ARLEKIN PLAYERS THEATRE ANNOUNCES
Zero Gravity | (zero-G) lab
A New Experimental Virtual Theater Lab
Inaugural 2020/2021 Season

Needham, MA –  Arlekin Players Theatre announced today the creation of Zero Gravity (zero-G) lab, which will serve as an online, cloud-based theater laboratory, live creation space, and performance venue for the Arlekin company and guest artists for the 2020/2021 season.  (zero-G) lab started with State vs. Natasha Banina, a live virtual theater experiment conceived by Arlekin’s Artistic Director Igor Golyak during the pandemic, which became a viral international sensation receiving the New York Times Critics’ Pick.  Arlekin has since emerged as a global leader in the virtual theater space and seeks to further explore the artistic opportunities of this new genre, which has inspired them to create (zero-G) lab. “In the post-pandemic world, theater is not held back by text, place, time or gravity,”  says Golyak. “Theater has now emancipated itself from the above, and shown survival skills in a space with no air or gravity, in the virtual. We are excited to be one of the first companies to embrace it and launch into the cosmos.”

(zero-G) lab’s inaugural season includes both workshopped and full virtual performance projects featuring both the resident company at Arlekin, a cadre of well-known Boston actors, and guest artists.

Beginning in October 2020, Arlekin and its presenting partner Cherry Orchard Festival in New York, will offer free virtual readings of Insulted. Belarus(sia), a play by Andrei Kureichik and directed by Igor Golyak, with donations accepted to support the movement in Belarus. The play tells the story of the first month of the Belarusian revolution on the eve of the inevitable democratization of the country after 26 years of dictatorship. Readings of the play were initially offered in September with the playwright, Kureichik, participating in post-show discussions while under threat of arrest and in hiding. The readings will be held on Sundays October 18 and 25, 2020 at 8:00pm EDT (in Russian) and on November 8, 2020 at 8:00pm EDT (in English) with post-show discussions to follow each reading.  For the Russian performances, the cast will include Ales Molchanov of the Janka Kupala National Theater in Minsk, Belarus. A special week-long series of events around Insulted. Belarus(sia) will also take place the week of November 16th through HowlRound Theatre Commons, with a reading of Insulted. Belarus(sia) in Russian by Arlekin Players, and another in English with the LA-based theater company Rogue Machine, and an artist talk with both companies and the playwright, moderated by Dr. Barbara Wallace Grossman.  Readings of the play are happening world-wide through a number of organizations; Arlekin Players was the first of over 50 companies in five countries to present Insulted. Belarus(sia), written by Kureichik in Belarus while participating in the revolution. “My task is quite simple: tell the truth using dramatic storytelling, and bring the audience the emotions that brought the people of Belarus to a revolution,” writes Kureichik in a message, sent from an undisclosed location after he escaped from Belarus.

The season continues with the International Virtual Tour of State vs Natasha Banina (based on the play Natasha’s Dream by Yaroslava Pulinovich), also presented in partnership with Cherry Orchard Festival. Performances are currently scheduled with Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City on October 12 and 14, 2020 (both in English) at 8PM EDT. “You know that old saying ‘when life gives you lemons, make lemonade?’ I can’t think of a more creative parallel to that than the Arlekin Players Theatre production of State vs. Natasha Banina,” says Pedja Muzijevic, Artistic Administrator at Baryshnikov Arts Center. “It uses all the current limitations to the most compelling advantage.” Next, Wilma Theatre presents on October 22, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT (in English). Then, ShowOne Productions in Canada presents on October 29 (in English) and November 1, 2020 at 8:00 PM EDT (in Russian). Then Voila! Europe, the festival based in London, presents on November 12 at 2:30pm EDT (in English), November 13 at 2:30pm EDT (in English) and November 15 at 12:00pm EDT (in Russian).  State vs Natasha Banina will also be presented by Gesher Theater in Israel in early December, dates to be announced.  “During a time of separation, this virtual tour offers us the opportunity to collaborate with incredible partners like Baryshnikov Arts Center, ArtsEmerson, Shakespeare & Company, ShowOne, and Viola!, and to connect with audiences around the world” says Sara Stackhouse of Broadband Collaborative, Arlekin’s producing partner for State vs Natasha Banina. “COVID has fractured the normal theater hierarchy, allowing artists, presenters and audiences to find each other in new ways.  Arlekin’s virtual theater work is a bright light in a dark time.”

In addition to these performances, (zero-G) lab will be a space for experimentation and workshopping of new virtual works.  Arlekin currently has four of these projects in development. The first is a virtual production of Hamletmachine by Heiner Müller. The second is and exploration of Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard with members of the Arlekin company and several well-known New York actors, including famed stage and screen actress Jessica Hecht (Friends, Breaking Bad), who discovered Arlekin as an audience member of State vs Natasha Banina and quickly became a collaborator in the development of The Cherry Orchard project.  “I am longing to explore The Cherry Orchard with Igor and our company in a way that gives us the most intimate and relatable portrait of a family in crisis.” says Hecht. “I believe we can create something raw and modern, without losing an authenticity to Chekhov’s vision.” Arlekin will also be re-imagining its production of The Tale of the Fisherman & The Fish as a virtual theater experience for families, and the resident company will be exploring Juliette Survived by Julia Tupikina in the (zero-G) lab.

All events will take place online via the Zoom platform or other emerging online platforms. For more information or to reserve Zoom spots for currently available dates, visit arlekinplayers.com or call (617) 942-0022.

In support of this initiative and its first artistic season, Arlekin has launched a $35,000 fundraising campaign called The (zero-G) Launchpad Fund to equip the laboratory with the technology needed. “When the theater world closed its doors in March, Arlekin opened another with the premiere of Natasha online,” says Arlekin board chair Rimma Gluzman, “We see the unbelievable potential of the virtual world, the uncharted artistic territory in this synthesis between theatre and cinema. This new campaign will enable us to outfit our new endeavor with the equipment needed to transform and develop the emerging virtual theater genre.”

Arlekin Players Theatre, founded by Artistic Director Igor Golyak, was created in Boston in 2009 and has since toured to New York, Chicago, and Hartford, as well as to international festivals in Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, and Monaco. It’s production of State vs Natasha Banina has received world-wide acclaim, including the New York Times Critics’ Pick. Arlekin has received multiple awards for its work including four 2020 Elliot Norton Awards from the Boston Theater Critics Association for its recent productions of The Stone and The Seagull. Arlekin takes strong pride in their emphasis on self-identity; they are a company of immigrants performing works that play on the ideas of cross-culture, home, and traditions, challenging the idea of nationality, and finding common themes that unite us all. The company makes its home in Needham, MA. For more information, visit www.arlekinplayers.com.

Additional press materials can be found here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jaKMp3TEMSj1yiDD2u3kp12eJ9LLn9y6?usp=sharing

State vs. Natasha Banina International Virtual Tour in Russian and English presented in partnership with Cherry Orchard Festival

prices vary by performance date $0 – $25 USD

Current Tour Dates:

• October 12, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT – English – co-presented by Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York 
• October 14, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT – English – co-presented by Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York 
• October 22, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT – English – co-presented by The Wilma Theatre, Philadelphia
• October 29, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT – English – co-presented by ShowOne Productions, Canada 
• November 12, 2020 at 2:30PM EDT – English – co-presented by Voila! Europe, London
• November 13, 2020 at 2:30PM EDT – English –  co-presented by Voila! Europe, London
• November 15, 2020 at 12:00pm EDT – Russian – co- presented by Voila! Europe, London
• November 29, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT – Russian- co-presented by ShowOne Productions, Canada 
• December, 2020 – dates TBA – Russian & English – co-presented by Gesher Theater, Israel

More dates to be announced

Insulted. Belarus(sia) in Russian and English

FREE with Suggested Donation

Zoom Reading Dates:

• October 18, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT (in Russian)
• October 25, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT (in Russian)
• November 8, 2020 at 8:00PM EDT (in English)

Special week-long series on Howlround the week of November 16 – full program here.

(zero-G) lab Projects in Development:

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov
HamletMachine by Heiner Müller
Juliet Survived – by Julia Tupikina
The Tale of the Fisherman & The Fish by Alexander Pushkin

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