“Gostiny Dvor” at the Bolshoi
Wooden Costumes by FEDYA&HAIK for the Opera “Gostiny Dvor” at the Bolshoi Theatre
In 2019, artists Haik Simonyan and Fyodor Dodonov, working under the brand FEDYA&HAIK, took part in preparing an unusual production for the Bolshoi Theatre — Vasily Pashkevich’s comic opera “Gostiny Dvor” (The Trading Courtyard) based on a libretto by Mikhail Matinsky.
The premiere was scheduled for November 29, 2019, at the Pokrovsky Chamber Stage. The music director and conductor was Philipp Chizhevsky, while Gleb Cherepanov served as the stage director and author of the new libretto edition. The scenography was created by Viktor Shilkhrot, and the costumes were designed by costume designer Irena Belousova.
Haik Simonyan and Fyodor Dodonov were tasked with a special objective: to create wooden costumes, headwear, jewelry, and props for the show, which were meant to become an integral part of the fantastical world envisioned by the directors.
A World Where Everything Is Made of Wood
The creators of the production abandoned a literal reproduction of the historical era. The action was shifted to a conditional shopping center named “Gostiny Dvor” (The Trading Courtyard) — a space simultaneously evoking the past, present, and a possible future.
Stage director Gleb Cherepanov explained the concept of the production as follows:
“This is not 2019, but a certain fictional world made entirely of wood. All the items there are made of wood — gadgets, computers, TVs.”
Thus, wood became not merely a material for individual details, but the foundation of the opera’s entire artistic reality.
In this world, FEDYA&HAIK’s work held a special place. Haik Simonyan and Fyodor Dodonov had to turn a heavy and rigid natural material into stage items that had to look expressive, retain recognizable traditional forms, and yet remain functional for the performers to use.
From Carved Kokoshniks to Wooden Ties
For the characters of the opera, the FEDYA&HAIK workshop produced a whole series of unusual pieces.
Among them were carved wooden kokoshniks with intricate fretwork, combs, and bow ties decorated with traditional ornaments. These elements bridged motifs of Russian folk costume with the deliberately fantastical aesthetics of the production.
For Solomonida, large wooden flowers were created to be placed on her chest, becoming a striking element of her stage look.
The character Khvalimov received a wooden bowler hat and tie, while for Kryuchkodey, the artisans crafted a wooden briefcase and bow tie.
The Widow’s handbag, designed in the shape of a matryoshka doll, was an especially unusual prop. It was not just a decorative object: the matryoshka opened up so small items could be stored inside.
All these details were meant to support the overall concept of the show — a recognizable Russian world transformed into a whimsical wooden reality.
Khavronya’s Collapsible Wooden Dress
The most complex and inventive part of FEDYA&HAIK’s work was Khavronya’s wedding dress.
The costume was made entirely of wood and featured a collapsible skirt, the design of which resembled Soviet collapsible cups. This solution allowed the wooden components to fold down relatively compactly.
According to Haik Simonyan, the workshop operated based on sketches by Irena Belousova, but Haik and Fyodor engineered the construction of the dress themselves:
“Our workshop worked based on sketches by Irena Belousova. At the same time, we came up with the wooden dress design ourselves — so that it could fold up and be easily transported.”
Thus, a practical task became part of the artistic solution. The dress not only had to match the costume designer’s vision, but also had to fold, be transported, and be assembled without damaging the complex wooden structure.
In addition to the wedding dress, the craftsmen created a wooden muff with intricate fretwork for Khavronya.
Working on this look required FEDYA&HAIK to combine several disciplines at once: costume design, engineering, woodworking, and an understanding of stage performance specifics. Unlike a regular decorative object, a stage costume must account for the performer’s movements, scene changes, storage, and transportation.
Work Behind the Scenes
The premiere of “The Trading Courtyard” was set for November 29, 2019. However, two days before the scheduled date, the Bolshoi Theatre announced the postponement of the production. In an official statement, the reason cited was the need to creatively refine the performance. The shows scheduled for November 29 and 30, as well as December 1, were canceled, with the theatre promising to announce a new date later.
Shortly thereafter, the pandemic began, followed by prolonged restrictions on theatre operations. As a result, the wooden costumes and props created by Haik Simonyan and Fyodor Dodonov were never presented to the audience in the planned production.
Nevertheless, the work on “The Trading Courtyard” became an important milestone in FEDYA&HAIK’s creative history. The project demonstrated the masters’ ability to work not only with clothing and stage imagery, but also with complex structures at the intersection of theatrical costume, sculpture, and stage props.
The carved kokoshniks, wooden jewelry, briefcases, headwear, and especially Khavronya’s collapsible wedding dress created an independent fantastical world — the very world where the past, present, and possible future were meant to meet among objects made entirely of wood.
Production Team
Composer: Vasily Pashkevich
Libretto: Mikhail Matinsky
Music Director and Conductor: Philipp Chizhevsky
Stage Director and Libretto Editor: Gleb Cherepanov
Set Designer: Viktor Shilkhrot
Costume Designer: Irena Belousova
Wooden Costumes and Props Creation: Haik Simonyan and Fyodor Dodonov, FEDYA&HAIK
Lighting Designer: Evgeny Vinogradov
Chorus Masters: Alexander Rybnov and Pavel Suchkov
Choreographer: Elizaveta Muravyova