Moscow is a good place for the Third International Theatre Olympiad. Carnival processions no longer look out of place on the post-Soviet streets; after a slump in the 1990s, there is new life in theatre, as in all the arts in Moscow.
The classics continue to rule the stage-they provide support for an otherwise shaky sense of identity in Russia today. But they are served with a twist. Mikhail Zakharov, a leading director and veteran of Soviet theatre, has learnt that people want to be entertained. His production of Mistifikatsiya, adapted from Gogol’s Dead Souls, is more like a circus than a staging of a tragic tale; the audience gasp with delight as set upon elaborate set is wheeled on to the stage, and clap when a white dog bounds on, barking. Disapproving babushkas leave when a witch flies over the stage with breasts bared. The show is a success: touts sell tickets for as much as 750 roubles-a month’s pay for an actor.
“The theatre-space has to vibrate more powerfully than the atmosphere on the street… In Russia reality itself is dramatic, and therefore most texts seem limp and unremarkable on the stage,” says Vladimir Mirzoev, a younger director. He often chooses to direct classics and his production of Twelfth Night at the Stanislavskii Theatre, where he is artistic director, resonates with the almost hysterical energy of his troupe.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
