RAT THE LITTLE TRAGEDIES

[Bobby Mrozek <bby@earthlink.net>]

Theatre Project (Baltimore, America)

THE LITTLE TRAGEDIES
 
Theatre Project presents the International Stanislavsky Theatre Studio's 
production of Alexander Pushkin's The Little Tragedies; March 12 through 
April 11, 1999; Friday & Saturday at 8 PM, Sunday at 7 PM. Tickets are 
$15 ($12 for students and seniors).  THEATRE PROJECT, 45 W. PRESTON 
STREET (across Cathedral St. from the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall).  Call 
the Theatre Project Box Office at 410-752-8558.

About the author:  Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, (b. June 6, 1799 - d. 
Feb. 10, 1837). is Russia's greatest and most beloved poet and by far 
the most famous person of African descent in Russian history. His has 
remained the single most important influence on Russian literature, and 
his work has been admired by such Russian masters as Dostoyevsky, 
Tolstoi and Chekhov, as well as scores of 20th century masters like 
Jean-Paul Sartre and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In the year 1999, we 
celebrate the bicentennial anniversary of Pushkin's birth. UNESCO (the 
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has 
proclaimed this to be the "International Year of Alexander Pushkin." In 
Russia, the Pushkin bicentennial celebration will be one of the largest 
cultural commemorations of the century with major events in Moscow and 
St. Petersburg. In the United States, the Carnegie Hall Gala Celebration 
will be held in June in New York. 

About the play:  In September of 1830 Pushkin arrived at his family 
estate of Boldino, in east-central Russia, where he expected to remain 
only a few days. However, for three whole months he was held there in 
quarantine by an epidemic of Asiatic cholera. These three months in 
Boldino turned out to be literally the most productive of his life. 
Perhaps, the most precious and unique creation of this period became 
Pushkin's The Little Tragedies, four small masterpieces of poetic drama: 
The Miserly Knight, Mozart and Salieri, Don Juan (The Stone Guest) and 
Feast in the Time of the Plague. All four tragedies are permeated with 
strong conflicts, revealing the influence that critical moments in 
history have over the human character. In history, as well as in deeper 
layers of human existence, Pushkin sees a constant struggle between 
deadening tendencies and live, human tendencies -- those endowed with 
vibrancy and passion.

About the production:  The International Stanislavsky Theatre Studio 
conveys universal themes and characters from Pushkin's The Little 
Tragedies by merging his exquisite poetry with the inspiring arts of 
movement, pantomime, opera, dance, ballet and music by Russian 
composers. The production uses a new adaptation by STS' writer in 
residence Dr. Roland Reed of the Catholic University of America.  
According to The Washington Post, this performance "...features some of 
the most dazzling stage images to be found in a Washington theatre right 
now." The STS' two artistic directors, Andrei Malaev-Babel and Paata 
Tsikurishvili, "...make the evening a fanciful wonder." Choreographed by 
Irina Tsikurshvili and designed by Evgeniya Luzhina-Salazar, The Little 
Tragedies are "...constantly provoking and engaging the imagination."  
This production of The Little Tragedies is produced with the help of the 
STS Corporate Sponsor, Booz€Allen & Hamilton, Inc.

"The Stanislavsky Theatre Studio's production of Alexander Pushkin's The 
Little Tragedies features some of the most dazzling stage images to be 
found in a Washington Theatre right now. Strikingly stylized, the 
production creates a visual language that is richly sensual. While the 
tragedies are little indeed, they gain stature with this often startling 
staging.    -- Wm Triplet, The Washington Post  12/10/98

"With fluttering hands representing flickering candles and vault doors 
made of female torsos, the [play] is awash in cleverness.  Certainly 
STS' work will strike area theatergoers as a bracing change from the 
essentially Western work produced on most area stages.  I can think of 
only a couple of local directors who emphasize visuals so strongly." -- 
Bob Mondello, Washington City Paper (12/11/98)