London Premiere of Maly Drama Theatre
Date: 23 April 1998
The renowned Russian theatre company, the Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg, will receive its London premiere at the Barbican this summer as part of BITE:98, the Centre's international theatre event.
From 27 June to 4 July 1998, the company will perform its three-part epic dramatisation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Possessed which chronicles the life and political ferment in pre-revolutionary Russia. The production, previously unseen in England, was adapted by Maly's artistic director Lev Dodin and presented in Glasgow in 1994.
The Maly is unique in the length of time that productions remain in the repertoire. The Possessed - with its cast of 48 actors, many of whom have been with the company for decades - was rehearsed for three years before joining the repertoire in 1991.
The entire piece totals seven and a half hours and will be staged five times in ten days at the Barbican. It will be performed in Russian with English surtitles. To add to the Russian experience, a variety of Russian delicacies, from vodka to blinis, will be on sale during the hour long intervals between each part.
The Maly Drama Theatre was founded in 1944 as a small local theatre company. Lev Dodin, appointed in 1983, developed the group into an international ensemble. It first came to Britain in 1988 with Galin's Stars in The Morning Sky which won an Olivier Award.
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