At the age of 15, the Golden Mask festival is showing impressive signs of maturation. When it officially kicks off Friday with two competition productions, this year's showcase honoring the best that Russia has to offer in drama, musical theater, dance and puppetry will be the biggest and most varied of any that has come before. It's so big, in fact, it feels like a whole new enterprise.
Gone are the days when the Golden Mask meant a bunch of shows from a few Russian cities competing in Moscow for a handful of awards. These days, it is a conglomeration of events that runs nearly two months in length, spilling over boundaries of genre and even the festival's own timeline. Although the calendar declares that Friday is the certified opener of festivities, numerous programs have been underway since early March. And although the festival concludes with an awards ceremony on April 18 at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, it actually will continue through to the final days of April. The Golden Mask these days is a whole village of bustling activity.
New to the festival are segments designated as Mask Plus, Legendary Productions and Names of the 20th Century. Both allow for a significant increase in variety in the festival's offerings. None of these shows are entered in the competition, but they provide an added perspective to the picture of Russian theater and its place in the world community.
The Legendary Production entries feature dance pieces from Europe that have made a lasting contribution to world theater history. Several shows have already come and gone, but Friday and Saturday on the new stage of the Fomenko Studio, the Holland Dance Festival presents its famous "Last Touch First." On Sunday, the Bolshoi Theater hosts two performances of "Impressing the Czar" by the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
The Mask Plus entries, which also began in early March, include not only Russian productions but also works from Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia and Latvia. This is an attempt to embrace the territory of theater made in Russian but beyond Russia's borders. Mask Plus winds up in late April with four performances of two shows by the famous Ilkhom Theater of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, one of the most respected of all Russian-language venues in the world. This theater, whose founder Mark Weil was murdered outside his Tashkent apartment in 2007, will bring two of Weil's productions, "Rites with a Pomegranate" and "Orestea," to the Meyerhold Center from April 22 to 27.
In a lead-up to the official beginning of the festival, Wednesday features a rich day of Mask Plus productions. Nikolai Gogol's "The Gamblers" by the Estonian Puppet and Youth Theater plays at 4 and 8 p.m. at the Meyerhold Center. The Estonia National Opera of Tallinn performs its production of "Hamlet. Changeling" at 7 p.m. at the Novaya Opera Theater.
If all of this were not enough, the Golden Mask will continue to host the popular Russian Case festival, a concentrated festival within the festival for some 100 visitors from around the world. Russian Case, featuring a selection from the Golden Mask competition list, as well as some of Moscow's best recent shows, runs April 9 to 13.
The PRO-Theater fair, entering its fourth year of existence, will feature expositions of over 80 Russian theaters offering information about their work at the Central House of Artists from April 3 to 5.
And yet, despite all that is going on under the umbrella of the Golden Mask name, it is still the Golden Mask competition that is the true magnet for public attention and professional interest. As always, the productions competing for awards were selected from the previous season's offerings. All of this year's participating shows premiered during the 2007-2008 season.
The festival's competition features 48 shows from 16 Russian cities, some as far-flung as Yakutsk, Ulan-Ude and Neryungri in the republic of Sakha. A 49th show, a ballet titled "Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion," is listed as a joint project of the United States and Russia. There is little surprise that Moscow and St. Petersburg dominate the proceedings with 13 and 14 nominated productions, respectively. But Yekaterinburg, a major cultural center, is also represented by five nominations, three in the field of contemporary dance.
The biggest of all the fields is that of dramatic theater, where 16 shows will tussle for recognition in two categories — best large-scale production and best small-scale production. A whopping 14 directors are nominated for top honors in that category, while eight actresses and 11 actors will vie for awards in their categories.
Perennial nominees and automatic favorites include Lev Dodin and his production of William Shakespeare's "Love's Labors Lost" for the Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg; Pyotr Fomenko with Alexander Ostrovsky's "Without A Dowry" for the Fomenko Studio in Moscow; Sergei Zhenovach with his dramatization of Charles Dickens' novel "The Battle of Life" for Moscow's Studio of Theater Art; and Kama Ginkas with Bernard-Marie Koltes' "Roberto Zucco" for the Moscow Theater Yunogo Zritelya.
The competition this year will be stiff in the drama categories, however. It is far more diverse than ever before, with some entries coming from as far as Barnaul ("Woyceck" by the Shukshin Drama Theater of Altai), Samara ("Colonel Bird" by the Gorky Drama Theater) and Krasnoyarsk ("The Seagull" by the Pushkin Drama Theater). One production, "The Seagull" by the Alexandrinsky Theater of St. Petersburg, has a strong Polish flavor, as it was staged by the renowned Polish director Krystian Lupa. One Moscow entry, Alexei Borodin's "The Coast of Utopia" for the National Youth Theater, has a strong British connection. The play was written by Tom Stoppard, who took an active part in the show's rehearsals.
The art of puppet theater is as strong in Russia as in any country in the world, and each year the Golden Mask reminds us of that. Although the shows on display will surely delight any child, they are anything but mere kid's theater. This is an art form developed to the highest degree. This year's offerings represent an array of styles and geographical locations. The Ognivo Puppet Theater of the Moscow suburb of Mytishchi helps do the honors of opening the festival on Friday with a performance of "The Cherry Orchard" on its home stage just north of the Moscow city line. Other puppet troupes will come in from Petrozavodsk, Abakan, St. Petersburg and Neryungri.
In the Experiment category, shows that break down traditional laws of genre and style will be represented. "Liquidation," produced by the Liquid Theater of Moscow and Chelyabinsk, is as much a happening as a theater piece. "Cappricio" by the Gulliver Theater of Kurgan, is described by its maker Viktor Plotnikov as a "ballet of marionettes." The Theater Yunogo Zritelya of Yakutsk presents its production of "The Merciful Knight," an innovative reworking of national Yakut epic myths.
There is no telling what surprises this year's Golden Mask will bring. But one thing is certain ?€” after a decade and a half on the boards, this showcase of theatrical treasures keeps growing and changing. That sounds like a recipe for success.
The Golden Mask festival opens Friday and runs at various venues through April 17. Follow The Moscow Times' What's On section on Thursdays for details. Tel. 662-5352. www.goldenmask.ru/a>.
Gone are the days when the Golden Mask meant a bunch of shows from a few Russian cities competing in Moscow for a handful of awards. These days, it is a conglomeration of events that runs nearly two months in length, spilling over boundaries of genre and even the festival's own timeline. Although the calendar declares that Friday is the certified opener of festivities, numerous programs have been underway since early March. And although the festival concludes with an awards ceremony on April 18 at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, it actually will continue through to the final days of April. The Golden Mask these days is a whole village of bustling activity.
New to the festival are segments designated as Mask Plus, Legendary Productions and Names of the 20th Century. Both allow for a significant increase in variety in the festival's offerings. None of these shows are entered in the competition, but they provide an added perspective to the picture of Russian theater and its place in the world community.
The Legendary Production entries feature dance pieces from Europe that have made a lasting contribution to world theater history. Several shows have already come and gone, but Friday and Saturday on the new stage of the Fomenko Studio, the Holland Dance Festival presents its famous "Last Touch First." On Sunday, the Bolshoi Theater hosts two performances of "Impressing the Czar" by the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
Golden Mask
The festival lasts almost two months and hosts shows from all over Russia.
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The Mask Plus entries, which also began in early March, include not only Russian productions but also works from Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia and Latvia. This is an attempt to embrace the territory of theater made in Russian but beyond Russia's borders. Mask Plus winds up in late April with four performances of two shows by the famous Ilkhom Theater of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, one of the most respected of all Russian-language venues in the world. This theater, whose founder Mark Weil was murdered outside his Tashkent apartment in 2007, will bring two of Weil's productions, "Rites with a Pomegranate" and "Orestea," to the Meyerhold Center from April 22 to 27.
In a lead-up to the official beginning of the festival, Wednesday features a rich day of Mask Plus productions. Nikolai Gogol's "The Gamblers" by the Estonian Puppet and Youth Theater plays at 4 and 8 p.m. at the Meyerhold Center. The Estonia National Opera of Tallinn performs its production of "Hamlet. Changeling" at 7 p.m. at the Novaya Opera Theater.
If all of this were not enough, the Golden Mask will continue to host the popular Russian Case festival, a concentrated festival within the festival for some 100 visitors from around the world. Russian Case, featuring a selection from the Golden Mask competition list, as well as some of Moscow's best recent shows, runs April 9 to 13.
The PRO-Theater fair, entering its fourth year of existence, will feature expositions of over 80 Russian theaters offering information about their work at the Central House of Artists from April 3 to 5.
And yet, despite all that is going on under the umbrella of the Golden Mask name, it is still the Golden Mask competition that is the true magnet for public attention and professional interest. As always, the productions competing for awards were selected from the previous season's offerings. All of this year's participating shows premiered during the 2007-2008 season.
The festival's competition features 48 shows from 16 Russian cities, some as far-flung as Yakutsk, Ulan-Ude and Neryungri in the republic of Sakha. A 49th show, a ballet titled "Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion," is listed as a joint project of the United States and Russia. There is little surprise that Moscow and St. Petersburg dominate the proceedings with 13 and 14 nominated productions, respectively. But Yekaterinburg, a major cultural center, is also represented by five nominations, three in the field of contemporary dance.
Golden Mask
The Bolshoi Puppet Theater from St. Petersburg will perform "Kholstomer: A History of a Horse" at the festival.
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The biggest of all the fields is that of dramatic theater, where 16 shows will tussle for recognition in two categories — best large-scale production and best small-scale production. A whopping 14 directors are nominated for top honors in that category, while eight actresses and 11 actors will vie for awards in their categories.
Perennial nominees and automatic favorites include Lev Dodin and his production of William Shakespeare's "Love's Labors Lost" for the Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg; Pyotr Fomenko with Alexander Ostrovsky's "Without A Dowry" for the Fomenko Studio in Moscow; Sergei Zhenovach with his dramatization of Charles Dickens' novel "The Battle of Life" for Moscow's Studio of Theater Art; and Kama Ginkas with Bernard-Marie Koltes' "Roberto Zucco" for the Moscow Theater Yunogo Zritelya.
The competition this year will be stiff in the drama categories, however. It is far more diverse than ever before, with some entries coming from as far as Barnaul ("Woyceck" by the Shukshin Drama Theater of Altai), Samara ("Colonel Bird" by the Gorky Drama Theater) and Krasnoyarsk ("The Seagull" by the Pushkin Drama Theater). One production, "The Seagull" by the Alexandrinsky Theater of St. Petersburg, has a strong Polish flavor, as it was staged by the renowned Polish director Krystian Lupa. One Moscow entry, Alexei Borodin's "The Coast of Utopia" for the National Youth Theater, has a strong British connection. The play was written by Tom Stoppard, who took an active part in the show's rehearsals.
The art of puppet theater is as strong in Russia as in any country in the world, and each year the Golden Mask reminds us of that. Although the shows on display will surely delight any child, they are anything but mere kid's theater. This is an art form developed to the highest degree. This year's offerings represent an array of styles and geographical locations. The Ognivo Puppet Theater of the Moscow suburb of Mytishchi helps do the honors of opening the festival on Friday with a performance of "The Cherry Orchard" on its home stage just north of the Moscow city line. Other puppet troupes will come in from Petrozavodsk, Abakan, St. Petersburg and Neryungri.
In the Experiment category, shows that break down traditional laws of genre and style will be represented. "Liquidation," produced by the Liquid Theater of Moscow and Chelyabinsk, is as much a happening as a theater piece. "Cappricio" by the Gulliver Theater of Kurgan, is described by its maker Viktor Plotnikov as a "ballet of marionettes." The Theater Yunogo Zritelya of Yakutsk presents its production of "The Merciful Knight," an innovative reworking of national Yakut epic myths.
There is no telling what surprises this year's Golden Mask will bring. But one thing is certain ?€” after a decade and a half on the boards, this showcase of theatrical treasures keeps growing and changing. That sounds like a recipe for success.
The Golden Mask festival opens Friday and runs at various venues through April 17. Follow The Moscow Times' What's On section on Thursdays for details. Tel. 662-5352. www.goldenmask.ru/a>.
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