Francophone Slant to Chekhov Theater Festival

If it works once, it's worth repeating. That is a motto that might describe the 8th Chekhov International Theater Festival in Moscow — although only in part.

Several popular participants from years gone by will be at the center of this year's events that run until the early days of August. They include German choreographer extraordinaire Pina Bausch with her Wuppertal Dance Theater, Canadian theatrical wizard Robert Lepage with his Ex Machina Theater, the British choreographer Matthew Bourne and the remarkable Bartabas with his Zingaro Equestrian theater from France.

But there will also be plenty that is new at this festival, which features top international theater companies in extended Moscow and runs every other summer. The festival this year is generally focused on Frankophone productions led by Zingaro, the Compagnie Philippe Genty, and several productions involving Victoria Chaplin, Jean-Baptiste Thierree and their accomplished children.

In all, over a period of 11 weeks, the Chekhov Festival will present 22 productions from 11 countries as far-flung as Taiwan, Chile and Australia. The reigning style is theater-as-spectacle, featuring innovative combinations of circus, opera, music hall, film, dance, puppetry and acrobatics. For this running of the festival, at least, the good, old-fashioned dramatic play seems to have gone extinct.

Zingaro, whose performances have become a fixture at the Chekhov Festival, kicked off the festivities Tuesday with the first of 10 performances that will be held rain or shine under a big tent on the lowlands of the Kolomenskoye outdoor museum and park. "Battuta," playing through June 7, is an exploration of themes drawn from the Gypsy traditions of Moldova and Romania. Its stars are the extraordinary horses and the acrobatic riders who work with them. Joining them for this show are musical groups from Moldova and Transylvania.

Chekhov Festival Robert Lepage, who wowed the 2007 festival, will show his epic "Lipsynch."

Compagnie Philippe Genty and Thierree and Chaplin's "Le Cirque Invisible" both open runs on Monday at different venues.

Genty, who invariably works with his partner Mary Underwood, is something of a theatrical magician. His works are beautiful, cinematic and highly suggestive of a dream world gone marvelously haywire. "Boliloc," running Monday to June 12 at the Pushkin Theater, explores a puppet collection that takes on a life of its own and recreates the world around it.

"Le Cirque Invisible" has been called the inspiration for the now world-famous Cirque de Soleil. It is the latest incarnation of a travelling circus act created, run and performed by Thierree and Chaplin, the daughter of film legend Charlie Chaplin. Their performances consist of skits featuring strange and humorous events or transformations ?€” such as when Chaplin, in a few simple movements, turns from a staid 18th-century society woman into a trotting show horse. Chaplin and Thierree will perform at the Mossoviet Theater through June 13.

Chekhov Festival "Navigator," described as an "alchemical dream opera," runs June 25-27.

The Chaplin-Thierree family link will continue in mid-June with separate performances featuring the couple's son James Thierree and daughter Aurelia Thierree.

James Thierree has earned enthusiastic press in recent years with tours of his production of "Au Revoire Paralpluie," or, "Farewell Umbrella," to the United States and other countries. Following a performance in Chicago in late 2007, the critic for the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Thierree's work has a post-apocalyptic sensibility ?€” it's about the little guy poking his head out of the rubble and trying to make sense of a world gone recklessly awry." "Au Revoire Parapluie" runs from June 15 to 30 at the Maly Theater.

"Aurelia's Oratorio," playing June 15 to 27 at the Pushkin Theater, is a piece written and directed by Victoria Chaplin for her daughter. In it, Aurelia shows off some of the lessons she has learned over the years working for her parents, performing in cabarets in Berlin and touring with the Tiger Lillies pop band in "The Tiger Lillies Circus." "Aurelia's Oratorio" was described in Edge Boston as "dreamlike and enchanting" and being "akin to living inside a glass of champagne."

Sandwiched in between the works of the Thierree clan will be relatively brief appearances by theaters bringing in the first works from outside the French sphere of influence. The Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan performs its production of "Cursive" at the Maly Theater from Wednesday to June 4. This is a visually striking work that combines elements of contemporary dance with the images of ancient Chinese calligraphy.

Following "Cursive" at the Maly from June 9 to 11 will be the Royal Dramatic Theater of Stockholm, Sweden, with Mats Ek's production of August Strindberg's "A Dream Play." This modern adaptation created by Ek and Irena Kraus features elements of puppetry, shadow theater and dance to tell the story of a young woman journeying out into the big, wide world.

Chekhov Festival Inspired by Gypsy music, the Zingaro equestrian troupe performs "Battuta."

Robert Lepage achieved rock-star status with four productions he brought to Moscow for the Chekhov Festival in 2007. The ticket demand was every bit as fervent as the critical acclaim that was heaped on the works. His imaginative "The Far Side of the Moon" was awarded a Golden Mask in 2008 as the best touring production in Moscow during the previous season.

This year, Lepage brings just one show, "Lipsynch," a three-part, nine-hour epic, which runs July 25 to Aug. 2 on the new large stage at the Fomenko Studio. "Lipsynch" traces the lives of a large number of people coming into contact by chance or design over a large geographical territory. Just some of the characters are an Austrian-Canadian singer, a baby from Nicaragua, a German neurologist, a Scottish detective and a French voice-over artist. In this ever-shifting tale, minor characters suddenly become major players; a seeming chance detour becomes the core of a new story.

Lepage is a master of putting cutting-edge computer and industrial technology at the service of theater, and this show is no exception. Its settings transform quickly from the inside of airliners to subway cars to apartment houses. "RovLipsynch" has not been greeted with the unanimous praise that most of the director's earlier work has earned, although that has not dampened the enthusiasm of his hordes of fans.

Matthew Bourne, another star of festivals past, roars into town July 28 with his latest work, a radical reinvention of Oscar Wilde's "Dorian Gray," originally produced for Bourne's New Adventures company. This dark and challenging tale with original music composed by Terry Davies takes on the topic of the celebrity culture in the modern world. It plays through Aug. 2 at the Mossoviet Theater.

As always, the variety of the Chekhov Festival is as striking as it is endless.

"Navigator," created by Liza Lim and Patricia Sykes for the Brisbane Festival and Melbourne International Arts Festival, and running June 25 to 27 at the Fomenko Studio, is described as an "alchemical dream opera." "The Overcoat," an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's short story playing June 22 to 26 on the stage of the Pushkin Theater affiliate, is a puppet work created by Teatro Milagros of Chile. "Secret" by Johann Le Guillerm's Cirque Ici presents a circus work of "unprecedented eccentricity" (Le Figaro) under the big cover at Kolomenskoye from July 7 to 27.

The 8th Chekhov International Theater Festival runs through Aug. 2 at various venues. Box office located at 21/1 Leontyevsky Pereulok. Tel. 223-9650; 223-9651. See The Moscow Times weekly listings or go to www.chekhovfest.ru.