This February will see the second playing season of the immersive opera "The Queen of Spades in the antique Moscow mansion of the Goncharovs-Filippovs. Immerse in the world of immortal works by Alexander Pushkin and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
Only 54 viewers can participate in the performance, the number being equal to the number of cards in the full French deck of cards. They will have the ceremony of initiation into a secret community and then Alexander Pushkin will guide them along the multilayered plot, full of symbols and acquaint with the characters. He will show them the gambling house and the ballroom, the winter garden and the boudoir of the notable countess and will tell the mystical story of Herman. 

The second season of displays will last for four months only and symbolically celebrate the 185 anniversary since the story was written by Alexander Pushkin. The story of gambler Herman and the mysterious old countess was promoted onto the big stage by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who composed music to the libretto by his brother Modest and slightly changed the plot. The musical masterpiece is still among Top 50 of the world’ most popular operas. It has been staged hundreds of times on all the major stages of the world — from the Mariinsky Theater and the La Scala to the Bolshoi Theatre and Metropolitan Opera. 

However, the director of the opera promenade, Alexander Gorchakov, was inspired to stage the first-ever immersive version of The Queen of Spades by the work of Vsevolod Meyerhold, who had revived the original Pushkin’s plot in the 1940s.
The New Queen of Spades
The new version of The Queen of Spades is innovative both in the contents, and the form of staging. The promenade is ideal for this story by Pushkin, as it hinges around the central symbol - the Spiral Staircase, climbing which is the way of testing a human soul, the ascension to the divine truth. The viewer walks this way along with the main character Herman and literally plunges into each scene. 

Tchaikovsky’s opera is performed by the soloists of the leading Moscow theaters, the chorus, and an orchestra of 30 musicians. 70 performers and two conductors are involved in every performance: one of them conducts the orchestra, while the second one manages the soloists dispersed all around the ancient mansion. 
Among the scenery, which takes you to the magic world of Pushkin, you will see the "live" portraits of the Countess and St. Germain painted in the manner of Robert Wilson.

Video art to the opera promenade was created by the set designer Polina Bakhtina and Radugadesign studio, whereas the sound design was authored by the young composer Nikola Melnikov famous for his works for the Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris AW 15/SS 16 and the gala dinner of Zaha Hadid in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. 
Immortal music is skillfully bound with bright scenery, new technologies and drama acting of Dmitry Brusnikin Studio and modern choreography by Oleg Glushkov.

Where: Troyka Multispace at the address 1/15, building 3, Yauzskaya Street, Moscow.
When: on February 8, 9, 14 and 15, 2019.