Alice Koonen: interesting facts from the life of the actress

In the magnificent actress of the Russian theater, Alice Koenen, the same age as Chaplin and Akhmatova, there was not a gram of Russian blood. Until 1934, she was a subject of the Belgian kingdom. Nevertheless, she devoted all her life to Russia.

Childhood

Alice Koenen, whose biography will be presented in this article, was born in 1889, October 17, in Moscow. Her father, George Koonen, was a Belgian. And her mother - a creative nature - was from a wealthy Polish family, who was against the girl marrying a poor Belgian - a judicial officer. And then she went against the will of the parents. As a result, the family turned away from her, considering it a disgrace. On the day Alisa was born, they did not have the money even to purchase cotton wool, which is necessary for delivery. And the woman in labor had to lay down a cross.

Bright memories of childhood

Still quite a little girl, Alice showed creative abilities and was very artistic. The brightest memories of childhood found a place in her autobiographical book "Alice Koonen: the pages of life." Her family was very poor, they did not have the opportunity to organize a Christmas tree. However, Alisa was very friendly and cheerful, so it was interesting to her to talk to richer neighbor girls who invited her to their home holidays. Alisa was always in the center of attention, acted, read poetry, did all kinds of pirouettes, and then bowed, "collecting" the general applause. Despite the fact that the grandmother and maternal grandfather did not want to receive them in their home, Alyssa's aunt, a wealthy landowner living in the Tver region, invited them to her estate for the summer. Being an actress of an amateur provincial theater, she hosted plays in which little Alice Koenen took part in her house, or rather, outdoors by the lake with lilies and water lilies. Thus, her first theatrical steps were made in such a romantic setting. Then there was a visit to the drama theater. And this, one might say, was the most vivid memory of her childhood. She was as if hypnotized by the scene and for a few days went under the impression.

Acquaintance with the master of the Russian theater

Once, during a domestic play in a house with her aunt, she noticed a noble lady, an approximate Konstantin Stanislavsky. She was so impressed with the play of the girl that she later told the great director about her. At that time, Alice graduated from the First Moscow Gymnasium. She was bored to study there, because she had known for a long time about her destiny. Her idol in the theater was Vasily Kachalov. She raved about the theater and told everyone: "You will soon read the headlines in the press:" Alice Koonen is an actress ". My father did not want to hear about it, but my mother supported her, believing that this profession is quite prestigious and no worse than others. And so mother and daughter came to a meeting with Stanislavsky. The first thing he asked her was: "Are you ready to go to the monastery? The theater is also a monastery. " At that moment, she was ready to give an affirmative answer to this question, but then she returned to him again, but more on that later ...

Coming to the Stanislavsky Theater

She came late for the exam, but after she showed everyone what she was capable of, no one remembered this. So, in 1905, Alice Koonen entered the "school", or rather, a class in the theatrical art of the Art Theater. Her debut took place in 1906 in a small role Guest in Griboyedov's play "Woe from Wit", and at the age of 19 she already played the role of Mitil ("The Blue Bird"). This was her first serious role. After that, the patron-sponsor Nikolai Tarasov appeared in the theater. Despite the fact that the envious people insisted that Alice was in the theater solely due to her acquaintance with this or that powerful people, her talent was louder than their voices, her every step on the stage proved the opposite. She certainly was the best. Arrived from England in Russia, the famous director Gordon Crege asked Stanislavsky to give him his favorite actress, promising to open for her in Italy a monotherapist. To which the master replied that Alice would die from loneliness in a mono theater, since she could not live without communication for a minute. By 1913, she was considered a celebrity and a star of the Moscow Art Theater's skits.

How did Alice Koenen represent the press?

According to publications in the media, the great actress had wide-set aquamarine eyes, artificial eyelashes kept shaking her every now and then. She had a habit of not looking at people, but a little higher above them. I did not like to look into the eyes, especially if it was a partner in the game. Her gait was like a victory over space, and each of its phenomena could be called a triumphal exit of the winner. Her voice was like a hot magma. He could effortlessly fill the space of thousand rooms. Theatrical critics wrote about her: "Alice is a great actress!" Even looking at her photos, you notice how perfect her plastic is, how bright the glitter of her beautiful eyes, especially in moments of anger or passion. " From the memoirs of contemporaries, we learn that Alice Koonen (photo look in the article) owned the plastic of a ballerina, she was even compared with Isadora Duncan, who had a strong influence on her. Alisa knew how to juggle, and she also mastered the art of fencing. In her body merged in unison special plasticity, feelings, melodic voice. Depending on her role, she could dance barefoot or move slowly and smoothly, be strict or irresistibly cheerful. However, she avoided occasional gestures and intonations. Everything in it was measured and accurate. Her friend and admirer Vasily Kachalov talked about her: "She is the focus of a hundred children and a hundred devils."

Matchmaking Andreeva

In addition to the novel with Kachalov, Alisa, despite hundreds of fans, had another serious love story. Prose writer Leonid Andreev fell in love with her . In those years he was at the height of glory. On it a lot of wealthy ladies, however, he had a special passion for the representatives of the acting brotherhood. Andreev's marriage to Alice Koenen was not a surprise. It is said that he sent a confession of love to almost all the actresses of the art theater, and they did not attach much importance to this. However, in the case of Alice, there was something else, since the writer confessed to her that she reminded him of his late wife. Together they spent many beautiful days. However, he, from the words of the actress, made her feel sorry. Then he introduced her to his mother, and she, having discarded all the conventions, asked Alice to help her son. Despite all her philanthropy, Alice was not ready to accept the offer of this deeply unhappy man. A sense of anxiety arose in her. And she did not like it when she was forced to do something. She told him about this ...

Leaving the Stanislavsky Theater

After she took a certain position in the Moscow Art Theater, Alice Koonen remembered Stanislavsky's question about the monastery. Now she certainly knew the answer to him. She did not want to sacrifice her freedom for the sake of playing in this theater. Although she did not agree with some of Stanislavsky's techniques. She did not like the "small scratching of roles, the useless trampling on the spot." She needed fire, flight, fullness and joy from the game, proceeding from all that was said, she decided to leave from there.It was motivated by the desire to enrich the "system", to bring new colors into it , To be ahead of everyone.And Alice decided to go to the new Free Theater under the leadership of Mardzhanov.The theater existed very little, but Alice subsequently recalled what a warm, simply magical atmosphere was in him.

Acquaintance with Tairov

After the collapse of "Free", Mardzhanov turns to his friend, director A. Tairov. Together they decide to create a completely new theater. And most importantly, they know who will be prima - Koyen Alisa Georgievna. Tairov before saw several of her performances in the Art, but they were not familiar. Mardzhanov organizes their meeting, and it becomes fatal for them. From this moment the director and the actress become inseparable. In 1914, after returning from a romantic trip together from Paris, they begin to live together, but their marriage was unregistered until the end of the day. At the same time, their theater is born. He is the main child of hers, what Alice Koenen was proud of. Children they have with Tairov and were not born, that's had to devote his whole life to the theater.

New Camera

The building for the theater was chosen by Alice herself. It was located on Tverskoy Boulevard. It was a big mansion. It was an auditorium for 500 people. For the opening of the theater it was decided to give a performance "Sakuntala". Alice, of course, was the performer of the main role. Young spouses did not have money for advertising, and they almost convicted spectators in the hall. However, the popularity of the Chamber Theater in Moscow could be envied. Each appearance of Alice on the stage was accompanied by an explosion of applause. The repertoire of the theater included such productions as "Famira Kifared", "Salome", "Girofle-Giraffle", "Princess Brambilla", etc. Soon they toured all over Europe, and Alice's name became recognizable in the Old World. In 1917, after well-known events, the theater was closed, but it was revived in 1924. Even under Soviet power, the couple celebrated the 10th anniversary of their theater.

Crash

Already in the 30's, the struggle against the "formalistic theater" was proclaimed. What was done by Tairov and Koonen was incomprehensible to the proletariat. And on the Chamber began a violent offensive. In 1937, it was decided to merge the two theaters: Tairov and Okhlopkov. About this event, Alice expressed herself as follows: "The first nail was hammered into the lid of our coffin." In such a composition during the war they went to the town of Balkhash. The last performance of the Chamber was the play "Adrienne Lecouvreur."

Tragedy

Then the fate of Alice Koenen was completely tragic. During the existence of the theater, he and Alexander lived in an apartment that was located on the same staircase with theatrical premises. And after the theater no longer belonged to their family, the question arose about where they would live. Tairov was diagnosed with brain cancer, and he soon died. And then everyone remembered that Alisa and Alexander were not legally married, which means that she could not claim his apartment. There was a trial, in the past, the famous actress argued that they were together since 1914, and this despite the fact that everyone knew about it.

the end

After the death of Tairov, she was doomed to loneliness. So she lived almost 20 years. Only rare creative evenings, at which guests were presented with audio recordings of her performances, brought joy to the aging actress. She died in 1974, on the 20th of August. She was 85 years old.