©  Ekaterina Tsvetkova

Refugees from Chechnya and prying tourists in Rome, Tristan and Isolde, Daphnis and Chloe, high school students and ancient Greeks, teacher Galpetra and the famous singer of romances Isabella… language exercises, parallels, symbols, allusions, and metaphors… Reality and dreams interpenetrate, the past speaks with the present, unsent letters pierce time, and people turn into the stories they tell.

Using the fragments of stories and slivers of fates from Mikhail Shishkin’s novel, which seems to crumble into pieces, Evgeny Kamenkovich creates his complicated, polyphonic and multilayered production, bringing the writer’s protagonists into a new, theatrical, dimension.

• Awards
• Nominated for the Golden Mask Prize in the “Drama/Small Scale Production” category, 2008
• Evgeny Kamenkovich was nominated for the Golden Mask Prize in the “Drama/Best Director” category, 2008
• Madlen Dhzabrailova, Ksenia Kutepova, Polina Kutepova, and Galina Kashkovskaya received the Special Prize of the Jury for their ensemble performance, 2008
• Madlen Dzhabrailova was nominated for the Golden Mask Prize in the “Drama/Best Actress” category for the role of Isabella, 2008
• Ksenia Kutepova was nominated for the Golden Mask Prize in the “Drama/Best Actress” category for the role of Galpetra, Frau P, and Tala, 2008
• Polina Kutepova was nominated for the Golden Mask Prize in the “Drama/Best Actress” category for the roles of Princess the Frog, mother, Tusya, and Lika, 2008

The most important conclusion after watching the Workshop’s new performance is that the Russian psychological theater, which is being diligently buried by the fans of contemporary and relevant art, is still alive, and here it is. It’s not just alive, it’s in the prime of its life, it’s triumphant, and it affects the public, just like it was meant to. And another important thing. With so much militant amateurism and the new directors’ lack of articulation and ignorance of theatrical laws, the virtuoso mastery of your profession and the ability to clearly say what you wanted to say seem simply remarkable. And by that I mean the Workshop’s actors and director Evgeny Kamenkovich.

Marina Zaionts, Itogi

Opening night: November 11, 2006

Running time: 3 hours 50 minutes with one intermission

Ticket price range: 2000—20000 rub.