Kyiv Experimental Theatre :: лЙ§ЧУШЛЙК еЛУРЕТЙНЕОФБМШОЙК фЕБФТ

Indoors
Drama performances

S. Beckett
Waiting for Godot

Premiere in the Ukrainian language
Translation from English by Volodymyr Dibrova and Bridget Fleischman
1996 production

	Director - Alla Zamanska Artist - O. Novykova Cast of characters: Estragon - Anatoli Petrov Vladimir - Yaroslav Chornenky Pozzo - Valeri Lehin Lucky - Taras Rudenko Boy - Tetiana Shuran
	"If I was to choose one play from the festival program, I would undoubtedly pick Zamanska's production of Godot. Watching Petrov's and Chornenky's acting, I realised within minutes that this was not only the best Godot but also the best Beckett of all the ones I ever knew... I was constantly aware that Beckett's words are not at all absurd for the Kyiv actors, but absolutely real. For me, their acting represented an uncommonly strong desire not to disappear, to remain alive. I saw the same kind of live energy on stage as you see in the streets and railway stations. Moreover, only twice in my life have I witnessed such energy on stage. This type of production did not cheapen the poetry of the text; on the contrary, its language-replete with stuttering, accelerated dialogue rhythms, and improvisation-transformed the well-worn prose literary text into resounding poetry". - Varsegy Tibor, Ellen feny (Hungary), No. 1, 1997
	"In the production by the Kyiv Experimental Theatre, the protagonists manage to free themselves from the trap of the circulatory theme by concentrating not on desiring the Mysterious Unattainable, but on their own interaction. As a result, Godot becomes nearly unnecessary... Estragon-Petrov and Vladimir-Chornenky consider one another's moods to be of paramount importance, and therein lies the optimism of the play". - Valentyna Hrytsuk, Kino-Teatr, No. 2, 1999. Seven persons perform in the show. Duration - 130 min. Scenery consists of a post and a barrel. Also six spotlights and 80 square metered ground are needed.

Eugene Ionesco
The Bald Opera Singer

1998 production translated from the French by Volodymyr Dibrova
Performance is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of student revolt of 1968 in Paris

Ionesco's anti-play Author of the performance - Larisa Paris (Moscow) Music by Deep Purple, Chopin, Joe Cocker, Paco de Lucia Cast of characters: Mrs. Smith - Valeri Lehin Mr. Smith - Anatoli Petrov Mrs. Martin - Yurko Yatsenko Mr. Martin - Taras Rudenko Mary - Viktoria Avdeenko Chief fireman - Tetiana Shuran
	"Wit! That's the main feature of Ionesco's work, though too often we here treated him like, say, Sartre-far too seriously... The Bald Opera Singer as performed by the Experimental Theatre is primarily intended to persuade people to use common sense by means of absurdity. And, I would add, in the most absurd means possible-transforming the most terrifying, stupid events of everyday life into searing ones... By taking 'bad humor' to its totally absurd extreme we can extract the joy of being. Lehin (Mrs. Smith) and Petrov (Mr. Smith), twisting normal logic into something perverse, are convinced that at the very moment the doorbell is ringing, there is no-one there!" - Bohdan Zholdak, Kino-Teatr, No. 5, 1998.
"In today's theatre territory in Kyiv it is difficult to find anything as witty, life-affirming, and not vulgar. We laugh at the 'English water' and 'English oil' of Mrs. Smith, but (in only about two performances) this extravagantly standard lady has already become so near and dear to us! We like these Smiths, the 'besotted old idiots', and also the lighthearted, absentminded Martins, who in pirouetting about manage to lose each other at every moment, only in order to find one another the next". - Valentyna Hrytsuk, Kino-Teatr, No. 2, 1999.

This production was nominated for the 1998 Kyiv Pectoral awards in the categories Best Production, Best Actress (Lehin), Best Supporting Actress (Avdeenko), and Best Stage Direction (Paris).

Peter Hach's
Amphitrion

1998 production based on Peter Hach's philosophical comedy, translated from German by Serhij Borschevsky. Supported by the Goethe Institut (Kyiv).

Director - Anatoli Ihnatusha Artist - Volodymyr Karashevsky Choreography - Volodymyr Shpudeiko Cast of characters: Amphitrion - Anatoli Petrov Alkmena - Viktoria Avdeenko Jupiter - Valeri Lehin Mercury - Taras Rudenko Night - Tetiana Shuran Socinus - Yaroslav Chornenky .
	"If the viewer is not already familiar with the play, it is difficult to understand the main subject line... If not for this mistake, however, the director would have never been able to succeed with this traditional comedy interspersed with choreographic-erotic episodes. Because the scenographer and the actors, ignoring the director, would have emphasised only the philosophical in the play, not the comic...". - Valentyna Hrytsuk, Kino-Teatr, No. 1, 1999.
"They are not simply actors-they're a small, enigmatic tribe unto themselves that has managed to establish its own nation, about the size of a wigwam". - V. Hrynkevych, Den', December 1, 1998. 1998 Kyiv Pectoral award - Best Stage Design (Volodymyr Karashevsky)

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