Yuri Kuklachyov, fonuder and director of the Moscow Cats Theatre, People’s Artist of Russia
In the early 1990s, an unusual theatre appeared in Moscow. Its actors are… cats, and it is called the Moscow Cats Theatre. The remarkable clown and animal-tamer Yuri Kuklachyov founded it. Today, People’s Artist of Russia Yuri Kuklachyov is the guest of our programme.
“The idea to set up my own theatre came to me fifteen years ago”, Yuri Kuklachyov said. “It was difficult at first. We only had fifteen cats at the beginning, and then we had twenty, thirty, and forty. New plays came along. Now there are 120 cats, and they perform all over the world. We’re happy that we’ve been able to open such a theatre, which popularises a unique Russian art and brings joy to people across the globe”.
It all started at the Moscow Circus, where Mr Kuklachyov did stunts as a clown. In 1976, he appeared with a pet cat, and that was a sensation, for people believed that cats did not respond to training. The clown came out in brightly coloured clothing with his cat Strelka sitting on his shoulder. The cat felt quite at ease, as if she had been performing for a good part of her life. A genuine actress she was! The début was a dazzling success! Yuri Kuklachyov’s stunts with his four-legged friends earned him nationwide fame and won the admiration of thousands across Russia.
“In Moscow, when I am out in the street, I hear repeated ‘Hellos!’ coming to me from all sides, as if I was everyone’s good acquaintance”, Yuri Kuklachyov goes on to say. “I was with my agent once, and he was surprised so many people knew me. When he remarked with surprise, ‘I didn’t know you had that many acquaintances!’ I responded, ‘the whole of Russia!’”
Yuri Kuklachyov has been a household name in Russia for years, and is widely known abroad. The Moscow Cats Theatre enjoys an invariably smashing success in different countries. In Canada, he became a favourite with both adults and kids as far back as 1976. “Canada will stay in my memory forever, for that was an unforgettable experience”, Yuri Kuklachyov recalled. “In 1976, we toured all over the country, visiting Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and Winnipeg. The reception was very friendly. I still receive a lot of touching letters from my Canadian fans; they remember me to this day. Many years later, I was touring North America and went on a day’s visit to Toronto. Our performances were all sell-outs with the houses packed to capacity. ‘Oh, that Kuklachyov!’ said the Canadians who came to see my performance, and everyone seemed to be pleased”.
Among Mr Kuklachyov’s admirers was the Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. “Mr Trudeau attended the premiere in Ottawa, after which he invited me to his place”, Yuri Kuklachyov said. “That was something unheard of… a clown invited by the Prime Minister to visit him in his home. We visited his villa, and he invited my wife and me to lunch. Everything went off well. Prime-Minister Trudeau is no longer living, but I am trying to establish contact with his children. Our theatre’s PR manager is helping me. We will be sure to find them. They were little kids then, and sat on my knees. I still keep a photo of us together, so we’ll have a lot to talk about and recall”.
For Yuri Kuklachyov, his Cats Theatre is a major achievement of his life. “The theatre gives meaning to my life”, he said. That is why his working day in the theatre lasts from early morning to late at night. Yuri’s wife Elena works with him, and his elder son, Dmitri, followed his father’s example. Dmitri is a talented actor, director, and animal-tamer. In a word, there is a dynasty of Kuklachyovs, unique in its own way. Those four-legged darlings… his cats… have long become for Yuri Kuklachyov not only devoted friends, but also members of his family.
My Beloved Cats is the title of one of the books written by Yuri Kuklachyov. Here is what the famous clown said about his pets. “I love all the cats I’ve worked with, but some left a clear and indelible trace in my memory. Strelka was the first, then Kesha, a remarkable tomcat, so gifted that he appeared in films, and was able to play a part from a blank sheet, without rehearsing it. Kesha only loved and recognised me. When I was around, he was all gentle and sweet, but when I wasn’t, he missed me, and became so upset that he could hurt someone with his claws”.
Finding a clue to each of the 120 four-legged performers is not easy. However, Yuri Kuklachyov copes with that task brilliantly. His remarkable talent has earned many foreign prizes and awards, among them “The Golden Crown”, given to him in Canada for his achievements in animal training, and “The Golden Oscar” viewers’ sympathy prize he was awarded in Japan. Yuri Kuklachyov recalled his tour of the Country of the Rising Sun. “When the performance was over, I looked from behind the scenes, and I saw the audience crying in their seats. Strange, I thought, no one is leaving, and everyone is crying. I was shocked. It cannot be that I hurt their feelings. I ran backstage and asked the manager why the people were crying. He replied, ‘Yuri, we are so sentimental. I dropped a tear or two myself. We all felt the fairy tale was over, and it was time to go back to the bustle of everyday life’. People saw us as a close friend with whom it would be such a wrench to part”.
How do Yuri Kuklachyov’s best stunts appear? Many of them are “invented” by cats themselves. “I am only an observer”, Yuri said, “who allows them to do whatever they like”. One of Kuklachyov’s favourite numbers appeared thanks to his much beloved cat Strelka. “I came home, and discovered that Strelka was nowhere to be found”, Yuri Kuklachyov recalled. “I looked in the kitchen, and found her sleeping in a saucepan. I took her out of the saucepan, but she climbed back. I took her out of the saucepan again, and she climbed back again. That inspired a new number, and the title for it, “The Cat and the Cook”, was taken from one of the fables by the outstanding Russian storyteller Ivan Krylov. We’ve been all over the world with this number, and everywhere it was received with rapturous applause, in Japan, in Canada, everywhere we went”.
“From Russia with Love and Kindness” was how many New York newspapers wrote of the Cats Theatre. Mr Kuklachyov and his four-legged company have been on tour of the United States a number of times, and have won the hearts of many Americans. Today, the Moscow Cats Theatre has a branch in Manhattan, so the Russian cats now perform on Broadway with great success. Yuri Kuklachyov is a multi-faceted actor. He works in every imaginable genre and is superb as a juggler, acrobat, stuntman, magician, and animal-tamer, even though he himself prefers being called “the cat teacher”. He also writes books for children and appears in films. “I put every bit of my soul in the job I’m doing”, Mr Kuklachyov said. “It’s never bothered me what I am in the first place, a clown, an actor, or an animal-tamer. I’m just Kuklachyov, and… that’s it”.
3 February 2006
Olga Troshina
People of Uncommon Destiny
Voice of Russia World Service
