Last Day in Moscow

I know that I should finish packing right now. But as my last day in Moscow draws to a close, I am reminded of why I’ve loved my time here.

At noon we had our last Russian Art & Architecture History class with Anna. I’ve really loved being able to finally have an art history course. I think I also neglected to mention that I love how she’ll be talking and suddenly make a comment like, “then they reconstructed this monstrosity.” It’s hilarious.

After a lovely last lunch in the MXAT stalovia (canteen), the other dramaturgs and I headed up to Tolya’s office so we could say goodbye. We really love Tolya, he’s just a wonderful combination of wisdom, humor, care, and good-nature. Kind of like our very own Dumbledore. At our last class we gave him a framed photo of the four of us with him at Patriarch’s Ponds and he was obviously very touched by it (he says it’s going on the wall by the photo of him with Andrew Lloyd Webber). Today we went to return a book and say our goodbyes. After a group hug (yes, really, it was pretty darn presh) he gestured to the framed photo on his desk. “I came in today, and I saw it, and it was a kind of…ah!” he said, grasping his hands over his heart. Then somehow he decided that we all needed to have shots of the Ukrainian berry-infused vodka that he had just been given. So after a couple of toasts, a couple of shots, he sent us off with the bottle. If that’s not a perfect Russian goodbye, I don’t know what is. I’m really going to miss him a lot, it’s actually making me pretty sad.

After our goodbye, I went up to the 7th floor of the building to observe auditions. On Friday I interviewed Sergey (the director of one of the 4th year’s shows, who is also their master teacher) for an article I’m writing. Afterward he was nice enough to invite me to drop by and watch the auditions. The MXAT school auditions are crazy. They must have thousands of people, and need to whittle it down to about 20. I saw 12 people audition, and it was fascinating—seeing how they run auditions here, what the actors were like before or after their audition, what they were like as actors versus just talking to Sergey.

Now I really do have to finish packing. I leave for the airport at 3am, spend the day in Zurich before flying to London for the night and leaving the next day for India. I’m so grateful for the past three months. Learning more about the Russian culture, art, literature, history, theatre, getting closer with my classmates, and relishing every moment. I’m sad to see this chapter in my life end.