"I believe it is sincerity that is most important in the theatre. When something is false, it becomes immediately apparent and gives rise to awkwardness. But nothing should be awkward in the theatre".

This is what Polina Rudchik, a young theatre artist, a charming, gifted and  extremely interesting person said. To be more precise, this is what she wrote. She wrote this because she couldn’t express it in words. Maybe because for her, as well, sincerity appears to be paramount, and I felt she  was afraid that some sort of falseness or awkwardness could have crept into our conversation just like in the theatre, because theatre is life…

Her name may not be familiar to all of you. However, you will certainly recall Khanukh Levin’s play "Standing Agape", staged at the Rustaveli theatre by Dato Sakvarelidze. Polina Rudchik was invited as the set and dress-designer when she was very young. At that time, naturally, nobody knew Polina or was familiar with her work, as  she had created nothing but her student paintings until that point. She was not even a graduate yet.

To make a long story short, Dato Sakvarelidze saw those  paintings of hers and Polina Rudchik ended up  making the stage and decorative design of  "Standing Agape".

 The performance took place… and was immediately considered a great success. This was the first serious work for Polina – such a big assignment for such a young girl… and everyone was left "standing agape".

 Before that, there was the Art Academy, preceded by art school. She found it rather easy to pass the entrance exams. "There were  five of us who took the exams. It was interesting and I had several very good teachers. From our second year Simoniko Machabeli, Nino Chubinishvili and I started working with Gogi Meskhishvili. He wasn’t our teacher, he simply told us: "Those who are willing may come to my classes". And this was exactly what we did".

That’s how Gogi Meskhishvili became Polina Rudchik’s teacher. Later on, after Polina Rudchik found herself at the Yale Drama School to refine her skills, and thereafter, having returned to Georgia, she always attended Gogi Meskhishvili’s classes whenever she could and continues to work with him to this day.

"I give much thought to the performance. I read a play, I try to feel it and then I draw.  Suko (Dato Sakvarelidze) keeps telling me: don’t think, just draw", Polina says.

"Costumes, scenery, performance, staging, light, music  - all these taken together make up a whole. It’s pitiful to see each of them standing separately from one another in their own solitude", Polina said. Therefore, when working on a performance, the best thing is when everyone "thinks collectively" and shares their ideas with one another.

At the Yale Drama School, for instance, the first-year students work together, read plays together, then they keep discussing and debating for a long time… Thus you learn how to convey your idea and how to share it with others. From the second year, the student-directors select their student-artists and work hand-in-hand on the play, whereas the teachers quietly listen to their conversations and discussions.

This prepares you for working with directors and actors.

At our Art Academy, everything seemed strangely hidden for us: nobody asked us what the reason was for making such a decision, or  why we thought this way or another. All this is truly crucial.

Anyway, Polina proceeded with drawing. The success that had suddenly come to her was not ‘a common thing’ for her. Neither does she think that the directors wanting her to do the staging are going to line up in a queue. On the contrary, she thought it was mere luck that had fallen in her lap. However, Polina designed a setting for another performance. It was Rezo Kldiashvili’s "Iadona’s Theatre", staged by Gogi Todadze on the Marjanishvili theatre stage. Polina, Gogi, Sopiko Chiaureli and Givi Berikashvili worked together as a  team. How did she get invited?

"Rezo Kldiashvili saw the play "Standing Agape".

 This was followed by "The Woman-Snake", where Gogi Meskhishvili was the designer, and Polina assisted him. She was unable to complete the work because of the opportunity of going to  Yale.

Some time earlier, she had applied to participate in the "Art Link" program of the Open Society Georgia Foundation and had sent her work. She was not very hopeful she would be chosen since the candidates were drawn from all the Former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

Unexpectedly, she received an invitation… Polina traveled to the United States and continued her studies at the Yale School of Drama.

"During my stay at Yale, I saw an absolutely different approach to the work. Everything was thought over and considered in advance there because the sketch represented the final stage of the painter’s work. Totally different people are involved in working on the costume after that.

As for our theatre,  the artist takes part in the costume preparation as well. This has a fascination of its own – it’s a different school. At Yale, everyone was surprised when the sketch was complicated and not easily understandable, since it should be clear how to build it. As far as we are concerned, we continue working on the most ‘incredible’ sketch, and then figure out how to make it real. After the sketch is ready, we do the  shopping in the stores and markets to select material, footwear or hairgrips.

The dress for "Der Park", for example, was made without a sketch. Until the very last moment, I couldn’t say how it was going to look. It was the fabric and the texture that played the role of the sketch.

In the play "Standing Agape", it was just the opposite – the sketches performed the key role because everything emerged from paper, texture, colour and graphic lines. It also happened that the actors took part in this process. They were helpful in finding an interesting solution when they shared their feelings and ideas with us."
Studying at Yale was difficult, difficult in many ways.  Working unceasingly in an alien environment, and New York that was so very near. The program was planned to last for three months. However, it seemed possible that some things could have been changed… Famous set designers worked at Yale, and Polina appealed to them. One of them, Ming Co Lee gave her the task of designing "Boris Godunov", to see what would come of it. "I didn’t manage to make time to work on it; I had to study a lot… Thinking back, I wouldn’t have missed that opportunity now."

She was young at the time – only twenty-one. There were 30-year-old students studying with her.

And yet, Yale was Yale… and an entirely different Polina Rudchik came back home from the States.

Then, re-evaluation, thinking and drawing followed. Drawing has always been the most important. Drawing for the sake of drawing, drawing – for the sake of the theatre.

Drawing for fashion show? Indeed, she has thought of it as well…

"Theatre costume doesn’t exist without the stage. An actor fills the image you’ve created. He fills it with speech, crying or laughter… All these taken together make up one image.

This is what distinguishes theatre costume design from  fashion. However dramatized the show might be, our attention is always focused on the clothing. I like fashion designers’ work very much, but their creations live much freer lives. The ‘narrative loading’ accompanies  theatre costume design. It is always subservient to the overall look of the particular work, never stands independently.

This is what makes theatre interesting. Although, I do wish to "sense the feeling of freedom" and work in fashion design. This is an extremely complicated profession, and requires an entirely different set of knowledge".

Then, Dato Sakvarelidze staged Boto Strauss’ "Der Park". What clothing can a designer put on a bird, for instance? Perhaps he should re-read the play more thoroughly, or perhaps the actor’s  movements will dictate what the solution could be…

The theatre painter finds the images and ideas by constant drawing or, by "throwing" many things into the model to fill it… In a nutshell, you start at the beginning of the road, and it is very seldom that you know where it will lead you. That is why you often keep changing direction and, until the premiere performance, you seem to go astray".

Polina’s latest theatrical work was Dato Doiashvili’s "Spectators Are Not Allowed to Watch It" on the Marjanishvili Theatre stage. Currently, she has a number of offers as well. And she also has extremely interesting ideas, which I can’t disclose to you at this point because they’re still being kept secret, and what isn’t a secret can be shared openly:

" I’d love to make an opera or a ballet.

In the theatre, nothing should be ‘real’, everything is properties. It’s not like in the movies – where the scenery is taken from real life. In my view, there shouldn’t be a bed, a wardrobe or a night-lamp standing on the stage.

If a ballet is staged, there’s no room to put all the furniture. It would prevent the actors from dancing".

She had yet another plan – to go and work in Moscow. She did go, but realized she couldn’t work there, and came back to her city.

Well, we did manage to come up with something together … Sometimes we managed to write something, sometimes forgetting that the conversation might be ‘awkward’. We even interrupted each other. However, this was only for us, and not for press, and it was extremely good and incredibly interesting. From all that I managed to put together, I tried to acquaint you, at least a little bit, with Polina Rudchik – a bright and smiling, extraordinary Georgian girl, endowed with talent and beauty.

We are not going to review her work at this point. I only recommend that you go and see them.

"I was never fond of reviewing art. I didn’t like this exam at the Art Academy because I believe that however hard I try, I’ll never find enough words to describe
Giotto, for instance…", Polina wrote.

This isn’t going to be an embarrassing comparison, since I’m not comparing, I’m just agreeing with her.

Sometimes it really occurs that you are "left standing agape"… and it is so nice when this happens pleasantly….

Marina Vashakmadze