The F.M. Dostoevsky Theater Arts Festival presents a competitive program

On November 1 and 2, sketches of unfinished productions by independent theater groups will be shown as part of the Perspektiva competition program at the XXIX International F.M. Dostoevsky Theater Arts Festival. This year's jury included: Boris Lyubimov, theater historian, rector of Shchepkin State Technical University, Sergey Brun, director of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve, Nina Chusova, theater director, Dmitry Serdyuk, theater actor.

The Perspektiva program was first introduced last year and immediately aroused great interest. Today, directors are actively turning to Russian and Soviet classics, reinterpreting familiar texts and discovering lively, sharp and relevant meanings in them. This time, the organizers again received a lot of applications, and as a result of the selection, the program included:

The performance of the Society of Lovers of one narrow–gauge steam locomotive will show "Upside Down" - director Irina Krivorukova rethinks F.M. Dostoevsky's novel "The Brothers Karamazov". The sketch combines plastic, visual, multimedia elements and site-specific theater techniques.

The artistic director of the private Revolver Theater, director Sergei Vlasov, will present a dramatization of Alexander Pushkin's fairy tale The Golden Cockerel. In the unforgettable text of the classic, the voice of the people sounds – sonorous, wise, mocking.

Director and actress Yulia Khlynina will turn to the Soviet classics in her sketch "Old Tricks" (based on the play by A.N. Arbuzov "Old-fashioned Comedy"). Simple words, sincere feelings and a little naivety are like a letter from the past to today's viewers.

In the sketch "Three", director Ekaterina Polovtseva will offer her view on the heroine of Chekhov's "Three Sisters" Natasha. Her image consists of the monologues of other characters, and the viewer becomes a witness to the creative process of creating an image.

Director Galina Byzgu will also address Chekhov in the sketch of the one-man show "Charlotte's Capito". Through the secondary heroine of The Cherry Orchard, the creators will tell about the fate of a man who knows how to laugh, even when it's over.

Stanislav Belyaev (curator of the Perspektiva program): "We have received a huge number of interesting applications from all over the country. All the sketches we have selected are different in genre, artistic means, and style, but each is unusual in its own way. This year's participants include not only aspiring directors, but also established professionals, for whom this is a great chance to show their talent from a new, unexpected side. Looking at the program, you realize that the theater has a great and inspiring future."

Mikhail Porechenkov (President of the F.M. Dostoevsky International Festival of Theatrical Arts): "This program presents bold and vivid theatrical experiments — a lively search, without which the development of art is impossible. After all, the theater, by its very nature, must seek, try, discover new ways, and look to the future. Yes, sometimes such works may seem too bold or even defiant, but this is precisely the power of living art. The main thing is to maintain respect for the great Russian classics and to build performances based on sincere love for them."

Maxim Korolev (General Producer of the F.M. Dostoevsky International Festival of Theatrical Arts): "For me, as a producer, this program is of particular importance. It opens up the opportunity to see a lot of new, bright names — those who may not have become widely known yet, but already today have great creative potential.

It is important for us to support these talented people, to help them open up and find their voice on stage. In this sense, the Perspektiva program always gives me confidence and hope: our theater has a great, bright and inspiring future."

The XXIX International F.M. Dostoevsky Theater Arts Festival will be held in Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa from October 31 to November 4. The President of the Festival is People's Artist of the Russian Federation actor Mikhail Porechenkov.