"A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Puss in Boots". What other premieres are planned at the Vitebsk Drama Theater?
It opened last Tuesday, as is traditional, with the play "Nesterka," which turned 78 this year. The title role was played by leading stage master Pyotr Laman, who celebrated his anniversary in July. So Nesterka was the beneficiary this time, and he was creatively supported by the theatre's artistic director Mikhail Krasnobayev, who recalled his stage youth and performed the role of the Scholar.
By the way, the current season is rich in actors' anniversaries. Round dates will be celebrated by Gennady Gaiduk, Galina Bukatina, Georgy Loyko, Vyacheslav Grushov. Viktor Dashkevich will celebrate his 75th birthday, and Tadeusz Kokshis will celebrate his 85th birthday.
By the end of the year, three new plays will appear on the poster. Mikhail Krasnobayev has begun rehearsals for the play "My Wife is a Liar" by Margaret Mayo and Maurice Hennequin. The artistic director believes that the comedy of situations will be to the audience's liking. Director Irina Tishkevich is taking on the work of our compatriot Jan Barszczewski, "Pan Twardowski, or Belarus in Fantastic Tales." Vyacheslav Grushov will stage Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Puss in Boots" for the New Year holidays.
Several premieres are planned for the winter and spring of 2020, including Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The theatre has decided not to announce other productions yet.
This year, the Kolas Theatre troupe participated in the "Belaya Vezha" festival, which took place during the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Brest, after an almost 15-year break. Moreover, they opened the theatre forum program with the play "Symon-muzykant." This autumn, the Vitebsk troupe plans to travel to festivals in Mykolaiv (Ukraine) and Babruisk.
And on the Kolas stage, there will be guest performances by the V. Dunin-Martsinkevich Mogilev Regional Drama and Comedy Theater (Bobruisk).
After the summer holidays, six actors who were actively involved in many performances left the Kolas troupe. The company was replenished by only two graduates of the Vitebsk College of Culture and Arts. Unfortunately, no one from the theater academy is eager to come to Vitebsk. However, as noted by the director of the Kolas Theater, Alexander Starykh, this is a common situation in many theaters. Actors are looking for themselves and changing their place of work. They leave the provinces for Minsk, and from the Belarusian capital – for Moscow. Therefore, the management of the Kolas Theater is focusing on finding talents directly at the college, and Mikhail Krasnobayev has decided to teach at the educational institution to better identify future actors among its students.