©  Alexey Kharitonov

The play based on Ivan Turgenev’s novella “Spring Freshets” was undertaken by the second generation of theater interns on suggestion from Pyotr Fomenko. Gradually, from the fragments that were shown during traditional “Evenings of trial and error,” a whole play had emerged. Production was directed by Evgeny Kamenkovich.

A Russian man is weak and inert, and even when he’s on a rendezvous with life itself, when his own fate is being decided, he’s unable to make a decision, unable to make his own step. He’s only going with a flow, gazing around, without looking back, but also not wanting to look too far ahead. This was how critic Nikolai Chernyshevsky articulated the dreadful diagnosis given to the Russian society by Turgenev in his famous article, which gave the name to the stage play.

This stage production is practically infused with the vital energy, which is sorely lacking from the academic theaters. Watching A Russian on a Rendezvous, you can easily imagine how much fun the actors had rehearsing it, how many jokes were made, how certain tricks were invented. It seems that the actors are swelling with pranks, and that the production itself constantly wants to fly away like a helium baloon.

Roman Dolzhansky, Kommersant

Opening night: October 21, 2011

Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes with one intermission