ Sin and Misfortune on Whom Doesn't Live ”by A. N. Ostrovsky. After the performance, E. D. Turchaninova herself came to her backstage. “I am happy for you, dear. This is great, ”said the famous artist. And she gave Natasha a small keychain, which had previously belonged to her late daughter. So often in those days, the "old people" advised young talents " ^[3]

The official website of the Maly Theater gives such information about the actress: in 1916 she graduated from the drama courses of E. Musil in Moscow. In the same year, she made her debut at the Moscow Drama Theater E. Sukhodolskaya ^[4] .

The actress herself spoke of herself in a memoir: “According to Pevtsov’s class, I handed over a prologue from the Orleans Virgin. Illarion Nikolaevich arranged our exam on the stage of the Moscow Drama Theater, where he himself worked at that time. The auditorium was crowded, we were thrilled, played with enthusiasm and had success. The director of the Drama Theater, E. M. Sukhodolskaya, came to me backstage with an invitation to come to her in the coming days for negotiations.

A few days later with the words: “Here is Ophelia and Cordelia”, Pevtsov introduced me to the director's office of the Moscow Drama Theater. I signed my first contract for 75 rubles a month, on the role of an engineer. It was the spring of 1916. " ^[5]

Natalia Belevtseva played in the Moscow Drama Theater until 1919, having survived an impending revolution here, in which she understood nothing, busy with her artistic activities. True, one summer of 1917 she performed in the city of Lubny in the drama troupe of A. A. Matveeva.

I worked for a short time in Kursk.

From June 6, 1922 to June 14, 1972, Natalya Belevtseva was an actress of the Moscow Maly Theater , where she worked for 50 years and became one of the luminaries of the theater.

However, despite the outward success of her acting career and her leading roles, not everything in her fate developed as she would like herself. An intelligent, delicate and mentally vulnerable person, it was sometimes very difficult for her in the officially-official theater of the Soviet era. Irina Likso, who worked with her a lot, said quite clearly about this: “But her life in the theater did not always go smoothly. There were long “windows” when there were no roles. A delicate person, she did not know how to fend for herself and was very worried about forced downtime. Witty man, she wrote not only lyrical, but also satirical poems and epigrams, responded to various theatrical events. I remember how at one of the New Year’s meetings she read very accurate epigrams to the performers of the recent production of “Woe from Wit”. ... Actors who do not know how to stand up for themselves often lose not only roles. But, on the other hand, what would we and our theaters turn into if everyone suddenly learned to push each other? The indisputable merit of Natalia Alekseevna, in addition to everything, consisted precisely in the fact that she was a surprisingly delicate, intelligent, modest, subtle, noble man ” ^[2] .

She passed away on August 8, 1974. She was buried at Vagankovsky cemetery , plot number 35.

• 2 orders of the Red Banner of Labor (09/23/1937; 10/26/1949)
• People's Artist of the RSFSR (1954)

Theater Roles

Roles in the Drama Theater (1916-1919)

Season 1916/1917

• "Chameleon" by E.P. Karpov - Glasha
• “A Handful of Ash” by I. A. Novikov - Tatyana Strakhova
• “ Killer whale ” by A. N. Tolstoy - Raisa Glebovna
• The Strange Man by M. Yu. Lermontov - Princess Sophia
• The Wrong Side of Life X. Benavente - Sylvia
• "Psisha" by Yu. D. Belyaev - Psisha
• "Miss Hobbes" D.-K. Jerome - Miss Hobbes
• “Singer of His Sorrow” - Sheina

Season 1917/1918

• "The One Who Gets Slaps" L. N. Andreeva - Consuela
• Shadows of the Past A. Izmailov - Ira, Auchanin’s niece
• “The Lady with Camellias” by A. Dumas the Son - Nishetta

Season 1918/1919

• “ Sin and misfortune on whom does not live ” A. N. Ostrovsky - Tatyana Danilovna
• "The Noble Nest " by I. S. Turgenev - Lisa
• "Savva" L. N. Andreeva - Olympics
• "Paul I" D.S. Merezhkovsky - Elizabeth, wife of Alexander
• " The Last " by M. Gorky - Hope
• "Forest Secrets" E. N. Chirikova Dawn , Alyonushka

State Exhibition Theater

Season 1919/1920

• "Measure for Measure" by W. Shakespeare - Isabella
• "Wild Swans" by G.-H. Andersen - Princess Eliza

Kursk City Theater named after M. S. Shchepkin

Seasons 1920/1921 and 1921/1922

• Thunderstorm by A. N. Ostrovsky - Katerina
• "The novel" by E. Sheldon - Rita Kovalini
• “Dream of Love” by A. Kosorotov - Marie Charden
• " Three Sisters " by A.P. Chekhov - Masha
• "Sisters of the Kedrov" N. Grigoriev-Istomina - Tanya
• "The Noble Nest " by I. S. Turgenev - Lisa
• "The One Who Gets Slaps" L. N. Andreeva - Consuela

Maly Theater

Season 1922/1923

• "The Snow Maiden " by A. N. Ostrovsky . Director: P. M. Sadovsky - Snow Maiden
• " Undergrowth " by D. I. Fonvizin . Director: N.O. Volkonsky - Sophia
• Shakespeare's “ Merchant of Venice ” - Portia
• “ For every sage is quite simple ” A. N. Ostrovsky. Director: I. S. Plato - Mashenka

Season 1923/1924

• The Iron Wall by B. K. Rynda-Alekseev. Director: I. S. Plato - Elena Libganten
• “Bear Wedding” by A. V. Lunacharsky - Maria
• “ Poverty is not a vice ” by A. N. Ostrovsky. Staged by I. S. Platon and L. M. Prozorovsky - Lyubov Gordeevna
• “ Woe from Wit ” by A. S. Griboedov. Director: A. A. Sanin - Sophia

Season 1924/1925

• " Uriel Acosta " K. Gutskova . Production by L. M. Prozorovsky - Judith
• "Sailor" T. Sauvage and E. Delurier. Staged by I.S. Plato - Jeanette
• Fiesco's conspiracy in Genoa by F. Schiller . Staged by N.O. Volkonsky - Leonor

Season 1925/1926

• The Promised Land by S. Maugham . Fast. N.O. Volkonsky - Nora Marsh
• "Zagmuk" by A. G. Glebov . Staged by N.O. Volkonsky - Iltani
• "Notre Dame Cathedral" by V. Hugo . Staged by I.S. Plato and N.F. Kostromsky - Esmeralda

Season 1926/1927

• “Profitable place” by A. N. Ostrovsky . Staged by N.O. Volkonsky - Vyshnevskaya
• “Sin and Misfortune for Whom Does Not Live” by A. N. Ostrovsky. Production by M.S. Narokova - Tatyana Danilovna
• "Dowry" by A. N. Ostrovsky - Larisa
• “Velvet and tattered clothes” by A. V. Lunacharsky and E. Shtukken . Staged by N.O. Volkonsky - Rachilda

Season 1929/1930

• "Rasteryaeva street" by G. Uspensky . Stage author and director: M. S. Narokov - Lipochka
• " Tradesman in the nobility " J.-B. Moliere . Staged by N. A. Popov - Lucille

Season 1930/1931

• “Change of Heroes” by B. S. Romashov . Production by M.S. Narokov - Belopolskaya

Season 1931/1932

• "Clear Log" by K. A. Trenev . Production by L. M. Prozorovsky - Natalia

Season 1932/1933

• "Glass of Water" E. Scriba - Queen Anne

Season 1933/1934

• " Enemies " by M. Gorky . Director: K.P. Khokhlov - Tatyana
• " Don Carlos " F. Schiller. Director K. A. Mardzhanov - Elizabeth Valois

Season 1934/1935

• " Wolves and sheep " by A. N. Ostrovsky. Production by K.P. Khokhlov - Kupavin

Season 1936/1937

• “Glory” by V. M. Gusev , production by K. P. Khokhlov - Elena
• " Forest " by A. N. Ostrovsky. Production by L. M. Prozorovsky - Aksyusha

1938/1939 season

• “ Woe from Wit ” by A. S. Griboedov. Production by P.M.Sadovsky . Directors I. Ya. Sudakov and S.P. Alekseev - Natalya Dmitrievna
• "Eugene Grande" by O. de Balzac . Director: K. A. Zubov - Eugene

Season 1940/1941

• " Barbarians " by M. Gorky. Directors: K. A. Zubov and I. Ya. Sudakov - Lydia

Season 1946/1947

• "Beyond the Kama River" by V. A. Tikhonov . Production by E.P. Velikhov . Director A.P. Gruzinsky - Matilda Ivanovna

Season 1948/1949

• " Dowry " by A. N. Ostrovsky. Staged by K. A. Zubov. Directed by L. M. Prozorovsky and B. I. Nikolsky - Ogudalova
• " Cunning and love ." F. Schiller . Performance resumed by V. I. Tsygankov - Mrs. Miller
• The Conspiracy of the Doomed by N. E. Wirth . Staged by K. A. Zubov . Directed by M.E. Turbina (Ger) and M.N. Gladkov - Mina

Season 1949/1950

• The Secret War by V. S. Mikhailov and L. S. Samoilov. Staged by E.I. Stradomskaya - Tumanova

1950/1951 season

• “ Woe from Wit ” by A. S. Griboedov - Countess-Granddaughter

1951/1952 season

• " Living Corpse " by L. N. Tolstoy . Staged by L. A. Volkova - Karenina

1952/1953 season

• "Glass of water" E. Scribe. Performance resumed by B. P. Brilliantov - Queen Anna

1953/1954 season

• "Jackals" by A. M. Jacobson. Staged by B.I. Ravensky . Director M.N. Gladkov - Doris

1954/1955 season

• The Pygmalion B. Shaw - Mrs. Higgins

Season 1955/1956

• " Pupil " A. N. Ostrovsky . Directors: V. I. Tsygankov and M. N. Gladkov - Ulanbekova
• "Doctor of Philosophy" B. Nusic . Production by K. A. Zubov - Mara

1956/1957 season

• "One Night" by B. L. Gorbatov . Production by V.I. Tsygankova - Larisa Danilovna

1958/1959 season

• “Why did the stars smile” by A. E. Korneychuk . Staged by B.I. Ravensky. Director M.E. Turbina - Zinaida Nikolaevna
• “ Fan Lady Windermere ” by O. Wilde . Director: V. G. Komissarzhevsky - Duchess of Berwick

1959/1960 season

• " Our people - count " A. N. Ostrovsky. Production by L. A. Volkova - Ustinya Naumovna
• "The village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants" according to F. M. Dostoevsky . Production by L. A. Volkova - Praskovya Ilyinichna

Season 1960/1961

• " Living Corpse " by L. N. Tolstoy . Director: L. A. Volkov (renewal). - Karenina

Season 1961/1962

• "Wings" A. Korneychuk . Directors: K. A. Zubov and V. I. Tsygankov - Campion
• “Vanity Fair” by W. Thackeray . Directors: I.V. Ilyinsky and V.I. Tsygankov - Miss Crowley

Season 1962/1963

• “ Woe from Wit ” by A. Griboedov . Director: E. R. Simonov - Countess Grandmother
• “They are waiting for us somewhere” by A. N. Arbuzov . Staged by E.R. Simonov. Director M.M. Novokhizhin - Aunt Pasha

Season 1963/1964

• "The main role" S. I. Aleshin . Staged by L.V. Varpakhovsky . - Vera Antonovna

1964/1965 season

• “ Truth is good, but happiness is better ” by A. N. Ostrovsky. Production by B. A. Babochkina - Mavra Tarasovna

1967/1968 season

• "John Reid" E.R.Simonova . The director is Donja Luis

Season 1970/1971

• “ Dostigayev and others ” by M. Gorky . Production by B. A. Babochkin - Ksenia

Movie Roles

• 1917 - Kira Zubova - Nina
• 1918 - Drama on the hunt - Olga
• 1918 - Living Corpse - Sasha
• 1954 - Anna on the neck - Princess