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War and Peace by Moscow's Modern Theater to open Theatre Encounters program at Slavianski Bazaar
MINSK,14 July (BelTA) - Moscow's Modern Drama Theater will present its production of War and Peace on the stage of the Yakub Kolas National Academic Drama Theater in Vitebsk as part of the Theater Encounters program of the 35th International Festival of Arts Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk, the organizers report.
Pierre Bezukhov takes center stage in the production directed by Yuri Grymov. He travels a path from a confused Westernizer to a man who finds his place in Russia, and the audience experiences this journey alongside Pierre.
“It's a complex production. 423 costumes. The Sveshnikov State Academic Russian Choir performs live. We don't use sets; we use light painting instead. I’m grateful to the city and the festival for providing the lighting we needed and for renting the sound console,” the director said during a meet-and-greet.
“I’m curious to sightsee this city and to see how the audience reacts, because we just did seven shows in St. Petersburg not long ago, and the audiences there surprised me. Usually, our theater doesn’t go on tour. I’ve always been against touring because it’s not financially viable for us. This is a big event for the theater, but a challenging one. The technical crew only finished preparing the show at 4.30 in the morning. We have a rehearsal at 14.00 in the afternoon, the performance in the evening, and then we head straight home. It’s intense, but we're doing it out of love for and interest in the Vitebsk audience,” he added.
According to him, theater audiences have changed dramatically over the past three to four years. This is evident from their reactions to performances. “The play runs for over three hours with two intermissions, yet people don’t notice the time passing and don’t find it exhausting. There are productions that run 6 or even 12 hours. As a spectator myself, I don’t care for such long shows. But if a play is bad, you lose interest after half an hour; if it's good, you won’t even notice five hours go by. It's all very individual,’ the director added.
He also noted that he hasn’t had a chance to explore Vitebsk yet, but he has already taken note of the traditional Belarusian cleanliness and tranquility.
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