200
PARTISAN REVIEW
("Soviet Estonia,"
April, 1976)
APPAREL FOR A MARTIAN.
(People and Professions). What do we expect from
a good tailor? A suit he cuts should keep to the current fashion. So what would
you think of a tailor whose creations lag behind the current style by two hundred
years? What is more, this man commands great respect and merits the warmest
praise.
u-e
speak here of the cutter-modeler of the Russian Drama Theater of the
Estonian Republic, Voldemar Sild. Among his regular clients onefinds Spanish
grandees and French musketeers, Russian tsars and Japanese samurai, and
what is more, vixens, roosters, and even Martians.
A theatrical costume is born out of the Joint efforts of the artistic director
and tailor. It has to correspond to the nature of the era while also expressing the
spirit
of
the performance and the attributes of the individual characters. Imagine
Onegin dressed in baggy pants, or Sobakevich in an elegant tailcoat! When he
had to create a costume for the character of Aesop the slave, Voldemar Sild
studied ancient painting and Greek drama.
The frock coat, caftan, military cloak, pelisse, smockfrock-these are all
absolutely distinct types of clothing, each with its own specific features and
accessones.
"I remember one young actor,
))
Sild relates, " who asked me if there was
really any difference between a tailcoat and a smokingJacket.
To
me they are as
different as a television and a tape recorder.
))
When he attends performances at other theaters, Voldemar Hendrikovich,
with typical professional severity, gives his attention to the way the characters
are outfitted. "And only at performances of my beloved Vakhtangov Theater,
))
says Voldemar Sild, "do I forget that I'm a modeler and get absorbed in the
action of the play-which is a true sign that the dress designer of that theater
does impeccable work.
))
Voldemar Sild does impeccable work himself, as tailor, artist, and man of
the theater.
At the unofficial editorial board meeting my article drew quite
a bit of praise.
"Dovlatov can write vividly about any sort of nonsense ."
"And his headline is effective."
"And the words he comes up with!
Accessories .
.. "
The next day Chief Editor Turonok called me in. "Sit down."
I sat.
"This conversation will not be pleasant."
Like all conversations with you, you idiot, I thought.
"What is the heading of the column you wrote this for?"
