Actress Vera Pashennaya was born in September 1887 in Moscow. Her mother was an actress and wife of the famous actor Nikolai Pashenny, whose stage name is Roshchin-Insarov. After the breakup, the woman got married a second time. Her new husband was Nikolai Konchalovsky. The stepfather was kind to his wife’s children and actively participated in their upbringing.
Childhood
The future actress graduated from school in 1904, dreamed of becoming a doctor. But literally before entering she changed her mind. The family was against her new idea of becoming an actress, but it was already too late. The girl submitted documents to the theater. Three years later, Vera Pashennaya received a diploma from the Moscow Theater School. immediately after graduation, she was accepted into the troupe of the Maly Theater. Some roles of the brilliant at that time Maria Ermolova went to the young actress. After some time, the girl has already become a leading actress of the Maly Theater.
Beginning of a creative biography of Vera Pashennaya: first roles
The closest became the images of the heroines of household drama, comedy. Vera Pashennaya with great skill portrayed girls and young women who came out of the people, from the Russian hinterland. Often they had a difficult fate, full of hardships and hardships.
Critics at the first stage of theatrical activity drew attention to the versatility of Pashennaya’s temperament, to her ability to master Russian speech, to her organicity, and the ability to get used to the role.
Stage activity in the early 20's.
After 1918, the actress was offered teaching, for some time she was attracted to a new direction in her activity, she was happy to teach courses with young artists. However, she did not give up her direct activity. By 1919, she had already mastered the entire classical repertoire of the theater. In parallel with work on her native stage, she performed at the Korsh Theater, gave performances at the Zamoskvoretsky Theater.
In the early 20s of the last century, together with the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater went on a trip abroad. The invitation to the trip came from Konstantin Stanislavsky himself. Abroad, Vera Pashennaya played in several performances: “Tsar Fedor Ioanovich”, where she appeared before the viewer in the form of Irina, “At the Bottom” - Vasilisa and “Three Sisters” - Olga.
Gallery of female images in the pre-war years
There was no equal actress in the image of the constellation of famous female images. Soviet plays, staged in the 20-40s, could not do without the participation of Vera Pashennaya. In the very first modern Soviet performance, staged on the stage of the Maly Theater, was "Ivan Kozyr and Tatyana Russian, " the actress got the main role.
Vera Pashennaya considered the following her best works in the pre-war and post-war period: Lyubov Yarovoy in the play of the same name staged in 1926, Irina in The Bridge of Fire, Vari in the rout, Paul Semyonova in On the Bank of the Neva, Anna Nikolaevna Talanova in "Invasion", Natalia Kovshik in "Kalinovaya grove."
In addition to playing on stage, the actress continued to engage in teaching activities. Since 1933, she was the head of several courses at the school at the Maly Theater. Eight years later, Vera Pashennaya became a professor. She taught at the Higher Theater School of Schepkinsky. After the war, she led the department of acting.
Post-war activities
In the 50s, Vera Pashennaya was offered more and more serious roles, women aged, with great life experience and a difficult fate. She played Boar in Storm, the old mistress of Niskavuori in Stone Nest. And the most outstanding role, according to the actress herself, was the unsurpassed Vassa Zheleznova from the play of the same name by Gorky. The performance was even filmed.
In total, Vera Pashennaya played more than a hundred roles on the stage. Many roles brought her real inspiration and unspeakable pleasure. For example, the performances with her participation in Ostrovsky were most often staged: "Wolves and Sheeps", "Profitable Place", "In a Brisk Place", "Guilty Without Guilt."
In addition to theatrical works, Vera Pashennaya was invited to the radio, she participated in dubbing performances for children and adults. In particular, the heroes speak in her voice: Larisa from The Bride, Katerina from The Storm, Murzavetskaya from The Wolves and Sheep, Vassa Zheleznova, Epanchina from The Idiot.
In addition, from the pen of Vera Pashennaya (her brainchild) came out books about theatrical activities. There were three of them: "My work on the role", "Art of the actress", "Steps of creativity", which are now the reference books of most theater actors.
