Actress Lyudmila Porgina once shared a vivid memory from the theater, describing a moment when she kissed Oleg Yankovsky on stage to ease an embarrassing lapse and keep the scene flowing. Her account, tied to the caravan of stories the duo lived through, reveals a spontaneous exchange that bridged nerves and performance in a single breath. The kiss was not about romance but about keeping the performance honest and alive in front of the audience.
“Olezhka was a completely touching person,” Porgina later recalled. He sometimes forgot lines, a human hiccup in a demanding craft. She had the lines ready and memorized, ready to take the moment forward on stage. In a moment of panic when he whispered that he had forgotten everything, she remembered his plea and suggested a kiss as a quick, intimate way to reset the scene. The anecdote endures as a testament to their trust and instinct as actors.
In another thread of memory, the widow of Nikolai Karachentsov spoke about Yankovsky’s influence in the theatre world. It was Yankovsky who helped Inna Churikova gain entry to Lenkom, a turning point for the actress and for the theater itself. The story emphasizes how one performer can open doors for another and shape a company with vision and generosity.
Porgina herself recalled a day that embodied the theater’s blend of style and storytelling. She remembered walking down the aisle in striking jeans, a snug vest, and a small hat, a small snapshot of the era’s fashion as part of a broader memory of the Lenkom stage and its people. The theatre was a living gallery where performances, personalities, and moments collided into something memorable that echoed beyond the curtain call.
Oleg Yankovsky’s last appearance on the Lenkom stage was in February 2009, when he performed in the play Marriage. The year ended tragically with his passing on May 20, 2009, in a Moscow clinic at the age of 65. His legacy lived on in the memories of colleagues and the audiences who watched him bring depth and warmth to every role he touched.
Kirill Kyaro, a former actor, recently spoke about why he chose not to work with Nikita Mikhalkov, a remark that touches on the tangled web of collaborations, reputations, and professional boundaries within the Russian theatre and film community. The conversation adds another layer to the ongoing narrative of collaboration, conflict, and career decisions among prominent artists.