THE RUSSIAN ARTS THEATER & STUDIO
PRESENTS
NOVEMBER 11 - 26 | 8:00 PM | $30 - $65
This November, The Russian Arts Theater & Studio joins efforts with The Center at West Park in a co-production of Nikolai Gogol’s Viy. Acclaimed director Aleksey Burago adapts and stages Gogol’s most beloved horror novella at the historic and hauntingly beautiful Sanctuary Space.
Based loosely on a Ukrainian folktale, Gogol’s Viy tells the story of three wandering university students—a theologian, a rhetorician, and a philosopher. They seek lodging for the night at the house of an old woman. This woman, a witch who is also a shapeshifter, leads the young philosopher Kohma Brut on a journey that involves him in the exorcism of a wealthy Cossack’s dead daughter and the eventual confrontation with the formidable “Viy”.
Performed in English with actors Albert Baker, Michael Anne Hoffert-Cone, Luisa Menzen,
Elena Mindlina, Sarah O’Donnell, Tom Schubert, and Di Zhu. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to
Save The Children — Ukraine.
ABOUT THE RUSSIAN ARTS THEATER & STUDIO
The Russian Arts Theater & Studio is an award-winning not-for-profit 501 (c) theater company founded with the mission to preserve, promote and cultivate Russian arts, culture, and heritage through high-quality theatrical productions.
We are a community of international artists who stand in solidarity with our friends and families in Ukraine.
Headed by internationally acclaimed Russian director Aleksey Burago, TRATS has delivered numerous shows to the New York City theater community, including works by Pushkin, Gogol, Chekhov, Gorky, Bulgakov, Bunin, and much more. For more information, please visit us at www.russiantheater.org.
Past productions at The Russian Arts Theater & Studio include The Seagull, Enemies Of The People, Uncle Vanya, The Bear, Swan Song, Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita Or, The Devil Comes To Moscow, Crime and Punishment, Avenue of Wonder, House of Curiosities, Billy Bob Boils The Sea, My Uncle Chekhov, Lady With a Lapdog With Jokes And a Happy Ending, and Three Sisters.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Aleksey Burago is the Artistic Director of The Russian Arts Theater & Studio and a graduate of The Moscow Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS), where he studied under the internationally renowned theater director Pyotr Fomenko. As a theater artist, Aleksey's work has taken him to stages around the world, including Scotland, Denmark, Mexico, Turkey, and Japan.
In Russia, he has staged works for many different state theaters, including the Theater of Youth, Puskin Theater, and the Baltic House Theater. Aleksey's production of Beyond Recognition premiered at the Hermitage Theater, where it received a sold-out run and played to rave reviews. In New York, Aleksey has staged over forty productions. His latest work Lady With a Lapdog With Jokes And a Happy Ending played a sold-out run this past summer at Pushkin Hall, home to The Russian Arts Theater & Studio.
Aleksey's directorial work has received awards both in New York and abroad, including the 2010 Best One Person Show at the International United Solo Festival. In Russia, he had been awarded Best Director in the Moscow Annual Festival of Classical Plays and also the St. Petersburgh Comedy Festival. In addition to teaching Russian Theater Lab and Playing Chekhov at The Russian Arts Theater and Studio, Aleksey is also on the faculty at HB Studio and is the Director-in-Residence at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.