The International Festival of Theatrical Arts will open with the play "Crime and Punishment"

The XXIX International Festival of Theatrical Arts named after F.M. Dostoevsky will once again show large-scale performances on the stage of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A. S. Arensky.

On October 31, the festival will open with the performance of the Moscow Drama Theater named after N.V. Gogol "Crime and Punishment" directed by Anton Yakovlev. In this interpretation of the novel, Dostoevsky's characters find themselves involved in an unusual investigative experiment created specifically for Rodion Raskolnikov. The viewer seems to be immersed in his feverish dream: the places and people around seem frighteningly strange. Raskolnikov's distorted psyche displaces what happened from memory, turning reality into a shaky mirage. An investigative team of ten people will have to restore the course of events, reveal the details and motives of a terrible crime, make the hero remember everything, accept the truth and realize what he has done.

On November 1, the Pskov Pushkin Drama Theater will present a production of "Little Tragedies" directed by Gulnaz Balpeisova. The focus is on the creative path of the young poet, his fateful choice and the ordeal of fortitude.

On November 2, the audience will see the long–awaited premiere of the Novgorod Academic Drama Theater named after F. M. Dostoevsky - "The Idiot" directed by Alexander Muriti. This is Prince Myshkin's tragic journey through the world of passion and disbelief in search of the true beauty of the soul.

On November 3, the Republican Theater of Belarusian Drama will show the mystical tragicomedy directed by Sergei Fedotov, Fraudsters, based on the play by Nikolai Gogol "The Players" – a story about deception turned into a charming and virtuoso theatrical game.

The program will symbolically end on November 4 with Sergei Vinogradov's performance based on A.K. Tolstoy's play "The Posadnik" by the Zelenograd Vedogon Theater. The action takes place in Veliky Novgorod of the 13th century and reveals the eternal themes of patriotism, the struggle for freedom and courage in the face of the enemy.

Maxim Korolev (General Producer of the F.M. Dostoevsky International Festival of Theatrical Arts): "The power of Russian classical literature is that it addresses eternal questions. The theater, working with these works, rediscovers them in its own way, showing unexpected meanings and relevance. Each new generation of readers and viewers rethinks the classics, enters into a dialogue with them, and thus continues their lives. Our Festival is becoming a space for such a dialogue: between the eras that separate us, between the arts that mutually enrich each other, and between people who are connected by a live encounter with the theater."

Also this year, the Perspektiva competition program will be held again – a screening of new, not yet publicly performed production projects, conducted in order to identify and encourage young and independent copyright theaters. The president of the festival is People's Artist of Russia, actor and director Mikhail Porechenkov. The general producer is Maxim Korolev.