Drama & Theater with John Freedman​

General Articles on Russian Drama and Theater

• Verity Healey reports for HowlRound on a four-day conference on contemporary Russian theater and drama that was held in January 2016 at the Frontline Club in London. It included staged readings of plays by Yelena Isayeva, Yaroslava Pulinovich, Mikhail Kaluzhsky and Mikhail Durnenkov. 

• Anna Aizman writes about conflict and repression in contemporary Russian theater and culture in general for NiteNEWS, April 2015.

• Pavel Rudnev publishes "Let's Talk About Faith," a piece about political theater in Russia today for the nachtkritik.de website, July 2014. 

• Julia Bumke writes about what the Gogol Center in Moscow might offer American theater practitioners on the TCG website in June 2014.

• Noah Birksted-Breen writes a column about the soon-to-be-installed law against obscenities in Russian performing arts. 

• Pavel Rudnev writes about the influence of the internet on theater discourse in Russia in the IATC webjournal, Feb., 2014. 

• Performing Violence is a book by Birgit Beumers and Mark Lipovetsky that is not available for free, of course. But as the first book on contemporary Russian drama, it deserves mention here. It can be ordered from University of Chicago.

• Moscow Theatres for Young People: A Cultural History of Ideological Coercion and Artisic Innovation, 1917-2000 is a book by Manon van de Water published by Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History.

• Graham Schmidt writes about his visit to Moscow in September 2012, including trips to Teatr.doc and the Lyubimovka festival that allowed him to encounter the work of Mikhail Ugarov, Yelena Gremina, Maksym Kurochkin, Alexander Arkhipov and many others. 

• Rob Weinert-Kendt writes an overview of the 2012 Golden Mask/Russian Case festivals in Moscow for American Theatre. Features comments about Sasha Denisova and Yury Muravitsky's Light My Fire for Teatr.doc, Yury Butusov's The Seagull at the Satirikon, Yelena Gremina's Two in Your House and other shows. American Theatre (July/August 2012), 52-56. Text also available in the Documents section on this site.  

• A brief feature on a Russian production playing in Edinburgh - Nostalgia for Reality (or, perhaps, Nostalgia for the Present), produced by SSSR Productions and directed by Alexei Rubinstein. 

• Go here to read a review of Crush, a film consisting of several shorts directed by various Russian directors and scripted by such writers as Maksym Kurochkin, Ivan Ugarov, Ivan Vyrypaev and others.

• Go here to read a piece about the controversial Russian TV-series School, directed by Valeria Gai-Germanika. It was scripted by many of the top new Russian playwrights, including Natalya Vorozhbyt, Vyacheslav Durnenkov, Yury Klavdiev and others, although this piece does not discuss their contribution. Go here for part two of the article.  

• Go here to read Marina Davydova's overview of contemporary Russian theater and drama.

• Go here to read a piece by Natalya Antonova about perceptions of "art and dirty language" in new plays by Russian writers, including quotes from Maksym Kurochkin, Mikhail Ugarov, Marat Gatsalov and others. 

• Go here to read a piece on the so-called "new Russian drama" phenomenon.

• Go here to read Sally McGrane's piece in the New York Times on the opening of the new Fomenko Workshop stages in Moscow in 2008. This is mostly about the architecture and the event of the opening, but also provides some information about the popular theater.

• Nina Karpova surveys contemporary Russian theater in the so-called provinces: "My Vast Country: Russia's Regional Theaters in Transition," Theater, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2006): 97-107.

• Marina Dmitrievskaya surveys contemporary theater in St. Petersburg: "St. Petersburg's New Wave," Theater, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2006): 109-115.

• Tom Sellar publishes a photo-gallery of productions by St. Petersburg's AKhE Theater: "AKHE Theater Portfolio,"  Theater, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2006): 116-129.

• Tom Sellar and Yana Ross interview up-and-coming Russian directors Dmitry Chernyakov, Nina Chusova, Yelena Gremina, Mindaugas Karbauskis, Viktor Ryzhakov and Kirill Serebrennikov: "Art is Not for Fear: Russia's New Directors in Conversation," Theater, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2006): 131-149.

• Go here to read a piece in the Washington Post about a theater refusing to be censored in Kamchatka. I can't fail to add that this is an example of the kind of journalism I abhor. The author's condescension ("dismal small city") is palpable from the beginning. The author doesn't bother to name the theater under discussion - the Kamchatka Drama Theater. Moreover, would any western journalist waste his/her time to write about serious achievements or developments in art? Rarely. But a whiff of censorship, of which there is only a very little here, gets a huge word count in a DC paper. Nonetheless, the story is of interest, so I'm posting it.

• Yana Ross overviews new drama in "Russia's New Drama from Togliatti to Moscow," Theater, Vol. 36, No. 1: 26-43. 

• Director Michael Boyd writes about his interest in, and experience with, Russian theater, including comments about Anatoly Efros, the Durnenkov brothers, Natalya Vorozhbyt, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, Georgy Tovstonogov, the 2009 Russian season (REVOLUTIONS) at the RSC, and other topics.

• Go here to read Elyse Sommer's review of Alexander Ostrovsky's The Forest at the Pearl Theater in NY in 1997. I would not usually post something like this, but Ostrovsky - a great playwright who is deeply under-appreciated in the US - is so rarely produced that this seems worthwhile.

• Go here to read Tom Birchenough's preview of Noah Birksted-Breen's Russian drama festival at his Sputnik Theatre in February, 2010.

• Go here to read Jonathan Levi's piece about the Russian Case/Golden Mask Festival in Moscow in 2005.

• Go here to read Steven Leigh Morris's excellent piece on Lee Breuer directing Sam Shepard's The Curse of the Starving Class at the Saratov Youth Theater (Theater Yunogo Zritelya).

• Go here to read a blog about Russian classical drama by Noah Birksted-Breen, founder of the Russian-oriented Sputnik Theatre in London.

• Go here to read a blog by Noah Birksted-Breen on contemporary Russian drama.

• Go here to read another blog by Noah Birksted-Breen on contemporary Russian drama.

• Nancy Groves interviews Noah Birksted-Breen about his festival of new Russian drama in 2010. The discussion includes comments about Natalya Kolyada, Maksym Kurochkin, Vladimir Zuev, Yaroslava Pulinovich and others. 

• Go here [link dead] to read John Barry's preview of the CITD/Towson New Russian Drama Season, 2009-2010.

• Go here [link dead] to read a piece wrapping up the CITD/Towson University Russian Season, 2009-2010.

• Go here [link dead] to hear a radio conversation about Russian drama at Towson University between John Barry and Yury Urnov. 

• Go here to read this feature about the plays and themes of the Russian season at Towson University in 2009-2010. 

• Go here to read this feature about the Chekhov International Theater Festival in Moscow in the summer of 2010. You will be required to register on the site, but it is free and it is relatively quick.

• This page contains thumbnail sketches of four Russian playwrights - Alexander Arkhipov, Mikhail Durnenkov, Alexander Rodionov and Ksenia Stepanycheva.

• Go here to read an article about new Russian magazines and journals about theater. 

• Elissa Blake writes about a large number of Russian plays coming to Sydney in 2009, including those by Maxim Gorky, Alexei Arbuzov, Vasily Sigarev, Anton Chekhov.

• Jim O'Quinn writes a feature on some of the director's theater that impressed him on a trip to Moscow in 2004: "The Tsar is In: Theatre in Russia is still a director's game - with often sensational results," AT (July/August 2004). 

• Anatoly Antohin puts together a photo gallery of Russian theater from the time of Stanislavsky to the present, with portraits of Kama Ginkas, Lev Dodin, Pyotr Fomenko and many others.

• Actor Alexei Devotchenko publishes an open letter rebutting famous Russian culture figures who called for Vladimir Putin to seek a third term as Russian president. 

• Patricia M. Szymczak writes a feature about Soviet theater artists visiting Chicago in 1989. Those mentioned in the story are Mikhail Ulyanov and Kama Ginka.

• Natalia Antonova blogs about the situation around the banning of several new Russian drama plays in Belgorod in early 2011.

• This unsigned feature in The Economist from 1997 discusses productions by Galina Volchek, Yury Pogrebnichko and Oleg Yefremov while taking on the topic of new productions of Anton Chekhov in Russia.

• Here is an unsigned review essay of a book about amateur theaters in Russia.

• Nelson Pressley interviews Joy Zinoman about the upcoming 2004-2005 Russian season at her Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C., where there were productions of plays by Oleg Bogaev, the Presnyakov brothers, Vasily Sigarev and others.

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Kama Ginkas

• Liisa Byckling writes about Kama Ginkas's productions of Anton Chekhov in Helsinki, Finland. You may need to drop down a few pages once this link activates.

• Go here to read Ron Jenkin's feature in the New York Times on Kama Ginkas working in the United States in 2003.

• Go here to read Celestine Bohlen's 2000 feature about Kama Ginkas in the New York Times, 2000.

• Go here to read this review by Alvin Klein in the New York Times of Kama Ginkas's production of Rothschild's Fiddle at Yale Repertory Theater.

• Go here to read this feature by Catherine Foster in the Boston Globe about Kama Ginkas working at A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA, in 2003.

• Malcolm Johnson reviews Ginkas's production of Anton Chekhov's Rothschild's Fiddle, produced by the Moscow Young Generation Theater and Yale Repertory Theater, 2004.

• Joanne Greco Rochman reviews Ginkas's production of Anton Chekhov's Rothschild's Fiddle, produced by the Moscow Young Generation Theater and Yale Repertory Theater, 2004.

• Christopher Arnott reviews Ginkas's production of Anton Chekhov's Rothschild's Fiddle, produced by the Moscow Young Generation Theater and Yale Repertory Theater, 2004.

• Laura Collins-Hughes reviews Ginkas's production of Anton Chekhov's Rothschild's Fiddle, produced by the Moscow Young Generation Theater and Yale Repertory Theater, 2004.

• A spectacular, oversized book of 180 high-quality photos of productions by Kama Ginkas by English photographer Ken Reynolds. Almost Everything Until Now: Ken Reynolds to Kama Ginkas was created as a gift for Ginkas's 70th birthday May 7, 2011. It is self-published through blurb.com and will soon be available for purchase to the public. I will post ordering information when it is available. 

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Yevgeny Kazachkov

• Ilaria Parogni interviews Nina Belenitskaya and Yevgeny Kazachkov about their plays The Sounds of Silence and Start-Up, respectively, to be presented in London at Theatre 503.

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Yury Klavdiev

•  John Nathan interviews Yury Klavdiev and previews productions of plays by Klavdiev, Mikhail Durnenkov and Natalya Vorozhbyt in Oran Mor's A Play, a Pie and a Pint project in Scotland.

• Go here to read a review of Valeria Gai-Germanika's film Everybody Dies But Me, which was scripted by Yury Klavdiev and Alexander Rodionov. Note: As is common on this site the writers' contributions are not discussed directly.

• Helen Shaw of Time Out NY wrote an excellent blog about Yury Klavdiev's Martial Arts, a wild fantasy of modern violence, crime and redemption (maybe), that was translated beautifully by David M. White and staged with great humor and pacing by Yury Urnov.

• Go here to read John Barry's feature on James Knight, who performs in David M. White's production of Yury Klavdiev's I Am the Machine Gunner for Generous Company.

• Tiffanie Wen reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Yury Klavdiev's The Slow Sword at the Sputnik Theatre, London, 2007.

• Timothy Ramsden reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Yury Klavdiev's The Slow Sword at the Sputnik Theatre, London, 2007.

• Lyn Gardner reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Yury Klavdiev's The Slow Sword at the Sputnik Theatre, London, 2007.

• David M. White writes an essay for internet magazine Arts 'n' Fashion about his discovery of, and work with, Yury Klavdiev and his play I Am the Machine Gunner in a production for Generous Company. This site is a bit cumbersome, so after you arrive on the main page, click on the magazine cover and then, by scrolling across the pages at the bottom of the page, go to page 30 or 32 (there seems to be a glitch in page numbering...).

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Nikolai Kolyada

• Murph Henderson wrote a fine feature on Nikolai Kolyada and many other Yekaterinburg theater personalities for American Theatre magazine: ""Who Needs Moscow? A guru of Russian playwriting holds court in distant Ekaterinburg," AT (March 06). Read it here in PDF.

• Blair Ruble published this long essay on Nikolai Kolyada and the state of the theatrical art in Yekaterinburg as a Kennan Institute Occasional Paper: "Urals Pathfinder: Theatre in Post-Soviet Yekaterinburg."

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Dmitry Krymov

I don't really know where on this site to put this item, but since it must be somewhere, here is as good as any place. Go here to see a selection of marvelous paintings and drawings by Dmitry Krymov, who, in addition to being one of Russia's most important directors today, is also a brilliant painter and graphic artist.

• Jane Shilling in The Telegraph reviews Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Andrew Haydon's blog review of Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• The Voice of Russia reports on the Herald Angel award presented to Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Steve Newman's Bookstove blog review of Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Neil Cooper in the Herald Scotland interviews Dmitry Krymov in regards to Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Michael Billington in The Guardian reviews Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Ian Shuttleworth in the Financial Times reviews Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Ian Hughes in the Stratford Observer reviews Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Finn Pollard blogs (peevishly) about Dmitry Krymov's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream as performed at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2012.

• Ben Brantley reviews Dmitry Krymov and Alexander Bakshi's Opus No. 7 at St. Ann's Warehouse, NY, in the New York Times. January 2013. 

• John O'Mahoney writes about Dmitry Krymov and his theater for The Guardian during Krymov's 2014 tour to England of Opus No. 7.

• Lyn Gardner reviews Dmitry Krymov's Opus No. 7 at the Brighton Festival in The Guardian, 2014.  

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Maksym Kurochkin

• John J. Hanlon writes about his work on translations of plays by Maksym Kurochkin for a TCG blog series curated by Caridad Svich in the summer of 2014.

• Go here to read a short programmatic essay by Maksym Kurochkin on his view of writing plays. 

• Sputnik Theatre company of London interviews Maksym Kurochkin.

• Graham Schmidt interviews Maksym Kurochkin on the eve of the premiere of Graham's production of Max's The Schooling of Bento Bonchev at Breaking String Theater, Austin, TX.

• In this overview of the 2012 SXSW festival in Austin, TX, and the New Russian Drama Festival at Breaking String Theater, Robert Faires offers a couple of salient points about Maksym Kurochkin, his play The Schooling of Bento Bonchev and the connection between Austin and Russia.

• This interview with Maksym Kurochkin on the "Teatre Portal" is offered here in a straight Google translation into English. You need a bit of imagination to read it, but sense can be made.

• Graham Schmidt blogs about Maksym Kurochkin's Vodka, Fucking and Television, which Liz Fisher staged in John Hanlon's translation at Breaking String Theater in Austin, TX, in Nov./Dec. 2012.

• Graham Schmidt interviews John J. Hanlon about his translation of several plays by Maksym Kurochkin, including Vodka, Fucking and Television, Fighter Class Medea and others.

• David Glen Robinson reviews Liz Fisher's production of Maksym Kurochkin's Vodka, Fucking and Television for Breaking String Theater in Austin, TX., in Nov./Dec. 2012.

• DJ Pearce reviews Australia's 5pound Theatre production of Maksym Kurochkin's Vodka, Fucking and Television as a part of the 2 Short Russians program, May-June, 2013.

• Robert Faires writes a full-length preview of Dulcey and Roxy at City Hall on the eve of the show's premiere at Breaking String Theater, Austin, TX. 

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Yury Lyubimov

• Go here to read Sergei Loiko's Los Angeles Times interview with Yury Lyubimov, 2010. 

• AFP reports on Yury Lyubimov's resignation from the Taganka Theater in the waning days of June, 2011. 

• Leonardo Shapiro interviews Yury Lyubimov way back in 1991, shortly after he had returned to the Taganka Theater in Moscow and was preparing to stage Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide.

• RFE-RL reports on the early stages of Yury Lyubimov's break with his actors at the Taganka Theater in June 2011.

• Yevgenia Chaikovskaya writes about the break between Yury Lyubimov and his actors at the Taganka Theater.

• The Russian World News site provides a clumsily-translated account, but with some new information, about Yury Lyubimov's break with the Taganka Theater in summer 2011.

• Photos of actors meeting the press in front of the Taganka Theater in connection with their break with Yury Lyubimov in June 2011. 

• Russia Today TV offers a brief review of Yury Lyubimov's production Fairy Tales at the Taganka Theater in 2009.

• The New York Times runs a wire story about divisions at the Taganka Theater in 1987 - some actors wanted Lyubimov back, others didn't. 

• "Yuri Lyubimov by Leonard Shapiro," an interview in Bomb magazine 34 (Winter 1991). Available online. 

Natalya Moshina

• Natalie Bennett reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Natalya Moshina's The Techniques of Breathing in an Air-Locked Space at the Sputnik Theatre, London, 2006.

• Mark Brown writes a brief review of Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Natalya Moshina's The Techniques of Breathing in an Air-Locked Space at the Sputnik Theatre, London, 2006.

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Olga Mukhina

• Go here to read the text of Jessica Brokish-Wienhold's 2010 doctoral dissertation THE DOUBLE BIND OF 1989: REINTERPRETING SPACE, PLACE, AND IDENTITY IN POSTCOMMUNIST WOMEN’S LITERATURE, which includes discussions of Olga Mukhina, Nina Sadur, Lyudmila Petrushevskaya and others, along with numerous Central European writers.

• Yana Meerzon, "Every Home is its own Private Moscow: Between Geopathology and Nostalgia in Olga Mukhina's YoU," Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 49, No. 4 (2005). First page only is available here; to access entire article you must pay or have a subscription to the publishing service. 

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One Hour Eighteen, Teatr.doc and elsewhere

• Molly Flynn writes a scholarly article about Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen in, "The Trial That Never Was: Russian Documentary Theatre and the Pursuit of Justice," in New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 30, Issue 4, Nov. 2014, pp. 307-317. This is a pay-for-use site.

• Natalia Antonova writes a feature-review in The Moscow News about the Yelena Gremina-Mikhail Ugarov project of One Hour Eighteen, a documentary play about the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

• Ashley Cleek's report for RFE/RL on Mikhail Ugarov's production of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen, a documentary play at Moscow's Teatr.doc about the death in prison of attorney Sergei Magnitsky.

• Go here to read a piece on Teatr.doc's production of One Hour Eighteen, a study of the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky while in prison.

• Go here to read background information about Ugarov/Gremina's production of One Hour Eighteen at Teatr.doc, , a documentary play about the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

• Helen Womack writes a feature for the Sunday Times on Ugarov/Gremina's production of One Hour Eighteen at Teatr.doc, a documentary play about the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

• Go here to read a feature for the Straits Times of Singapore on Ugarov/Gremina's production of One Hour Eighteen at Teatr.doc, a documentary play about the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

• Veronika Khokhlova provides information about Mikhail Ugarov's production of One Hour Eighteen at Teatr.doc, a documentary play about the death of attorney Sergei Magnitsky in prison.

• John Barry previews Yury Urnov's production of Yelena Gremina's play One Hour Eighteen Minutes at the Kennan Institute in Washington, D.C., and Single Carrot Theater, Baltimore.

• A page of information, including quotes from Russian reviews, about Mikhail Ugarov's production of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen at Teatr.doc.

• Yury Urnov is interviewed by Voice of America, in Russian, about his work directing Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes in the United States.

• Irina Shumovich reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's production of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes at the Sputnik Theatre in London.

• Theodora Clarke reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes in London for a website devoted to the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The same piece can be found on theRussian Art and Culture site.

• Phoebe Taplin reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes in the Russia Beyond the Headlines supplement.

• William Drew reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes on the Exeunt website.

• Chris O'Shaughnessy reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes on the One Stop Arts website.

• Luke Balleny reviews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes on the TrustLaw website.

• Oliver Poole previews Noah Birksted-Breen's new, 2012 version, of Yelena Gremina's One Hour Eighteen Minutes in the London Evening Standard.

• Molly Flynn writes a detailed, excellent piece about One Hour, Eighteen Minutes at Teatr.doc.