22 theaters from Russia, Austria, Germany, China, France and other countries will play on Moscow and Russian regional stages during the 14th Chekhov International Theater Festival from May 14 to July 21, 2019.
Chekhov Theater Festival 2019 means:
- 22 theaters from 15 cities;
- 22 performances in 10 languages (including those of ballet and pantomime);
- 73 performances will be watched by about 100,000 spectators in Moscow and around 60,000 in the regions of Russia;
- 100 actors engaged in the largest-scale stage production (Giselle, London) of the festival;
- 12,000 km is the largest distance the festival participants will cover (Visits to Mr. Green, Sao Paulo).
For the First Time at the Chekhov Theater Festival:
- The ancient Chinese opera Kuntsui (XIII-XIV cc.) is found side by side to the modern TAO Dance Theater from Beijing, while the European choreography of Patrick de Ban masters Echoes of Eternity, a monument of classical Chinese literature;
- the panorama of the modern Chinese theater is presented on such a large scale;
- stage productions by two young European directors, Jette Steckel and Simon Stone, who have taken up good old Shakespeare's The Tempest and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman to talk about the modern world;
- the famous band The Tiger Lillies playing Hamlet in the punk cabaret aesthetics;
- one of the most famous French troupes of the puppet theater “Angels on the Ceiling” to perform R.A.G.E., a play about the destiny of Romain Gary;
- Cult Georgian book of short stories by famous writer Erlom Akhvlediani will take the festival stage in a dramatization by Robert Sturua (Vano and Niko, Shota Rustaveli Theater);
- the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University "Pharmaceutical Garden" will host the legendary Pion Arbor of the Kuntsyui Opera Center from Shanghai. The stage production by Zhang Jun, the UNESCO Artist for Peace, will open the Chekhov Fest on May 14, 2019.
- The program of the Chekhov Festival 2019 will become part of the Theater Olympics in Saint Petersburg.
Honors to the Chinese Theater
The festival organizers have prepared a special program titled The Chinese Theater - the Guest of Honor at the Chekhov Festival. It is dedicated to the 70th anniversary since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China.
"For the first time, as many as five troupes from China will be presented at the festival. All the performances are very diverse - here is Kunqu opera, classical and modern dance, dramatic art, and modern acrobatic show,"- Valery Shadrin, the general director of the festival pointed out.
Jackie Chan’s legendary Lon Yun Kung Fu Troupe from Beijing will bring to Russia their famous show “11 Warriors” that blends kung fu with traditional Chinese ballet and modern dance.
In honor of the Russian-Chinese diplomatic anniversary, there will be an exhibition of photographs dedicated to the theater of China held in the open air on Tsvetnoy Boulevard from May 13 till the end of the festival.
Back to Chekhov Theater Festival
Moscow will meet again the favorites, namely
- the creators of gentle fantasy worlds Victoria and Aurelia Thierre;
- outstanding German actors Barbara Nusse and Martin Wuttke with their new roles;
- a new edition of the viewers’ favorite Donka, a dazzling joint project with famous director Daniele Finzi Pasca;
- ballet and modern dance in a wide range of styles and forms: Japanese dance pioneer Jo Kanamori, two world-famous choreographers from Taipei - Lin Hwai-Min and Lin Li-Chen, prominent European masters William Forsyth and Akram Khan.
World Premieres:
- The Bear (Medved in Russian) staged by Vladimir Pankov after Anton Chekhov’s same-name play-joke and created by an international team from Russia, Uzbekistan and Belarus (a joint project of the Chekhov Festival and the Drama Art and Direction Center);
- The Seven Tributaries of River Ota by Robert Lepage, a theatrical 7-hour long journey through time and space, to the origins of the grandiose events of the 20th century.
See schedule and details on the official website of Chekhov Theater Festival
"Moscow Operetta" Musical Theatre
"New Opera" Theatre in Moscow
Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Musical Theater
Stanislavsky Electrotheatre: Synergy and Alchemy of Performing Arts in Moscow
Author: Vera Ivanova