Arlekin Players Theatre presents our new production based on the book by Kate DiCamillo

Original adaptation and direction by Alexander Huh (winner of the Golden Mask festival in Moscow, Russia)
Scenography and costumes by Nastya Bugaeva (Moscow Art Theater)

The ability to love can either be a gift or a curse. What brings us together or prevents us from understanding each other? These are the challenging questions that our main character, a porcelain rabbit, will grapple with on his miraculous journey.

He and the young (at heart) members of our audience will venture to the bottom of the ocean, dance on the streets of the big city, wander under the endless star-filled sky, and lose and find friends.

Join us on this magical odyssey of self-discovery and meaning!

The show is in Russian and English languages.

Arlekin Players Theatre presents our new production based on the book by Kate DiCamillo

Original adaptation and direction by Alexander Huh (winner of the Golden Mask festival in Moscow, Russia)
Scenography and costumes by Nastya Bugaeva (Moscow Art Theater)

The ability to love can either be a gift or a curse. What brings us together or prevents us from understanding each other? These are the challenging questions that our main character, a porcelain rabbit, will grapple with on his miraculous journey.

He and the young (at heart) members of our audience will venture to the bottom of the ocean, dance on the streets of the big city, wander under the endless star-filled sky, and lose and find friends.

Join us on this magical odyssey of self-discovery and meaning!

The show is in Russian and English languages.

Boston Globe: In Russian or English, Arlekin Players hope audiences feel the weight of ‘The Stone’

Marius von Mayenburg is a playwright, translator, dramaturg, director and one of the most widely produced German playwrights. His plays receive regularly productions at the Schaubühne/Berlin, the Royal Court Theater/ London, and other major theaters around the world.

Marius von Mayenburg’s new play examines the reverberations created by sixty years of German history.

IMPORTANT BACKGROUND INFO – The Stone (by permission from Royal Court Theatre)

“This is our house underneath all this mildew and junk. I know every stone.”

1935: A young couple buys the house from a Jewish family, and so the myth begins

1953: The couple’s daughter discovers the stone

1978: The family returns to claim what’s rightfully theirs

1993: The house is back in their possession

As a house passes from owner to owner, and from generation to generation, the secrets buried in the garden and seeping from the walls reveal themselves.

 

Cast (in order of appearance)

---

---

---

---

---

---

 

Production Team

---

---

---

---

---

Theater Review: “The Stone” — Nobody is Innocent

Media Contact: Joanne Barrett/JBPR 

 jbpr@comcast.net 617-834-6021 @jebpr

ARLEKIN PLAYERS THEATRE REMOUNTS

GERMAN PLAYWRIGHT MARIUS VON MAYENBURG’S 

THE STONE 

New Dates Added September 13 – 29 (performed in English)

“This is our house underneath all this mildew and junk. I know every stone.”

Arlekin Players Theatre will remount German playwright Marius von Mayenburg’s The Stone September 13 – 29 performed in English at their theater at Studio 368 in Needham.  Directed by Arlekin Players Theatre’s Artistic Director Igor Golyak  (Elliot Norton Award-winning A Dead Man’s Diary), the production was performed in Russian by the same cast in May and June. Arlekin will be offering unique pre-show and post-show talks for interested groups. *See the performance schedule below. Tickets range from $45 – $65.  Arlekin will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. For more information and tickets, visit arlekinplayers.com or call 617-942-9822.

 

“It’s a kind of theatre that not only crosses borders but also draws from a number of performance traditions: dance, spoken word, performance art, and modern music arrangement harmoniously intertwine in our performances to create unique and memorable productions.” Igor Golyak, Artistic Director 

In 1935, a young couple purchases a house from a Jewish family in Dresden, Germany. The play follows the lives of the house’s residents, who must grapple with their own identity while experiencing the reverberations created by 60 years of German history. As the house is passed from owner to owner, and generation to generation, the secrets buried in the garden and within the walls reveal themselves.

 

Marius von Mayenburg is a playwright, translator, dramaturg, director and one of the most widely produced German playwrights. Born in Munich in 1972, he studied Old German at University in Munich, before moving to Berlin in 1992, where he did a course in playwriting at the Hochschule der Künste from 1994 to 1998. In 1995 he completed a placement at the Münchner Kammerspiele. In 1998, he became a member of the artistic direction team at the Baracke, the studio theatre of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In 1999 he went with Thomas Ostermeier to work as artistic director and playwright-in-residence at the “Berliner Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz”. His plays receive regular staging at Schaubühne/Berlin, Royal Court Theater/London, and other venues around the world.

 

The Stone Production design team features David R. Gammons (scenographer), Nastya Bugaeva (costume design), Jeff Adelberg (light design), Jakov Jakoulov (original score), Vladimir Gusev (video designer) and an eight-member cast including Jenya Brodskaia (Conductor #1), Misha Tyutyunik (Conductor #2 ), Olga Sokolova (Hannah), Viktoriya Kovalenko (Heidrun),  Darya Denisova (Witha), Rimma Gluzman (Mieze), Anna Kovalenko (Stefanie), and David Gamarnik (Wolfgang).

 

Arlekin Players Theatre was created in Boston in 2009 and has since toured to New York, Chicago, and Hartford, as well as to several international festivals. 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. Performances are in Russian, with simultaneous translation into English. The company makes its home in Needham, MA.  For more information, visit www.arlekinplayers.com.

 

The Seagull

by Anton Chekhov

Directors Notes

It is with great enthusiasm that I share with you an idea for the new adaptation and production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull;” in which a cohesion of different cultures, languages and background reach new grounds in human understanding and compassion. While the main themes of the play revolve around art and theater, there is an incredible void that is ever growing between characters, that ultimately ends with a suicide of an artist.

It is an exploration of the nature of an artist, the longing to realize oneself, stand up against the deadening of the arts, of people, and of life. While sometimes at the expense of relationships and loved ones, an incredible beauty is discovered by said artist that heals and unites people.

By mixing different languages, and going deep into exploring Chekhov’s world of creation through his journals, letters and the play itself, we are looking to answer our own struggles as artists and as people in the 21 st century. The alienation of people in the play we find very relevant today, where countries, just as people struggle to listen and hear, look and see and ultimately connect to find compassion.

Thank you very much for your support!

Artistic Director
Igor Golyak

Cast

Anne Gottlieb* – Irina Arkadina

Eliott Purcell* – Konstantin Treplev

Dev Luthra – Pyotr Sorin

Irina Bordian – Nina Zarechnaya

Alexander Petetsky – Ilya Shamraev

Darya Denisova – Masha Shamraev

Nael Nacer* –  Boris Trigorin

Igor Golyak – Yevgeny Dorn/Director/Yakov

Eric Andrews – Semyon Medvedenko

* signifies member of the Actors Equity Association

Design Team

Igor Golyak –  Director

Nikolay Simonov –  Scenic Designer

Nastya Bugaeva –  Costume Designer

Jeff Adelberg –  Lighting Designer

Jakov Jakoulov –  Composer

Production Team

Ben Lieberson –  Technical Director

Alla Trachtenberg –  Assistant Costumer

Madelime Hartrich – Stage Manager/Supervising TD

Ilona Overweg –  Asst.Technical Director

Irina Vilenchik –  Props Master

Blair Cadden –  Dramaturg

Anna Furman –  Make-Up Designer

Natalia Mitlina –  Wardrobe

Madeline Hartrich –  Board Operator

The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish

by Alexander Pushkin

Directed by Evgeny Ibragimov

Music by Nikolay Yikomov

February 14th – April 12, 2020

Pushkin’s most famous tale comes to life with puppetry and live actors interacting in this extraordinary new adaptation. Told with vivid imagery and music, The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish is created for sophisticated adult audiences and children of all ages and languages.

One day, a poor old fisherman casts his net into the ocean and catches an unusual and beautiful talking fish. The fish begs the old man to release him, which he does, refusing any payment for this act of kindness. What happens next is a tale about love and betrayal, temptation and redemption.

Run time: 1 hour

Eugeny Ibragimov (Director) is a visiting artist from the Czech Republic. Winner of the Russian National Theatre Award THE GOLDEN MASK (Jacob Jacobson, 2002; … I Am Writing to You for the First Time, 2006; When I Am Little Again, 2016), and winner of the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation named after Fyodor Volkov (2003), Evgeny has led theatres in Abakan, Tallinn, the Czech Republic and directed puppet productions for major drama companies throughout Russia and Europe. He is one of the creators of the International Ecological and Ethnic Festival of puppet theatres Chir Chayaan in Khakassia. His most recent works are dedicated to immersive theatre, in which puppets participate on a par with objects, performers, shadows, and the audience moves in the dark space that causes confusion (Don Quixote. Aftertaste, The Snow Maiden).

Nikolay Yikomov (Composer) is a composer, arranger, sound producer, and musician, authoring music and sound design for more than 100 performances and theatrical shows in Russia and Europe. Four of his performances were nominated for the highest theatrical award of Russia, the  “Golden Mask”, and several performances received the main prizes for musical arrangement at festivals in Russia and Europe. His is part of the creative union “AZIA”, the artistic director of the project “AZIA Plus” and the project “A +” at the festivals of the art song “Platform” and “Benefit”. The author of the term “modern chamber song.” He also serves as Artistic Director of multi-format festivals “Luf Parade” (Moscow), III International Valaam Festival of Orthodox Singing (Valaam Island, 2017) and as the Musical Director of the International workshop of the theater of synthesis and animation “INTERSTUDIO” (St. Petersburg, 1993-2000), the studio “Show Consulting” (St. Petersburg), and for puppet theaters in Chelyabinsk and St. Petersburg (1985-1995).

Igor Golyak (Artistic Director) is an Associate Professor at the Boston Conservatory, and has spent over a decade teaching the art of theatre. He is the founder of the Igor Golyak Acting Studio and Artistic Director of Arlekin Players Theatre which has won numerous awards in the United States and internationally and most recently an Elliot Norton award for his production of Dead Man’s Diary at Arts Emerson.  Arlekin Players Theatre is a multicultural, multi-national collaborative that is growing year to year in the number of audience members, company actors, and volunteers. His theatre has been invited to perform on famous stages and at world-renowned festivals all over the world, including Moscow Art Theatre, and festivals in Yerevan, Armenia, New York City, Chicago, Lviv, Ukraine, Monaco, and many others.  This coming fall 2019, he will be directing The Seagull at Arlekin Players Theatre and The Merchant of Venice at Actors’ Shakespeare Project.

Cast/Puppeteers:
Nana Ghukasyan, Irina Vilenchik, Julia Shikh, Polina Vaserman, Polina Dubovikova, Darya Denisova Olga Aronov, Olga Sokolova, Boris Berdnikov, Eric Andrews, Igor Golyak, Rimma Gluzman, and Alex Petetsky.

Wilma Theatre and Cherry Orchard Festival present:

AN ONLINE INTERACTIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE

State vs. Natasha Banina

“A CAPTIVATING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE!”

October 22 in English

• Produced by: Igor Golyak and Sara Stackhouse
• Co-Presented by: Wilma Theatre and Cherry Orchard Festival

---

WARNING! THIS IS A LIVE INTERACTIVE ART EXPERIENCE

She makes her case; the audience decides her fate. This is State vs. Natasha Banina.

Performed live by Darya Denisova (2020 Elliot Norton Award-winner for Outstanding Actress), State vs. Natasha Banina unfolds as a Russian teenager tells the story of her life in a small-town orphanage, and how her desire to be free led to a crime of passion. From the inside of a “Zoom court room,” she makes unique appeals to the audience/jury, letting them into her world where she dreams of love, family, and her future. Is Natasha guilty of manslaughter? You, the audience, will decide.

 

Based on Natasha’s Dream by the Russian playwright Yaroslava Pulinovich, this New York Times Critic’s Pick is a brilliant example of how live theatre can break boundaries and shock viewers even when experienced at home on a laptop. This particular event is reserved for students and educators only. You must register with a school-affiliated (.edu) email address.

---

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Meet our Artistic Team!

• Based on Natasha’s Dream by Yaroslava Pulinovich
• Performer: Darya Denisova
• Translator: John Freedman
• Director and Video Design: Igor Golyak
• Production Associate: Marianna Golyak
• Animator: Anton Iakhontov
• Music Composor: Vadim Khrapatchev
• Produced by Igor Golyak & Sara Stackhouse

—–

Darya Denisova (Natasha Banina) received the 2020 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress for Arlekin’s The Stone. She has performed as the lead actress in various Arlekin Players’ productions, including “Memorial Prayer” in 2014, “Natasha’s Dream” in 2015, “Tales of the Last Wednesday” in 2016, “Dead Man’s Diary” in 2017, “МЫ-US” in 2018, “The Stone” in 2019 and “The Seagull” in 2019. She has also traveled to several international theatre festivals to perform with Arlekin Players Theatre, including the United SOLO festival, off Broadway, New York; SOLO Festival in Moscow, Russia; HighFest theatre festival, Yerevan, Armenia with her award-winning solo performance “Natasha’s Dream.” Darya has been recognized by Boston critics and leading reviewers for her roles at Arlekin Players. She studied acting at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in Moscow, graduating in 2016. After she received her degree, she moved back to Boston to continue performing in Boston with Arlekin Players Theatre, which she joined in 2013. She has taught documentary theatre at the Startalk School at Harvard University and the Stanislavsky method at the Igor Golyak acting studio.

Igor Golyak (Director, Artistic Director) received the 2020 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director for Arlekin’s The Stone and was also nominated in the same year for his direction of Arlekin’s The Seagull. He is an Associate Professor at the Boston Conservatory, and has spent over a decade teaching the art of theatre. He is the founder of the Igor Golyak Acting Studio and Artistic Director of Arlekin Players Theatre which has won numerous awards in the United States and internationally and most recently an Elliot Norton award for his production of Dead Man’s Diary at Arts Emerson. Arlekin Players Theatre is a multicultural, multi-national collaborative that is growing year to year in the number of audience members, company actors, and volunteers. His theatre has been invited to perform on famous stages and at world-renowned festivals all over the world, including Moscow Art Theatre, and festivals in Yerevan, Armenia, New York City, Chicago, Lviv, Ukraine, Monaco, and many others.

“…A captivating theatrical experience! – Maya Phillips

See the full review at The New York Times

---

“…Exciting! A really clever production! A gripping performance! – Jared Bowen

Hear the full review at WGBH

---

“…visionary!” – Nancy Grossman

See the full review at broadwayworld.com

---

“…brilliant portrayal!” – Don Aucoin

See the full review at The Boston Globe

---

“…boldly creative!” – Ed Siegel

See the full review at WBUR