THEATRE FESTIVAL

School. Studio. Workshop

#sswfest

General informational sponsors:

School. Studio. Workshop Festival is dedicated to the memory of Dmitry Vladimirovich Brusnikin, a wonderful actor and director, the head of an acting studio at the Moscow Art Theatre School and artistic director of the Praktika Theatre.

Festival Program:

Opening Ceremony
4 December 2018 7:00 PM

A. Vampilov
Last Summer in Chulimsk

The St. Petersburg Masterskaya Theatre

(1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 18+

5 December 4:00 PM

A Chat with Yevgeny Kamenkovich

Artistic Director of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre

The Actor's House (86 Nevsky Prospekt) 16+

6 December 7:00 PM

P. Gladilin
Light Breathing

Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre (Moscow)

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 18+

7 December 7:30 PM

F. Kafka
The Trial

Parafraz Theatre (Glazov)

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 16+

8 December 7:30 PM

W. Shakespeare
Richard III

A monoplay with Emily Carding (UK)

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 12+

8 December 7:00 PM

Premiere. N. Gogol
The Government Inspector

Subbota Theatre (St. Petersburg)

(30 Zvenigorodskaya Ulitsa) 16+

9 December 7:30 PM

Alfian bin Sa'at
The Optic Trilogy

A Production by Alexander Nordström (Italy)

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 18+

9 December 7:00 PM

A. and V. Strugatsky
Roadside Picnic

The St. Petersburg City Theatre

(46 Liteiny Prospekt) 12+

10 December 7:00 PM

F. M. Dostoyevsky
The Idiot

At the Bridge Theatre (Perm)

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 12+

11 December 7:00 PM

H. C. Andersen
Daddy's Always Right

Credo Theatre (Bulgaria)

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 16+

11 December 7:00 PM

W. Shakespeare
Hamlet. Screen

Bolshoi Puppet Theatre (St. Petersburg)

(10-12 Ulitsa Nekrasova) 18+

12 December 6:00 PM
9:00 PM

After Chekhov. Three Sisters

Julyensemble (Viktor Ryzhakov's Studio, Moscow)

Gaza Palace of Culture (72 Prospekt Stachek) 18+

13 December 7:00 PM

D. Danilov
The Man from Podolsk Seryozha is Very Dumb

Praktika Theatre and Brusnikin Workshop (Moscow)

Main and Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 16+

13 December 7:00 PM

A. Chekhov
The Cherry Orchard

Nebolshoi Drama Theatre (St. Petersburg)

(6 Prospekt KIMa) 16+

14 December 7:00 PM

D. Danilov
The Man from Podolsk Seryozha is Very Dumb

Praktika Theatre and Brusnikin Workshop (Moscow)

Main and Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 16+

14 December 7:00 PM

V. Shukshin
Typical Weirdos

Youth Theatre on the Fontanka (St. Petersburg)

(114 Fontanka River Embankment) 16+

15 December
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
6:00 PM

Family Bakery

Taste Theatre (Moscow)

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre (1 Ulitsa Narodnaya) 6+

The St. Petersburg Masterskaya Theatre
Last Summer in Chulimsk

By Alexander Vampilov. A drama in two acts
Yet another play by Alexander Vampilov has made its way into the Masterskaya's repertoire. The first generation made waves with The Elder Son, and now the third generation is entering the fray with Last Summer in Chulimsk. A provincial story about what people are prepared to give for their happiness, and about how far betrayal can go, especial if you betray yourself. About the power and powerlessness of faith, hope and love. About a stubborn girl who saved the soul of her beloved.

4 December 2018 7:00 PM

The St. Petersburg Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 18+

A Chat with Yevgeny Kamenkovich,

Artistic Director of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre

5 December 4:00 PM

The Actor's House, 86 Nevsky Prospekt 16+

Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre (Moscow)
Light Breathing

A situational tragedy based on Petr Gladilin's play Death under a Sail. A very important concept for Petr Gladilin's characters is self-identification in our contemporary world moving ever-closer to anonymity. In Light Breathing, the protagonist identifies himself and his relationship to the world by elevating the principle of 'non-smoking' to an absolute. Instead of the biblical 'Thou shalt not kill' or 'Thou shalt not steal,' the protagonist upholds the commandment 'Thou shalt not smoke.' He builds his life and his relationships to other people around this principle, dividing everyone into righteous and wrong-doers and ultimately bringing about his own Judgment Day. Light Breathing is a meditation on the essence of violence; about whether we can reject violent methods in our attempt to enact good deeds. After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions....

6 December 7:00 PM

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 18+

Parafraz Theatre (Glazov)
The Trial

A tragedy based on Franz Kafka's novel.
Damir Salimzyanov's production is the final installment in Glazov's Parafraz Theatre's 'Escape Trilogy.' But if the first two installments had to do with where people escape to from reality, The Trial concerns a reality that spurs people into trying to escape from themselves. A person who refuses to accept the absurd reality as normal has no other choice but to escape from it. Traveling around Franz Kafka's novel, the Parafraz Theatre undertakes a step-by-step investigation of how a person reaches the realization of the need to escape or leave.

7 December 7:30 PM

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 16+

Richard III
A one-woman show with Emily Carding (UK) based on the tragedy by W. Shakespeare

In director Kolburn Bjort Sigfusdottir's interpretation, William Shakespeare's tragedy Richard III becomes a one-woman show enacted by the actress Emily Carding. Here Richard III is an attractive woman in a man's suit, and the rest of the parts in Shakespeare's play will be taken by the audience: the fourth wall will be destroyed utterly. Let King Richard entertain you… but will you survive?

8 December 7:30 PM

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 12+

Subbota Theatre (St. Petersburg)
The Government Inspector

An unwitting reading of N. V. Gogol.
The classic 19th-century comedy and the unforgiving reality of 20th-century Russia. What do they have in common? The Subbota Theatre has transferred Gogol's comedy to the present day in order to answer a few simple questions that have not lost their relevance since Gogol's day. What are we to do with ourselves? How can we overcome ourselves? Not simply to love ourselves as we are, 'black' (in Gogol's words), but to overcome the Russian absurd and make life better and more meaningful. And is that even possible in our society, inclined as it is toward anarchy and the blurring of all boundaries? "Rus, where are you headed?" - Gogol's eternal question - sounds to us today like an ominous warning.

8 December 7:00 PM

Subbota Theatre, 30 Zvenigorodskaya Ulitsa 16+

A Production by Alexander Nordström (Italy)
The Optic Trilogy

Based on the play by Alfian bin Sa'at.
Alexander Nordström, a student of G. A. Tovstonogov and a director whose productions have been staged on many stages worldwide, directed this production with two Italian actors: Alessio Sica and Margherita Romeo. The stage and costume design in Nordström's production are deliberately austere: what stands out in his production are the actors, the play's text and the characters' interaction. The Optic Trilogy is a production about the love between a man and a woman. Such productions are vital in our age of cynicism and indifference, when faith in true love seems to have completely disappeared.
The festival will also contain a master class based on the play with Italian and Russian actors. It will be led by the production's director and artistic director of N-Studio, Alexander Nordström.

9 December 7:30 PM

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 18+

The St. Petersburg City Theatre
Roadside Picnic

The first of a two-part series based on works by the Strugatsky brothers.
A philosophical and fantasy action play with a brief interval.
The basis of the production is the tale of Redrick Shuhart, a stalker who hunts after extraterrestrial artefacts. The story of how a person who is trying to remain human ceases to be one is played out in a contemporary, dynamic and coarse style. Some suspect this to be the treacherous work of aliens, while others see it as divine will, but everyone has their own truth. Space and time intertwine in the production, while the stalker passes through them on his final journey to the Golden Sphere.

9 December 7:00 PM

The St. Petersburg City Theatre, 46 Liteiny Prospekt 12+

At the Bridge Theatre (Perm)
The Idiot

An apparition based on the novel by F. M. Dostoyevsky
The At the Bridge Theatre is a mystical theatre, and no mystical theatre can pass Dostoyevsky's mysticism by. This production, after his novel The Idiot, mesmerizes audiences and pulls them into its magical aura like the Devil's whirlpool. The infernal Nastasya Filippovna does something inscrutable and heart-rending. All of the plot twists are already known to us, but this does nothing to assuage the tension that arises from this game of passions and symbols. Duality is characteristic of Dostoyevsky, but it is the very essence of The Idiot - here everything is two-faced and in a state of conflict.

10 December 7:00 PM

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 12+

Credo Theatre (Bulgaria)
Daddy's Always Right

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale What the Old Man Does is Always Right
This story, set among blinding snowdrifts and shining lumps of ice, is about how important it is to value the simple things in life. It is a story about an old man and an old woman, and it reminds us that only love can make our lives genuinely wonderful. It is a story about a market in which a kiss is worth more than gold, and where love is the most precious commodity. It is a story about the importance of having someone you can fully trust and who will always accept you for who you are.

11 December 7:00 PM

Main Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 16+

Bolshoi Puppet Theatre (St. Petersburg)
Hamlet. Screen

Based on the tragedy by William Shakespeare.
Hamlet. Screen is a production dramaturgically based on Hamletones - short, often anecdotal stories taken from the plot of Shakespeare's great tragedy and devised by the production's very participants. The production's authors create their own mythological space. The production's genre can be defined by the term 'postpunkpuppetshow.'

11 December 7:00 PM

Bolshoi Puppet Theatre, 10-12 Ulitsa Nekrasova 18+

Julyensemble (Moscow)
After Chekhov. Three Sisters

A. Chekhov's super-classic play is taken on by Viktor Ryzhakov, director at the Moscow Art Theatre, Bolshoi Drama Theatre and several other important theatres throughout Russia and Europe, professor of the Moscow Art Theatre School and a leader and apologist of contemporary theatre who has worked in a diverse range of genres. This is one of the cases in which contemporary theatre looks for a foothold in the classics of the past. The revival of the Moscow Art Theatre's studio tradition and continuity of its actors and directors is a key task. Three Sisters first appeared on the Moscow Art Theatre's stage in 1901, and Nemirovich-Danchenko revived the play in 1940. Viktor Ryzhakov's project is to replicated Nemirovich's production but in the 21st century, played by graduates of that very same Moscow Art Theatre school. This is the class of 2016, essentially the Moscow Art Theatre's ninth studio.

12 December 6:00 PM, 9:00 PM

Gaza Palace of Culture, 72 Prospekt Stachek 18+

Nebolshoi Drama Theatre (St. Petersburg)
The Cherry Orchard

Based on A. Chekhov's play.
The Cherry Orchard is the third Chekhov play in the repertoire of Lev Erenburg's theatre, which continues to study human relationships on the basis of the classics. The production clearly demonstrates the principle of a studio theatre's operation: it features actors from four generations of Erenburg's students, including six graduates from 2017 who have joined the company. The production was created in the NDT's signature tragicomic genre. Each character in this story suffers from a profound psychological trauma that they all try to run from and hide. It would appear that everything is nearly fine and that their problems can be solved, but the mixed-up characters choose to act against themselves, as though testing the universe's patience. All eyes are on Ranevskaya - mother, sister, noblewoman - and each of them hopes that she will free them of their troubles… But who will free her from hers?

13 December 7:00 PM

Nebolshoi Drama Theatre, 6 Prospekt KIMa 16+

Praktika Theatre and Brusnikin Workshop (Moscow)
The Man from Podolsk. Seryozha is Very Dumb

A psychological installation on a paradoxical story about a modern man.
The director Marina Brusnikina and scenographer Savva Savelev's production of two of Dmitry Danilov's plays lies at the point at which theatre and contemporary art intersect - even as they approach the theatre the audience already find themselves in a total installation, simultaneously viewers and objects being viewed. Here everyone has a chance to receive a unique experience and watch their own separate production: both plays will run concurrently on two stages, so the order in which they are viewed will affect how they are perceived.
One ticket for two shows on two stages. If you purchase a ticket for the main stage, the second production will take place on the small stage and vice versa. Both shows start at 7 PM.

13, 14 December 7:00 PM

Main and Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 16+

Youth Theatre on the Fontanka (St. Petersburg)
Typical Weirdos

Etudes on the lovely people in Vasily Shukshin's short stories.
Why is it that today we're so in want of these characters, so bizarre in their honesty? Semyon Spivak, the artistic director of the Youth Theatre on the Fontanka, is certain that this internet age, this age of a constant flow of information crashing down on people and causing them to rearrange their values, directly threatens human interaction. As a result, we long for the warmth that comes from honest, direct dealings with other people more and more. Shukshin's characters are so genuine, so desperate and hot-tempered in their mindless love for live and so unsparing of their emotions that they can provoke a reciprocal burst of feeling in us and impart their authentic wisdom, capable of making us wish for a purer worldview and impartial attitude towards it.

14 December 7:00 PM

Youth Theatre on the Fontanka, 114 Fontanka River Embankment 16+

Taste Theatre (Resident of the Praktika Theatre, Moscow)
Family Bakery

A trip to Paris for the whole family.
This is a show about traditions carefully passed on down generations. Family Bakery is a trip to Paris, where the paintings of Montmartre artists, the romantic sounds of an accordion and the aroma of freshly-baked bread with a golden crust are all around. You will find yourselves in the authentic French bakery of Monsieur Jan-Jule-Jacque. To be honest, patient, attentive and do everything with love are the wise baker's most important life lessons. He knows the secret of genuine happiness and he'll happily share it with the audience and invite them to become part of an interesting story.
Family Bakery is a show for the whole family that will warm the hearts of adults of all ages and their children aged 6 and up. The show's creators promise that everyone will take away their own peace of happiness and a fragrant bun.

15 December, 2:00 PM, 3:00 PM, 6:00 PM

Small Stage of the Masterskaya Theatre, 1 Ulitsa Narodnaya 6+

The International School. Theatre. Workshop Festival will open on 4 December with the play Last Summer in Chulimsk. The festival's main objective is to bring together a general picture of school-theatres, of theatres that practice an uninterrupted process of learning and creative growth, into a single playbill. We decided to invite those theatres with whom we share a spiritual affinity and creative faith, those that adhere to studio principles.

The first School. Studio. Workshop Festival, which successfully took place last year, was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Grigory Kozlov's acting and directing studio. This second festival is dedicated to the memory of Dmitry Vladimirovich Brusnikin, a wonderful actor and director, the head of an acting studio at the Moscow Art Theatre School and artistic director of the Praktika Theatre, who passed away last summer. Dmitry Brusnikin's students participated in last year's festival with their productions Transsib and Culmination. This year our festival will close with the Dmitry Brusnikin Workshop and Praktika Theatre's joint production The Man from Podolsk. Seryozha is Very Dumb.

The festival program also includes productions by the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre (Moscow), Julyensemble (Meyerhold Center, Moscow), At the Bridge Theatre (Perm), Parafraz (Glazov), Credo (Bulgaria), Brite Theatre (UK), Bolshoi Puppet Theatre, City Theatre, Youth Theatre on the Fontanka, Nebolshoi Drama Theatre and Subbota.

The program is not limited to performances. Just like last year, staged readings of contemporary plays will take place on the Masterskaya's Small Stage, and on 5 December in the Actor's House there will be a chat with one of the most interesting theatre directors in Russia today, the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre's artistic director Yevgeny Kamenkovich!

In short, there are a lot of interesting things ahead! See you at the festival!

Download the festival booklet (pdf)

Festival Participants

Festival Organizers: