Russia's Theatrical Identity Crisis

Noah Birksted-Breen writes in 'The Guardian' about Russia's infighting over Gogol's national identity, and suggests instead of fighting over the who/what/where with the Ukraine, it should instead start promoting some of its virtually unknown classical theatre abroad, such as works by Platonov, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Andreyev and Mayakovsky.  Read full commentary here.   

Chekhov’s White Dacha in Disarray

Due to his diagnosis of tuberculosis in 1899, Chekhov left Melikhovo (in southern Russia) for the warmer climes of Yalta (in the Ukraine). The playwright had a distinctive house, known as the ‘White Dacha’ designed for him by Leo Shapovalov. Chekhov stayed in the house until 1904, where he wrote two of his most famous plays, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. The dacha became a museum in 1921 and contains many of Chekhov’s belongings. Unfortunately today the house is in shambles. The heating was turned off in 2005, and due to the harsh winters by the sea, mold has set in and the roof is leaking. Scholar and translator, Dr. Rosamund Bartlett, has started the Yalta Chekhov campaign to save the dacha, and has already won the support of Tom Stoppard, Michael Frayn, Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes. The campaign aims to raise enough money to return the dacha to the condition in which Chekhov left it. The aim of the Yalta Chekhov campaign is to have restoration work complete by the 150th anniversary of Chekhov's birth, in January 2010. Why won’t the Russian or Ukrainian governments cover the expenses? As always, politics. The Russians don’t want to pay for something that’s in the Ukraine and the Ukrainians don’t want to pay for something that promotes a Russian writer. Read more about it here in a ‘Guardian’ article.

Repertory Self-Isolation

This is the third article in a series written by The Belarus Free Theatre on contemporary theatre in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. You can find the first two articles linked in our March 21, 2008 post. Here’s a quick excerpt.

“If you look carefully through the repertoires of the Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian theatres, there is one conclusion you may come to: theatres in these countries stand outside the global theatre space – and maybe even strive for self-isolation. An entire complex of theatrical problems is to blame.

Once, a famous Moscow critic, who came to the Belarusian capital to hold a seminar, asked “What is on at Minsk theatres?”. I answered, “You probably won’t have heard of many of the playwrights…”. “I know every playwright – I read three or four plays a day.” When the critic saw the program of one of the theatres, he stared at it, perplexed, for a couple of minutes and after a pause asked, “Who are these writers?!”.

Belarus Free Theatre

This is the first and second article in a three part series written for IETM by the Belarus Free Theatre. It serves as an introduction to the contemporary performing arts scene in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

[On a personal note, I am happy to know Natalia Kolyada and Nikolai Khalezin, and had the unique pleasure of, after three years over the internet, finally meeting them in person while they were here in NYC for the 'Under the Radar Festival'. The Internationalists are honored to consider them, and for them to consider us, theatrical associates. - DH]