– Hello, Anna. How did your story in America begin? Where did you study and work before moving to Texas?
I arrived in Houston from Moscow on August 6th, 2007, and by the 8th, I started working at a company specializing in recruiting petroleum engineers. After the collapse of Yukos in 2005, I was transferred to TNK-BP, while my husband was sent to work at the American company Marathon Oil, which had offices in Russia and Ukraine. Since 2000, I have worked at the Heriot-Watt center in Tomsk, retraining petroleum engineers.
In 2004, I was transferred to Moscow to join the team of Yukos Vice President Joe Mack, and later to TNK-BP. In 2006, Marathon closed both of the aforementioned offices and relocated five engineers to Houston, including my husband. I moved with our son as soon as I found a job. I am an HR specialist, working in the fields of compensation and benefits, recruitment, and retraining. Retraining is my favorite part of HR, and I am currently working in this area at HMH, the successor of GE Oil & Gas / Baker Hughes.
– Please tell us about your passion for theater, the actors, and the staff of the Houston Anterpriza Theater.
I have been seriously passionate about theater since I was 15. At 17, I went to audition for the Moscow Art Theatre School-Studio, applying for Alla Pokrovskaya’s course. Alla knew my uncle, the composer Edison Denisov, and after I failed the audition, she called him and said, “You can’t let this happen, she needs to prepare.” Edison arranged for me to be coached by Alla Demidova, who was a close friend of his, so she could help me get ready to apply the following year. Proudly, I replied that I was already playing leading roles in several performances and went back to Tomsk.
Later, in Moscow, I didn’t have the opportunity to continue my passion, but after moving to Houston, I decided to return to my favorite activity. I brought together the best actors from different theaters into my troupe based on the principle of an anterpriza, meaning I would invite them for short projects, and if something didn’t work out, I could make changes. But we grew so attached to each other that we worked together on all the performances for the next 10 years. The core cast of the Houston Anterpriza consists of three actors besides me: Alexander Pominov, Vasily Yasenev, and Edita Rosenberg (recently replaced by Elena Kievskaya, and for the last production, Ksenia Pogudina was invited, as Elena took a creative leave). Edita, meanwhile, left the troupe by mutual agreement because her own busy concert schedule frequently conflicted with the theater’s.
This doesn’t mean that Anterpriza productions are limited to plays with only four characters. No, we work on plays with larger casts and find different creative solutions — one actor might play several roles, or we invite other actors to participate in the project. We also collaborate similarly with professional dancers, singers, and musicians when we stage musicals.
The main principle of our theater is to do everything professionally, so the audience receives the maximum aesthetic pleasure from what they see and hear. In my directing, I adhere to Tovstonogov’s method, where the actor fully reveals their talent through acting, not through the director’s “clever tricks.” Anterpriza’s performances can be watched multiple times, always revealing something new, like in Ryazanov’s films. We choose quality drama and music for our productions, making sure to resolve any copyright issues in advance. Sometimes composers write music specifically for our performances, inspired by our work. This happened, for example, with the play “Karlsson,” where the most famous children’s composer, Grigory Gladkov, wrote six songs after reading my poetry for the play.
– Tell us about the creative journey of the Houston Anterpriza Theater actors.
Speaking of professionalism, I’d like to add that we constantly develop our actors’ skills through diverse and interesting roles, as well as through direct retraining. Having already earned a director’s diploma, I recently completed advanced acting and directing courses at GITIS. I also trained our lead actor, Alexander Pominov, at these courses, funded by the theater. Vasily Yasenev has been included in IMDb’s professional film actor database after his role in the movie Dropa. We can enhance our professionalism not only through audience feedback, which is undoubtedly a priority for us, but also by comparing and improving our acting skills by regularly participating in festivals and competitions. We have won the Grand Prix for “Best Performance by Audience Vote” three years in a row at the Dolgoprudnenskaya Spring Festival with the plays Two for the Seesaw, Free Pair, and The Scarlet Flower. We are also laureates of the Silver Archer National Award for strengthening cultural ties in the USA.
– How is your relationship with your homeland?
After COVID, many festivals transitioned to an online format, so we continue to maintain cultural ties with Russia. Of course, after 2022, things became more challenging, as part of our audience left social media, but we continue creating for the sake of love and don’t break our creative connections. In 2014, we staged Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka with Ukrainian songs and dances, and in 2022, we began working on the production Edith Piaf, featuring musicians, singers, and dancers from Ukraine. We have already performed two shows to full houses and plan to continue.
– What do you like about Texas? When do you plan to perform in Austin?
My second degree is in international relations, and it’s important for me to foster understanding between people of different languages and cultural traditions. From this perspective, I find Houston very appealing. Here, an enormous number of people of different races, religions, and traditions coexist. Everyone lives in harmony and tries to help each other. There are countless festivals here, from Greek to Turkish, from German to Japanese and Italian. No one protests; instead, everyone has fun and enjoys the national dishes, souvenirs, and performances.
Our theater actively participates in international and Texas festivals. We were part of the International Film Festival with our film Interior – Bedroom and the well-known Texas theater festival “Fringe.” We participated there twice with Interior – Bedroom and Free Pair. This year, we were invited again but couldn’t attend due to preparations for our new premiere, All Paid For, an intellectual comedy about what is more important in life: money or love, truth or lies, which saturate modern reality. This play is very timely, as the world faces choices today.
Our theater plans to perform more in English. We already had a trial project with the play Trap, which ran several times to full houses and received excellent reviews from English-speaking audiences. This will help us gain more recognition and generate funds for our development. We have no sponsors besides our audience, who buy tickets, and the ticket revenue barely covers our current expenses for rent, costumes, sets, props, and advertising, even though all our members are volunteers. So we hope for your support, dear Austinites. We won’t disappoint you! You can visit our website at www.playtosee.com, watch videos, read articles, and see reviews. I hope this will be the beginning of a new journey into the world of theater! I wish you lots of love and unforgettable experiences from new encounters! See you soon!
The Denisova Anterpriza Theater presents the intellectual comedy All Paid For. Premiere in Austin on November 16, 2024. Lies have become the oxygen for many today! What rules the world? Love or money? We have our own answer and invite thoughtful, compassionate people to support us! Tickets, times, and location can be found at www.playtosee.com
Contact information:
Anna Shchelokova
Chief Director and Artistic Director of the Houston Anterpriza Theater
Denisov Anterpriza, 501 (c) (3)
Website: www.playtosee.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anna.shchelokova.7
Interviewed by: Dmitriy Ovcharenko
Publisher: Russian Cultural Center in Austin