http://www.themoscowtimes.com/arts_n_ideas/article/english-language-theater-to-start-in-moscow/476814.html
English-Language Theater to Start in Moscow
12 March 2013 | Issue 5086
By Lena Smirnova
When Royal Shakespeare Company alum Jonathan Bex realized he
was spending a lot of time in Moscow but had little hope of acting in any of
the city's many theaters, he came up with a creative solution. He decided to
start a theater company that would offer exclusively English-language
productions to local audiences.
Moscow English Theater will bring professional actors from Britain to stage contemporary British and
American drama in Moscow.
All the plays will be performed in English, with the first production set to
premiere this weekend.
For this premiere, Bex chose Willy Russell's two-person
comedy "Educating Rita," in which he also plays the leading role
along with Emma Dallow.
"I realized that I wouldn't be able to get any work in
Russian theater unless I could stand in the background and hold drink trays and
occasionally say 'do svidaniya,'" Bex said.
Thanks to Moscow English Theater, Bex does not have to hold
drink trays, but instead consumes liqueur while teaching English literature,
and at a university level, no less.
The popular play "Educating Rita," which is even
included in some school curriculums in Britain, looks at a 26-year-old
hairdresser who enrolls in an English literature college course to escape her
daily routine and improve her prospects. Her tutor is a 50-year-old
disillusioned academic who stashes whiskey in his office and prefers to teach
classes from a pub.
Rita becomes a breath of fresh air to his life, and their
year-long relationship sees many touching and educational moments.
"It's such a massive honor for me to perform here
because in the West, in England,
Russian theater is the vanguard of everything perceived as being the
best," Dallow said of the high expectations set for actors in Russia.
"It's so exciting for me but also a massive pressure on my shoulders. I
have to be the best I've ever been in this show."
The company's first project is meant to test how much demand
there is in Moscow
for English-language theater, so they've purposefully taken a small-scale venue
to limit the risk. The play will be performed at the 90-seat small stage of the
Mayakovsky Theater, with just enough set furniture to make it look like an
academic environment.
An unexpected obstacle arose when the actors realized that
the bookcases on the Mayakovsky set were stacked with Russian books, but here
they are also managed to find a low-budget solution. Bex and Dallow carted some
English books over on their flights to Moscow,
and Dallow's boyfriend will help out with another batch when he arrives ahead
of the weekend's performances.
"I didn't know how it would sell," Bex said.
"I worried, 'Will we lose loads of money, or will there be an audience out
there?' Our hope is that the audience will come along to see a professional
show."
The response, so far, has been positive. Most shows have
almost sold out, with native Russians buying many of the tickets. According to
Bex, this shows that English-language theater can find a good audience among
the younger generations of Russians who are fluent in English and have been
raised in a country with an extensive theater history.
In the future, Moscow English Theater hopes to rent out
larger venues and expand its budget. There will be about three to four shows
produced per year, with the next play most likely seeing its debut in the fall.
Bex is also looking into ways to bring existing English-language shows to Russia.
Future productions could include "Bouncers,"
"Woman in Black" and "Incident at the Border," depending on
how successful Bex is at getting the rights. The focus, as with all Moscow
English Theater productions, will be on contemporary drama.
Classical drama is already well covered in Moscow, so the company wants to stage plays
that resonate with contemporary themes, Bex explained.
"There's a lot of change in Russia at the moment, with the
younger generation and the street marches back in 2012," Dallow said.
"Theater and art, they're a forum where we try to move with that. So,
simply doing classics all the time is a bit of a regurgitation."
Bex did not rule out that Russian actors with fluent English
may eventually be invited to take part in the productions, but he added that
the main actors would still be British. The theater company could then keep its
unique selling point, which is particularly enticing to audience members who
want to listen to native speakers and get a taste of British theater.
"I hope that people will go, 'Hey, British theater is
engaging. It's thought-provoking and entertaining all in the same
breath,'" Bex said. "If we can achieve that, we'd be ambassadors for Britain."
"Educating Rita" plays on March 16 and 17 at 2
p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Mayakovsky Theater, located at 19/13 Bolshaya Nikitskaya
Ulitsa. Metro Tverskaya, Pushkinskaya, Chekhovskaya. Phone: +7 495-690-4658.
www.mayakovsky.ru.
Contact the author at e.smirnova@imedia.ru