About
Arlekin Players Theatre present:
AN ONLINE INTERACTIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE
State vs. Natasha Banina
“A CAPTIVATING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE!”
Produced by: Igor Golyak and Sara Stackhouse
To book State vs. Natasha Banina for your university students, contact Mark Soucy
- Mark W. Soucy
- Theatre Manager
- c: 978-289-9887
Past Educational Partnerships
Discounted Show for Students and Educators: September 20th
Boston University: September 23rd at 8:30 PM
Boston Conservatory: September 25th at 8:30 PM
Middlebury College: October 24th at 8 PM
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.
For Educators
WORKSHOP & PERFORMANCE OFFERINGS
“I’ve watched dozens of livestreamed presentations during the pandemic lockdown, from dance, theater, and music to literature, art, and political discussions. But the future of online productions might be best represented so far by Arlekin Players Theatre’s “State vs. Natasha Banina…”
This Week in New York
Conceived and developed during the time of the COVID pandemic, Arlekin Players’ “State vs Natasha Banina” has captured the imaginations of audiences, theater artists and critics around the world. Devised in a living room in a 4×6 space, Arlekin’s Artistic Director cooked up an innovative use of technologies and applied it to an artistic piece, performed by Eliot Norton Award Winner Darya Denisova, that defies genre and works at the cutting edge of theater.
WORKSHOP & PERFORMANCE OFFERINGS
For higher education, high schools, and theater programs
Live Virtual Performance “State vs Natasha Banina”
WARNING! THIS IS A LIVE INTERACTIVE ART EXPERIMENT.
In telling the story of Natasha Banina, performed live by Darya Denisova (2020 Elliot Norton Award-winner for Outstanding Actress by the Boston Critics Association), Denisova will interact with the audience as the jurors who decide her fate. In State vs Natasha Banina (based on Natasha’s Dream by Yaroslava Pulinovich), a girl tells the story of her life in a small-town orphanage, and her desire to be free; break out of her world. From the inside of a “ZOOM” court room, she will make twists and turns through her unique appeal to audiences as the jurors, letting them into her world where she dreams about love, family, acceptance, adjusting and her future. Ultimately the two worlds collide and you get to decide her fate.
A CAPTIVATING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE!
the New York Times Critics’ Pick
Virtual Talk Back with actress Darya Denisova and director Igor Golyak
Customized and moderated for your students or audience (included with performance).
Directing & Producing in the Cloud Workshop
- Required Preparation: See “The State vs. Natasha Banina” (September 20th)
- Recommended Preparation: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
We are in an unprecedented chapter of human distancing and isolation. As theater makers, how do we move forward? In this 2 hour session, designed by Igor Golyak, Arlekin Artistic Director and the innovator behind “The State vs. Natasha Banina”, and Boston University directing MFA student Blair Cadden, Arlekin will share and discuss video examples based on Natasha (a 1-woman play) and Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull.. The group will discuss and explore how to choose resonant material and how to choose and modify the right technologies to create meaningful live art experiences. Arlekin will also share some basic Virtual Theater technology solutions for artists and classrooms.
Customized Interdisciplinary Panels & Discussions
Arlekin Players can work with your theater department, or with your theater department in collaboration with other disciplines, programs and departments (such as literature, social studies, social justice, law, media arts) to customize a panel, discussion, or interactive class to explore themes and ideas related to “Natasha” that are germane to your students.
Possible topics/intersections:
- Guilty of Innocent: Imperfect Justice & How Systems Affect Young People
- An Examination of Justice in Literature: No Exit, Stranger, Crime and Punishment, The Plague
- International Justice: Politics and justice systems in Russia and the US
- Immigrant Voices & Stories Surveillance and Media
- Other Topics to be co-designed
PRICING FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
- Performance & Talk Back $1800 Performance
- Talk Back & Workshop $2200 Performance
- Talk Back, Workshop & Customized Panel/Discussion $2500
Information & Scheduling | saraestackhouse@gmail.com
Gallery
Artistic Team
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
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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.
Critics' Reviews