Stage Russia and Pushkin House are proud to present an online screening of Dmitry Krymov’s production of Boris. The recording of the play will be available to watch on demand from Friday 26 November — Sunday 28 November, and at 6pm GMT on Sunday 28 November join us for a live conversation over Zoom with producer Leonid Roberman and actor Maria Smolnikova, in conversation with Professor Michael Earley.
Based on the play Boris Godunov by Alexander Pushkin, Dmitry Krymov’s Boris is a metaphor about the fate of Russia, its rulers and eternal values, subverting its ideas behind the cover of Pushkin’s text to show a direct line of the current governance of Russia with its imperial past, as well as all the myths on which Russian identity now rests. A flying raven, a poet, a folk choir, saints and sinners, living and dead - all come to life in the twilight of the Provision Warehouses of the Moscow Museum in this new interpretation of a classic work by one of the world’s most renowned stage directors. Featuring Mikhail Filippov, Viktoriya Isakova, Maria Smolnikova and 2021 Golden Mask Award-winner, Timofey Trubuntsev.
Boris has a 96 minute running time (no intermission), in Russian with English subtitles. The Q&A will be conducted in English with a Russian translation.
"Dmitry Krymov is one of the world's finest theatermakers". The New York Times
Dmitry Krymov graduated from the Moscow Art School Studio in 1976, after which he started work at the Malaya Bronnaya Theatre. There, as a set designer, he participated in productions by his renowned father, director Anatoly Efros, but he quickly established a considerable reputation through his own distinctive efforts as a designer on over a hundred Moscow productions in the Mossoviet, Mayakovsky, Stanislavsky, Gogol and Yermolova theatres. In 2002, at age 48, he embarked on a new career as a director. Since then, his productions have won seven Golden Mask awards and his Dmitry Krymov Laboratory has performed in Brazil, the US, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Estonia among many other countries. Krymov is a holder of a Crystal Turandot and a Stanislavsky award, and awards from international theatre festivals, including the Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award from the Edinburgh International Festival.
Leonid Roberman began his career as a student in the directing department of Moscow's revered theatre university, GITIS. He went on to teach at the Seville Theater Academy in Spain, and also worked in France and Germany. In 1996 he founded the theatrical agency Art-Partner. Today the name Leonid Roberman on a theatre poster speaks volumes to the quality of the production. He has collaborated with a Who's Who of great directors, including Rimas Tuminas, Dmitry Krymov, Roman Viktyuk, Maxim Didenko, Sergey Yursky, Konstantin Bogomolov and Marina Brusnikina.
Maria Smolnikova was born in the city of Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) on December 17, 1987. She spent her early acting years performing in the Theater of Youth in Nizhny Novgorod, and soon thereafter entered the Russian University of Theatrical Arts (GITIS), in a course under the joint direction of Evgeny Kamenkovich and Dmitry Krymov. She has been working steadily as an actress since 2008, particularly in numerous collaborations with Krymov. Having already won two Golden Mask Awards and accolades in many other roles, she is considered by many to be one of the finest actresses of her generation. Currently Maria is studying direction on the GITIS post-graduate course and teaches an acting class in the course of Evgeny Kamenkovich and Dmitry Krymov.
Michael Earley is academic adviser for Stage Russia. He is writing a new book about the relationship between Russian theatre directors and revolutionary innovators Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold. Currently, Michael is Visiting Professor of Theatre at Harlaxton College, UK. He was previously Dean of Performing Arts and Professor of Drama and Theatre at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, and Professor of Drama, Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in Sidcup. An American by birth, Michael had an extensive career in the United States where he was Assistant Professor and Director of the undergraduate Theatre Studies Program at Yale University and on the faculty of the Drama Department at the Juilliard School and also at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. As Chief Producer of Plays for BBC Radio Drama he directed over 50 productions for broadcast over Radio 3 and Radio 4.