Suddenly the actor playing Bulanov in the staging of "Forest" by Ostrovsky fell ill.
Gurmyzhskaya was performed by the oldest CTSA actress Nina Afanasiyevna Sazonova, but it was impossible to cancel the performance. Oleg Menshikov was appointed to play the part of Bulanov. Exactly appointed - we must bear in mind he was at military service.
The actor prepared the role in 24 hours. The performance was produced by Vladimir Motyl some years ago and of course he took no participation in introducing the new actor into the part. And here Menshikov's skill to draw up a role with no assistance came in handy - taking into account the director's initial concept, the structure of the performance, combination with the cast and relations with the partners.
As a result he entered the performance so firmly that later Sazonova preferred Menshikov to all the other actors. I happened to see "Forest" when the freshman has already got used to the new territory and felt quite at ease with this unexpected role. To be honest, sometimes he happens to be too much at ease letting himself fool about a little. Obviously the energy of youth persistently forced its way.
A young and pretty creature appeared on stage, a kind of a poor grammar-school boy in a jacket, which has become small for him long before - his arms jut out of short sleeves. He wears jacket without a shirt - his mother couldn't find it for the son before sending Alyoshenka to the wealthy house of Raisa Pavlovna Gurmyzhskaya.
Alyoshenka was absolutely stupid too. It was the kind of stupidity that makes a person happy in his own way, denying him every possibility to take a sober view of himself and the others. Actors know how hard it is to play it… For all that Bulanov was slyish and rather quick-witted to take his bearing in unexpected conditions.
At first this boy, obviously dismissed from the grammar school for total stupidity in all sciences, very purposefully looks for an ally in a strange house, and finds it in Aksusha as poor and dependent as he is. Besides, Aksusha is young, pretty and easy-going. Bulanov sincerely strives for the contact with the girl he must marry. And why not? All these high emotions, abstract matters are strange and unnecessary for him. Inaccessible and, thus, idle in his understanding. He is prepared for the future set for him by the rich and respectable masters, and after all Alyosha is not of a grumbling kind. Nothing seems to forebode in this boy that impudent easy-rider, who will appear in the next scene: I think the matter is Oleg Menshikov's Bulanov is not an easy-rider at all. It is an extremely primitive unicellular creature, but possessing a splendid mimicry. It occurs in nature.
Usually from the very beginning Bulanov is performed as a small selfish plunderer, firmly aimed at conquering old Gurmyzhskaya, or rather her estate, money and all the rest that she will leave to the young husband. Oleg Menshikov, still very young, just a beginner, inexperienced, already then, not very evidently, but reveals his artistic nature and independent temper: he refuses to accept traditional interpretation of the part. Later this feature will grow in him stronger and stronger.
Menshikov never splashes out the essential origin of the type at once - the future of his character can be quite unpredictable for the viewer. He wants to see a person and his life not in symmetry, but rather in asymmetry - he is more interested in a hidden, sometimes mysterious sense of the existence, suddenly revealing itself regardless all expectations. That's why in the role, as if accidental for him, Oleg Menshikov offered his own variation, in which the portrait of Bulanov combined draft lightness, carried primitive perception of a recent school boy with only lowest marks and aggressively selfish origin being asleep until it's time for him to undertake some active steps.
Awakening will come when decrepit Raisa Pavlovna, having no strength to resist her feeling towards the nice boy, confesses her love to the young guest. At first Alyoshenka is taken aback and doesn't quite realize the true meaning of her words. Having opened his mouth in a childish manner, staring amazingly at madam Gurmyzhskaya, he melancholically freezes trying to grasp: what is required of him? But there comes the right decision: he dashes to Raisa Pavlovna, his arms outspread, willing to embrace the trembling with passion lady. The decision is precise, final and successful. The deed without a loss: now the boy's tomorrow will be safe. And the day after tomorrow even safer - when he will become personal owner of the estate, a widower and a real master. That is quite enough for him.
Very little time will have passed and the boy will begin to enjoy the gift of fortune, the chance he didn't miss. In the new scene Bulanov appears with quite a different attitude. He wears a funny suit of some sparkling, as if borrowed from circus, fabric. His haircut is ridiculous - a-la dandy from a fashion magazine, only in poorer performance… And a smile playing about his lips, and he can't hold it. At the same time Alexey had time to become filled with self-respect. Different pace, different speech. He is the master of the house, and his habits should be lordly.
Of course he hasn't learned yet to conduct himself properly in the new situation. Delivering a solemn speech in front of the neighboring landlords, Bulanov fluffs slightly. It is beyond him to memorize even a few phrases at once. But despite all these small drawbacks, Raisa Pavlovna's fiance is quite satisfied with himself, or rather with his stunning new appearance and the new status. And doesn't even try to hide it.
The actor softly and finely sketches portrait of future Bulanov. Some time will pass and Alexey will become truly the main figure in his marriage with Gurmyzhskaya. He himself is sure now that he also gave her a precious gift, having traded youth for the golden cage, though not for long. And he is right - in his own way.

(from the book by Elga Lyndina "Oleg Menshikov", Moscow - Panorama, 1999)