INTERVIEW: Mikhail Baryshnikov on Brodsky Baryshnikov

Joseph Brodsky and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Photo: Leonid Lubianitsky

It was more than 50 years ago when I first read Joseph Brodsky’s poems and they hit me hard. Truth and grace in words and his works are extraordinarily relevant to the present. I try to be truthful to myself and to be as truthful as I can to my friend. Yes, it’s a responsibility, but there’s great joy there.

How did your friendship with Brodsky influence you over the years?

Joseph Brodsky had a momentous impact on me - we talked to each other every week over our twenty odd years of friendship. I knew some of his poetry and truly admired him as a poet. There is no doubt that he is one of the few poets – perhaps the only – from the Soviet generation on par with the “magnificent four” of the pre-revolutionary one.

Mikhail Baryshnikov in Brodsky/Baryshnikov. Photo: Janis Deinats  How does your talent and background as a dancer inform this show? In Brodsky/Baryshnikov there’s no dance per se, but there’s a lot of body language so that was the bridge to bring my dance background into the drama of the play. That was, in fact, a requirement of the director, but I use the same instincts so I can’t really make a distinction between the two. What is lost for non-Russian speakers who read Brodsky only in English translation? Brodsky/Baryshnikov is a conversation between me and a person in the past so the language the audience speaks is unimportant. We have an excellent translation by Jamey Gambrell, a former student of Joseph’s. In my opinion, she captures his humour, wit, and wisdom so the play is accessible to everyone. What do you hope English-speaking audiences will enjoy and take away from this show?

The play is an intimate experience – a conversation between me, and my beloved friend - and so I hope they can feel included in that intimacy.

Brodsky/Baryshnikov plays at the Apollo Theatre from 3 - 7 May 2017

BOOK TICKETS FOR BRODSKY/BARYSHNIKOV