Saratov Academic Kiselev Youth Theater presents The Shakespeare Festival (the seventh creative laboratory “The Forth Height”). From the 27 October till the 1st of November 2011.

Russian social organization «Theater Union of Russian Federation
(Russian Theater Society)»
with the support of
RF Ministry of Culture
Saratov region Ministry of Culture
Saratov Academic Kiselev Youth Theater
presents

Shakespeare Festival (creative laboratory "The Forth Height")
From the 27 October till the 1st of November 2011

The project is held with the support of the Embassy of France in Russia, Institut français (Moscow) and Goethe-Institut (Moscow).

For more information read John Freedman's article

Creative laboratory "The Fourth Height” has recently become a trademark of Saratov Kiselev Youth Theatre. This challenging creative experiment turns five years old in 2011. During this time as a result of six creative laboratories’ work, the theatre’s repertoire was enriched by the following performances "There Will Be No Winter" B. Olshansky, "Beauty Queen" M. McDonagh, "Natasha's Dream" Yaroslava Pulinovich, "We Are Doing Fine Here," D. Maslovsky, "About My Mother And Myself" Isaev, "Be at the Ark by Eight" W. Hub.

The Shakespeare Festival (seventh creative laboratory "Fourth height") was held from October 27 to November 1, 2011 and was dedicated to the creative work of William Shakespeare. "Shakespeare Festival" was a bright event on the Russian theatrical arena. It had an extensive international program. The festival’s program consisted of sketch performances of Shakespearean drama, created by interesting directors from Russia and Europe, that have already declared themselves in the theater world and previously worked with Shakespeare’s texts: Razerka Ben Sadia-Laban and Jan Joel Collin (France), Andreas Merz (Germany), Dmitry Volkostrelov, Paulina Struzhkova and Elena Nevezhina (Moscow).

The festival proved to be an unusual experiment: it was a modern interpretation of the great English playwright William Shakespeare, created by joint efforts of contemporary directors from different countries and Saratov Kiselev Youth Theatre actors. The uniqueness of such type of a format (festival-laboratory) is that the creative team is supposed to stage a draft show in a very short period of time, which allows to interactively perceive the audience’s reaction, and gives actors an opportunity to discover unexpected sides of their talent.

Six premiere performances based on Shakespeare’s plays - "Othello", "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Two Gentlemen of Verona", "Hamlet. To Be or Not to Be? That’s Not A Question", "Twelfth Night", "Titus Andronicus" were shown October 30-31 and November 1. After each show there was a detailed and in-depth discussion of what was seen. The conversation was conducted by the leading theater critics of Russia, and was attended by drama students of GITIS, future theatre specialists, teachers and students of literary seminar on English philology of Roman-Germanic Philology Department of the Journalism Institute of the Saratov State University named after Chernyshevsky, the guests of the festival and the audience. The discussion was conducted by the artistic directors of the festival - Doctor of Art Criticism, Professor, RF Meritorious Scientist, head of GITIS department on foreign theater history, the supervisor of Contemporary Western Art department of the State Art Institute, Chairman of the Russia’s Shakespeare Academy of Sciences Commission, Laureate of the Stanislavsky Award and of the Moscow Prize Alexey Bartoshewitch and the member of the National Theatre Award and Festival "Golden Mask" advisory board, director of the All-Russian Theatre Festival "Real Theater", Yekaterinburg Youth Theatre associate director on creative affairs and international relations, playwright, screenwriter, and the leading drama critic of Russia Oleg Loyevsky.

These are the people who took an active part in "The Shakespeare Festival": Marie Raymond, the head of theater projects division of the French Institute in Paris Department of Cooperation; Igor Sokologorsky, the cultural attaché of the French Embassy in RF; Vasily Kuznetsov, cultural programs coordinator of the German Goethe Cultural Center in Russia; Olga Glazunova, RF Commission on Children’s Theatre executive secretary, head of Children and Puppet Theatre Cabinet of the RF Theatre Workers Union Central Office creative department; Marina Raikina, theater critic and theatricologist, theater columnist for the "Moskovsky Komsomolets", the art-director of the international theatre festival for children "Gavroche"; John Freedman, American and Russian culture expert, drama critic, journalist and translator, theater columnist for the «The Moscow Times»; Victoria Aminova, theater critic, author of "St. Petersburg Theater Magazine", a postgraduate student of St. Petersburg State Academy of Performing Arts; Anastasia Ivanova, "Theatre" subdivision of the "Culture" newspaper columnist, editor of Radio "Culture" (Moscow).

"The Shakespeare Festival" program
(Creative laboratory "The Fourth Height")

October 30, Sunday

Chamber Stage (Volskaya, 83 – the old building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
William Shakespeare’s "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"
Director - Polina Struzhkova (Moscow)
Stage designer - Olga Kolesnikova
Started at 14.00


Small stage (Chapaeva 74 – the new building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
William Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night"
Director - Elena Nevezhina (Moscow)
Stage designer - Michael Gavryushov
Started at 19.00

October 31, Monday

Theatre Museum (Volskaya, 83 - the old building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
"Shakespeare in modern theater" a lecture by Alexei Bartoshevich
Started at 13.00

The big stage floor (Volskaya, 83 - the old building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
Contexture "To Be or Not To Be? That’s Not a Question" based on Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet"
Director - Dmitry Volkostrelov (Moscow)
Stage designer - Michael Gavryushov
Started at 15.00

Small stage (Chapaeva 74 – the new building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night's Dream"
Directed by Joel John Collin (France)
Stage designer - Olga Kolesnikova
Started at 19.00

November 1, Tuesday

Chamber Scene (Volskaya, 83 – the old building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
William Shakespeare’s "Othello"
Director - Ben Razerka Sadya Laban (France)
Stage designer - Michael Gavryushov
Started at 15.00

The big stage floor (Volskaya, 83 - the old building of Saratov Kiselev Youth theatre)
William Shakespeare’s "Titus Andronicus"
Director - Andreas Merz (Germany)
Stage designer - Olga Kolesnikova
Started at 19.00