The opening night for “Galiera” written by M. Bartenev took place on the stage of Saratov Academic Kiselev Youth Theatre in September of 2008.

Winner of an honorary award of International Association of Theatres for Children and Youth (ASSITEZH) “For the contribution in the development process of children’s theatre”, winner of the competition for the best play for children conducted by the magazine “Contemporary Drama”, member of Writer’s Union, Union of Theatre Figures of the Russian Federation, playwright, scriptwriter – Michael Bartenev wrote an original play “Galiera” based on works of world-famous Columbian  writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. “Galiera” – the production about loneliness and stoic juxtaposition of a man to the absurdity of objective reality, poverty, hunger and helplessness, red tape indifference, about a firm human belief into triumph of fairness.

The performance “Galiera” in the genre of Columbian paroemia was directed in the Saratov theatre by one of the most interesting theatre directors – Anatoly Praudin
(St. Petersburg) – the State Prize Laureate. Production-designer – Honoured Artist of the RF Anatoly Shubin (Ekaterenburg).

Prior to the beginning of work on the performance to strengthen the art reality of writing drama material, to feel national colorist, singularity, everyday life and character of Columbians, a creative group including the director, scriptwriter, artists and actors travelled to the Marquez’s motherland.

The reference: “Galiera” – a typical construction of spool-shaped form where cockfighting takes place.

The presence in the atmosphere of the great novel’s events is the best way to stage Marquez in the brightest manner within Russian theatre.
The play is based on the novel “No One Writes to the Colonel” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez which was written during the period 1956-1957 and published for the first time in 1961. The novel is set during the years of "La Violencia" in Colombia, when martial law and censorship prevail.

La Violencia (literally "The Violence", in Spanish) is a term that refers to an era of civil conflict in various areas of the Colombian countryside between supporters of the Colombian Liberal Party and the Colombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 (exact dates vary).

The main characters of the novel are not named, adding to the feeling of insignificance of an individual living in Colombia.
Actors:

Colonel	Osherov Yury Petrovich
His wife	Osherova (Lavrentieva) Svetlana Vasilievna
Their son	Ridel Yuly Petrovich
His friends	Bezrukov Nikita Yurievich Shchedrin Anton Yurievich
Don Sabos	Skachkov Dmitry Valentinovich
His wife	Fedorova (Kutina) Olga Valentinovna
Alkald	Egorov Vladimir Vladimirovich
The first policeman	Gudim Andrey Victorovitch
The second policeman	Safonov Evgeny Alexandrovich
The doctor	Rotachkov Alexey Gennadievich
Advocate	Volodarskiy Ilya Borisovich
The owner of the movie theatre	Karabanov Alexey Nikolayevich
Postman	Konev Vladimir Ivanovich
Anhel	Bykov Andrey Valentinovich
His servant	Vasilenko Yulia Yurievna
The widows	Zhukova (Shindina) Maria Alexandrovna Samokhina Victoria Anatolievna Chernysheva Tatyana Yurievna Chupikova Tatyana Pavlovna