Life, love and more. March premieres in Moscow’s theaters
New performances to be premiered in March in Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, Mayakovsky Theater, Tereza Durova Theater, Theater on Trubnaya and Sovremennik Theater, spectators to enjoy both classical and contemporary plays. Mos.ru gives you the details.
‘Not Just Love’ in Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater
Dates: March 6-8
Location: 17 Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street
Age rating: 18+
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater is going to premiere Rodion Shchedrin’s opera ‘Not Just Love’, which was created in 1961 after short stories by Sergei Antonov. A narration about Varvara Vasilievna, head of a collective farm, who cannot choose between love and professional duty; the performance is produced by director Evgeny Pisarev and to be conducted by People’s Artist of Russia Felix Korobov, who compared the story with Nikolai Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, noting that it was not weaker than the latter by the intensity of feelings as there was a tragedy, unpredictable plot turns and strong emotions.
‘Gabriele. An Italian Comedy’ in Mayakovsky Theater
Dates: March 9, 10, 27
Location: 19/13, bld. 1 Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street
Age rating: 18+
Mayakovsky Theater will perform a comedy of Italian playwrights Fausto Paravidino and Giampiero Rappa, and it will be the first time that Russian spectators are going to watch the play, which in 2005 became the finalist of Le Maschere Awards decided by the Ente Teatrale Italiano (ETI). The plot focuses on five friends who are actors and who are in love with the same girl.
The production is the result of the Reading without End project, which was launched in the theater in the last season for young directors and authors to contribute to the repertoire and bring up unknown plays of foreign playwrights.
According to the producers, ‘Gabriele. An Italian Comedy’ will remind a commedia dell'arte show with a contemporary touch. Director Sergei Tonyshev does not reveal all the secrets, but promises that the production will be unusual and the audience will certainly enjoy it.
‘Mozart and Salieri. A Version’ in Tereza Durova Theater
Dates: March 21 and 28
Location: 6 Pavlovskaya Street
Age rating: 16+
Inspired by the same-name play of Alexander Pushkin’s Little Tragedies cycle, Tereza Durova, artistic director, executive, founder and chief director, presents a musical drama called ‘Mozart and Salieri’ offering a different look at the relations between the musicians and inviting the audience to think whether Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could feel the same envy and jealousy as Salieri did towards him.
The stage design was created by People’s Artist of Russia Maria Rybasova, with Honored Artist of Russia Viktoria Sevryukova as a costume designer. The performance will feature live music played by harpsichord, violin, cello, guitar and double bass.
‘My Home is Your Home’ in the Theater on Trubnaya
Dates: March 22-24
Location: 29/1 Neglinnaya Street
Age rating: 18+
Theater and cinema actor Honored Artist of Russia Ivan Mamonov will present his debut production as a director in the Theater on Trubnaya, the criminal comedy ‘My Home is Your Home’ being a story of a family running into trouble during vacations; they will be able to overcome difficulties if everyone is brave and resourceful enough and maintains a sense of humor.
The production based on the play of English playwright Ian Ogilvy will star Elena Zakharova, Julietta Shabanova, Denis Kutuzov, Anatoly Shalukhin and other actors, one of the roles played by the director himself.
‘Windsor Mockery’ in Mayakovsky Theater
Dates: March 23-24
Location: 21/24 Pushkaryov Pereulok
Age rating: 16+
Another March premiere in Mayakovsky Theater is based on William Shakespeare’s Windsor Mockery. In 2023, the audience saw a draft show staged for the Laboratory of Game Theater project and today they can enjoy the final version.
Young director Vladimir Danaya has an unusual vision as he combines academic translations of the Great Bard with audacious improvisation of his actors, resulting in a cheerful and witty performance as is the case with a comedy of intrigue.
“I try to avoid the layout system when it is clear in advance what the final will be. Everything is created jointly with the actors and is changing before the viewers here and now. The lively interaction between the actors and the spectators, their mutual involvement give birth to the game theater that we explore,” the director says.
‘This is My Life’ in Sovremennik Theater
Date: March 31
Location: 19/1 Chistoprudny Boulvard
Age rating: 16+
Sovremennik Theater offers a performance based on People Live Here, a play that was written by South African playwright Athol Fugard in 1968. The heroine is about to turn 50, and her life is divided into before and after as her lover with whom she had lived for many years has suddenly left. Now Millie is recalling their past years, thinking why everything went that way and what she would do further. To start with a clean sheet, she decides to celebrate her anniversary with an extravagant party, turning everything upside down.
Millie is played by Honored Artist of Russia Alena Babenko, Ivan Stebunov as her friend, philosopher Don. This is the second performance of young director Gulnaz Balpeysova in Sovremennik as last year she staged ‘Random Meetings’ after Ivan Bunin.