V.N. Chuvakov. My Meetings and Correspondence with Elena Aleksandrovna Polevitskaya (1958–1968)

The published diary entries of the famous literary critic and bibliographer V.N. Chuvakov are devoted to his meetings with the actress E.A. Polevitskaya in 1958–1961. In the text there is an image of an actress who was extremely popular in the 1910s, who had a long and difficult creative path, but still needed theater and acting. From Polevitskaya’s memoirs about her theatrical activity and about the theater of the early 20th century Chuvakov builds the main plot for him, associated with the name of Leonid Andreev. Fragmentary, inconsistent, but vivid, the actress’ memories about her creative relationships and personal meetings with Andreev complement our ideas about the writer, bring new shades to the picture of theatrical and artistic life of the early 20th century. The publication includes a letter from Polevitskaya to prof. K.I. Platonov, the author of a “forensic psychopathological study” on Andreev’s play “Ekaterina Ivanovna.” In the letter, the actress expounds her original, deep interpretation of the image of the mysterious and attractive Ekaterina Ivanovna and the motivation for her actions. Chuvakov's notes create an idea of Polevitskaya as an actress, capable of seriously, analytically approaching work on the role, delving deeply into the author's intention, which makes the diary's author's conclusion reasonable: Polevitskaya is the best Ekaterina Ivanovna (the heroine of Andreev's play).