SOVIET INSIGHT : ADVISER FOR REPERTORY SETS TONE

When South Coast Repertory began staging “The Highest Standard of Living” several weeks ago, one priority was to give the actors insight into Soviet life and ensure that they delivered their Russian lines impeccably.

About half of Keith Reddin’s idiosyncratic, dream-like play, running through Oct. 12, is set in the Soviet Union, and director David Emmes knew authenticity was crucial for the drama to work. He eventually turned to Raissa Danilov, a Los Angeles actress who emigrated from the Soviet Union nine years ago after a successful career in that country’s state-run film industry.

Danilov, 31, had auditioned for the role of Ludmilla, the Soviet doctor who befriends and eventually falls in love with “Living’s” protagonist, Bob, an American exchange student visiting Russia. Danilov didn’t win the part, but Emmes, learning of her background, realized that she would be ideal as the consultant.

“I really wanted to do the Ludmilla role because it is so good, but I was lucky that my (Russian) experiences were useful,” Danilov recalled. “I was fortunate to work (on the production) because the play is so interesting and the cast is excellent.”

The lissome Danilov attended rehearsals and helped the actors with the Russian dialogue that makes up a fair amount of the first act. She had to ensure that the inflections and pacing accurately reflected the speech patterns of her native country.

Perhaps more importantly, Danilov offered the cast clues on the mannerisms and basic personality of Russians, which helped them develop more genuine portrayals. The play, which underscores both the cultural differences and political similarities of the United States and the Soviet Union, initially gains much of its momentum from Bob’s clumsy (and unsettling) interactions with the Russians he encounters.

But Reddin’s characters become more than peculiar foreigners to Bob--most seem to be KGB-linked and are just a little too suspicious of him. The result is that Bob, a naive, congenial fellow, is soon confronted by an often grim and frightening world that he isn’t prepared for.

Danilov said the play’s action, although exaggerated for effect, correctly represents certain qualities of Soviet life. The government is repressive and highly organized, and the people, perhaps taking a cue from their leaders and the powerful propaganda machine, tend to be mistrustful of outsiders. Reddin’s characters capture that feeling, she said.

“The Russian people tend to be wary because the government is so wary,” she explained. “This makes for people who don’t always accept (outsiders) readily, for people who may take a while before they smile at you. The government creates that kind of awareness (and) Russians can’t help but be affected.”

There were little details she also brought to the production: Danilov made sure that the lettering in the Russian signs was accurate, that the costumes were realistic, and that the hospital staff in one scene wore the right colors. It seems there are no candy stripers in the Soviet Union.

“You see, in America you can find hospital (workers) wearing uniforms of pink, blue, even other colors, but in Russia it is only white, no matter where you go or what your position,” Danilov said.

Although the play has received mixed reviews, most critics agree that Reddin has freshly described the suppression and paranoia that many believe to be routine in the Soviet Union. But Reddin doesn’t only denounce Russia--the American government, the other half of the superpowers equation, is also eager to use the CIA to control Bob when he returns home.

Danilov said that she found this balanced view intriguing “and probably realistic on some levels” but added that it is difficult for her to accept the notion that the countries are very similar on this point.

“Americans just have so much more freedom here on so many levels (that) it is hard for me to say they are so alike,” she said. “People in Russia are frightened to express themselves, frightened to create. I see less of that here.”

She saw much of the government’s influence in her native country. As an actress with the state-run Lenfilm Studio since she was 17, Danilov starred in several films and commercials, many laced with propaganda. Everything had to pass official censors.

“There is no freedom of speech on stage, everything was written for us, and we couldn’t (stray) from it,” she remembered. “That became terrible to me (as an artist), and I needed to rebel against the system.”

As the frustrations grew, Danilov and her former husband, a director with Lenfilm, sought to emigrate. They were initially barred, but after a year of wrangling with authorities, they were finally allowed to leave. The couple arrived in New York in 1977. They both settled in Los Angeles two years later when he took a job with a film studio.

She concedes that living in the United States can be a struggle, particularly for an actress trying to find work in Hollywood. But she adds that the rewards outweigh the troubles, especially when she looks to her past.