PERFORMANCES

Veniamin Balyasny
THE ROAD
Comedy in 2 acts
on motives of a poem by N.V. Gogol «Dead Souls»

           
           

      Like a ray of dawn from under the black velvet south vibrant night, the sun rises singing the Italian tenor and with the delightful voice in unison unchangeably enlightened scene. In the front room of Gogol: a table, a bookcase, an armchair-rocking chair, chairs, left his head forward bed. The author, sitting in a chair, knitting scarf on the spokes, from time to time, looking in the hall and says:
   «In front of me now foreign land, around me this foreign land, Oh, Italy! What a sky! As for the air! Drink - do not drink, look – do not look. In the soul of Heaven and Paradise. I have now in Rome few acquaintances, or, better, almost no one. But never have I been so happy, so happy with life... But in my heart Rus’...
       This passage from a letter to Gogol begins the play "The Road". So, we have Italy ... On stage, the author and the strange characters who lived on his small room in Rome. They emerge from the arches of the Roman houses, hosting an Italian monastery writer, climbing on his desk with working papers and letters. As if warmed by the Mediterranean sun, excited temperamental Tarantella, they are going to a carnival, a jubilant celebration of Italian masks, in the modest dwelling of author, where he wrote his immortal poem "Dead Souls." Russ bursts into the room Author Balalaika tremolo of Italian melodies. Our heroes take off their masks. And here before us: Russian landlords and officials. And Pavel Chichikov is the author of the main character shown in the history of our court.
      The final touch to transform the space: the "troika, bird-troika," starting its way through endless Russian roads ... Chichikov sits in a rocking chair, his coachman Selifan, climbing on the writer's desk, takes the reins, and ... here's the chaise, in a way! Bells tinkling bells, carried chaise Pavel Ivanovich on Russian land ...
      Under the southern Italian sun grow fruit of Gogol fantasies: author wrote his famous poem "Dead Souls." The main character does not share the admiration author poetics road. For Chichikov, it is dull monotony of known species. Gogol takes his hero from this state encounters with mysterious grotesque characters: Manilov, Nozdrev, Korobochka, Plyushkin, Sobakevich. And then, suddenly, the governor's ball will fly ...
      Before our eyes unfolds the story of Chichikov, traveled to Russia and to buy "dead souls." He is negotiating with all the landowners as soon as in a simultaneous chess game ... At three o'clock the viewer becomes complicit adventures surprisingly modern swindler, adventurer and businessman: Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov.

Director
The People’s artist of Russia,
the Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region
Boris Granatov

Scene designer
Victor Pushkin

Lighting designer
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation,
the Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region
Sergey Shpagin

Costume designer
The Laureate of the national theatrical award “The Gold mask”,
the Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region
Olga Reznichenko

Choreographer
The Honourable educationalist of the Russian Federation,
the Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region
Vera Fedotovskaya

Accompaniment
Larisa Vasilyeva

Soundman
Lyubov Galochkina

The Premiere has taken place on March, 2009

Characters and performers:

The Narrator
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Viacheslav Teplov

Chichikov
the Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region Eduard Ablavatsky

Selifan
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Igor Rudinsky

Manilov
Andrey Kamendov

Sobakevich
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Alexander Mezhov

Plyushkin
Ilya Grednev

Korobochka
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Valentina Burbo,
Natalya Isaeva

Nozdrev
The Laureate of the State Award of the Vologda region Victor Harzhavin

The Governor
Anatoly Mikhasik

The Governor's wife
Yana Likhotina

The Blonde
Alyona Danchenko

The Prosecutor
Maxim Lednev

The Chief of city police
Alexander Lobantsev

The Postmaster
Timur Mirgalimov

Anna Grigoryevna
Nadezhda Starikova,
Yekaterina Chaukina

Sofia Ivanovna
Larisa Kochneva,
Olga Yuganova

The Lady with blu plume
Nadezhda Starikova,
Yekaterina Chaukina,
Daria Sakhnovskaya

The Lady with white plume
Nadezhda Starikova,
Y ekaterina Chaukina,
Anna Terentyeva

The First Muzhik
Alexander Yefremov

The Second Muzhik
Denis Dolbyshev

The Peasant woman
The Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Avgusta Klenchina

The Poet
Vasily Limonov

Performance is conducted by the assistant producer
Natalya Ivanchuk