The most famous and mysterious actor of the 40-yeared generation, Oleg Menshikov decided to break the bank after "Kitchen". In fact, he hasn't broken it yet, but only keeps it. Anyway, he is the chief - outer and inner manager in this cunning business. But it's not the matter of oligarchs or financial pyramids. Today Oleg Menshikov keeps the bank in the Mossovet Theatre, "Under the Roof", where he rehearses his new performance "Gamblers" by Gogol all days long. The "MK" reporter became the first journalist allowed by Oleg Menshikov to his theatrical kitchen.

A yard where dogs bark and cocks crow. A hayloft. A cart. To the right - a district inn with a ragged room. A tiled roof, columns - everything's buried in verdure. Guys and girls with pipes and violins... Exactly "the silent Ukrainian night" and "evenings at khutor near Dikanka". [the quotes from other Gogol's works].
"Can we start? Girls, I mean the orchestra - are you ready?", asks Menshikov.
The girls - two violins - appeared accompanied by a clarinet, a kobza and a big drum. Two scene-shifters dragged a plain plywood box with Alexandr Usov inside.
"He'll fit in just like that", Menshikov is commenting to the common laughter.
Slender Usov, weighing not more than 50 kg, wearing round eye-glasses - he is the main character of Gogol's play - the highly qualified sharper, mister Ikharev...

Ikharev. Here she is, the secret deck - real pearl! And there's a name for her, yes - Adelaida Ivanovna. Serve me, sweetheart, as your sister has served, gain me the eighty thousand, and I will put up a monument to you after I come back to country. I will order it in Moscow.

And the story rolled - about an expert who wanted to trick others, but was tricked himself. But the story is not fresh - Moscow is full of such craftsmen, organizing lottos of all kinds and other fishy games.

"Here's the example", whispers into my ear the famous gangster from "Brother" and "Brother-2" Victor Sukhorukov expecting his entrance. "I was hurrying to the rehearsals today, and some fellows offered to play a lottery. Just like a fool, I bought a ticket, won, and they surrounded me and inclined to spend more money. I was about to give in under their influence, but then thought suddenly - hey, it's exactly from Gogol".

From Gogol - oh!.. Such a trick, as he described, is not for street gangs - here's a high psychological class and vague Freudian origin.
I didn't took a slightest notice of director Menshikov, who even before wasn't sitting quietly at his director's table, became actor Menshikov, playing Uteshitelniy - the chief and the most dangerous gambler. The three heads appeared in a doorway. To the waltz enter: one (Alexandr Sirin from "Lenkom") - with a case and two (Gorbunov and Menshikov) - with walking sticks, all of them wear a white glove on their left hands. Synchronously, as in swimming, stepped forward, bowed to Ikharev, one dropped the case loudly and all of them took off the gloves.

Ikharev: Is he rich, this Glov?
Krugel: Oh! He's wealthy. I think, about a thousand of serfs.
Ikharev: Damn it! If only we could make him drunk, shall I order champagne?
Shvokhnev: He'll never touch it.
Ikharev: What shall we do then? How to approach him? But still I keep thinking... the game is a tempting thing. Maybe if he only sat down near the players, he couldn't resist.
Shvokhnev: We will try it. Me and Krugel will sit here aside and make a small game.

There are mainly "kitchen" people engaged in "Gamblers", in other words the actors who play in Menshikov's "Kitchen". And only two freshmen: Denis Zurkalov as Gavrushka and Victor Sukhorukov playing two parts at once. The story of his getting into "Gamblers" is very curious. According to Gogol.

"I left St.Petersburg's Comedy Theatre, and went to Orekhovo-Zuevo. And here's the call from Oleg. I told him: 'Oleg, if you only knew, how timely your call is'".

Now Sukhorukov lives in "Minsk" hotel and walks along the Tverskaya street to the rehearsals. Though his "brotherly" glory once blocked the highway. He went by trolleybus, and some drunk passenger recognized the actor. He started to shout: "Brother! Brother!" The driver stopped the trolley, entered the salon and said: "I have never thought I will drive the brother. I will give you a ride". And sped along without stops from Belorussky Station to "Minsk".
Meanwhile they started to keep the bank on the table of the inn room. To my surprise the gamblers don't juggle with cards, but just give out the deck to the tasty Gogol text. And that's it?

"Why show tricks in theatre - it should be done in a circus. Moreover, here's a small stage", Oleg Menshikov will say during the break.
"Oleg, do you play cards?"
"Well, I play just like everyone does. But I'm not a specialist, though excitable".

In general the atmosphere on stage seems a bit lightminded. Everybody inserts stock phrases into the text, gives each other clips and kicks. At times Menshikov behaves as a schoolboy from the last row - laughs at actors' jokes, cracks jokes himself. This is his principle, adopted from the book lessons of a great director Efros. The latter claimed that a director must be cheerful at the rehearsals in the first place. "Gamblers" don't lack cheerfulness.
The musicians stroke up a march and the gang of sharpers demonstrate hussar march at the proscenium. Their march ends at the box - the three sit and the two, Menshikov and Tatarenkov, stand. Everybody froze as on the shot "Everybody's been defeated at Waterloo". However Menshikov is not satisfied with the triumph and the march is repeated another 10 times.

Menshikov to Tatarenkov: You open your mouth, but I can't hear the words.
Menshikov to Usov: Look into the frame.
Menshikov to everybody: I can't hear your words.

And everybody burst out:
Two cards in widow,
And you are beat.

"Smoke break", announces Menshikov and vigorously dots: hits the metal walking stick against the floor.

The decorations where the sparring of calculation and intuition develops are cozy in country style and detailed as in cinema traditions. Of course - it's creator, cinema artist Alexandr Popov became a leader of restaurant interiors. The costumes are made by Alexandr Kalmyk, not known before in cinema and theatre world. Maybe that's why he is shy and says that his costumes are plain. Anyway they are not luxurious but there is a zest, or rather some devilry in them. Thus, Menshikov wears a purple-dotted silver-gray waistcoat with dangling tailcoat falls.
Of course, compared to large "Woe from Wit" and Kitchen", "Gamblers" don't look an extra expensive project. But, as Oleg Menshikov says, it were rather difficult for The Theatrical Company 814 to produce "Gamblers" without the support of OKI company.
But the financial question was covered with merry Ukrainian music. Vladimir Nazarov wrote musical themes for the performance, which are played by the musicians of his own band. Slava Bontsal, clarinetist, assures that he doesn't have printed music, only themes and the rest is only improvisation. By the way, the theme of the dashing hussar march was given by none other than Menshikov.
Ikharev-Usov is at the table and there's a precious casket in front of him. The mirrors inside of it give ominous flashes on his face.

"To live that way, it's easy even for a fool, nothing special. But to live finely, with art, to trick everybody but not be tricked oneself - that's the real purpose and task!"

At the moment, you don't know where to look - whether at the actor pronouncing the monologue, whether at the director who looks like a sprinter at start: as if he's going to dart off. And he darts off - runs up to the stage, bends over the round table and whispers something to Usov. And Usov's face, as a mirror, reflects Menshikov's words. The "mirror" scratched his ear - surprised. Laughed - appreciated the humor. Rolled up his eyes - took the joke. And so on - lots of emotions on the lively face during just a few seconds.
Then there will be music, masks and the very ending. But they won't go till the very end - they didn't manage the time. The theatrical ending smoothly flows into real life: Menshikov suddenly disappearing from the stage enters with champagne and some bright packages. It turned out to be Gennady Galkin's birthday (the actor rehearses in second cast). Everybody shouts 'hurray', but they don't throw ladies caps in the air, because there are no female parts in "Gamblers". But the champagne flows in a very hussar style.