The F.M. Dostoevsky International Festival of Theatrical Arts announced the programs

On November 1, at 12:30 in the column hall of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A.S. Arensky, a presentation of the project "Nikolai Stavrogin. The prologue to the premiere." This performance is an installation based on letters related to the staging of the play "Nikolai Stavrogin" based on F.M. Dostoevsky's novel "Demons" at the Moscow Art Theater in 1913: a joint project of the Moscow Art Theater Museum and the F.M. Dostoevsky Festival of Theatrical Arts with the support of the Novgorod Museum-Reserve. The project is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the artist Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. The author of the idea is theater critic Svetlana Berdichevskaya, director Ivan Pachin, curator and artist Olga Galitskaya. The creators will try to convey the atmosphere of the birth of the legendary performance, revive Dobuzhinsky's daring experiment, and convey the creative energy of the era.

The installation performance can be seen at the F.M. Dostoevsky House Museum in Staraya Russa. The screenings will take place on November 1 at 17:00 (pre-premiere screening), on November 2 at 17:00, on November 3 at 18:00 and on November 4 at 17:00. On the same day, November 1, at 13:30, the exhibition "Shadows in the Background" will open in the Philharmonic Hall. The curator is art critic Victoria Shishkova. The exhibition explores issues of identity, memory, and socio-cultural context. The focus is on paintings by Tatiana Vafina, Katya Nikitina, Bella Novinkova and Kristina Purshina. Each of the artists speaks to the theater in her own language, using different techniques and styles — realism, symbolism, expressionism. 12 large-scale canvases show the thrilling silence before the curtain opens, the moment of the birth of meaning on stage and turn the theater itself into a metaphor for the modern world. The exhibition demonstrates the evolution of Russian art, where traditional forms are combined with innovative practices, forming new visual meanings and emotional responses.

Victoria Shishkova (art critic, curator of the exhibition): "The exhibition was prepared especially for the Festival. And I am sure that the audience will be very interested to see them and comprehend them not only from the point of view of visual beauty, but also to reflect on the multifaceted meanings and symbols. The artists created works not just on the theme of theater, but about the inner states and the inner world of each of us. Theater becomes a metaphor for human relationships, ideas, and emotions."

On November 3, at 12:00 in the column hall of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A.S. Arensky, a panel discussion "Dostoevsky's Territory. Dialogue of Epochs: Dostoevsky and Russian Classic Writers in the 21st Century on the Modern Theatrical Stage. The discussion will be attended by: Mikhail Porechenkov, President of the Festival, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, Alexander Muriti, Chief Director of the F.M. Dostoevsky Novgorod Academic Drama Theater, Esmail Shafi, lecturer at the University of Art of Iran and director of the international theater group Chaika, Natalia Zavialova, editor-in-chief of Russian classics at Eksmo Publishing House, historian, General Director Sergey Brun, Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve, theater historian, Professor, Boris Lyubimov, President of the Shchepkin Higher Theater College, Vasily Yan, General Director of the Novgorod Regional Theater and Concert Agency. The moderator is theater critic Svetlana Berdichevskaya.

Participants will try to find their own honest answers to difficult questions.: How does the theater's appeal to the past, to the works of past eras, help us better understand the present? How does the reinterpretation and actualization of classics make it possible to "hear the time" and return classical texts to the circle of modern subjects?

On November 3, at 2 p.m., in the column hall of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A.S. Arensky, the audience will have a creative meeting with theater critic, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Boris Lyubimov "History of the Russian Theater". This meeting will be a rare opportunity to see the scenic world through the eyes of its historian, who will share his observations, tell unexpected details and answer questions from the audience.

On November 1, at 16:30 in the column hall of the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A.S. Arensky, art critic Victoria Shishkova will give a lecture "Theater artists of the Silver Age: Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Lev Bakst, Alexander Golovin and others." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, painters actively worked for the stage, creating sketches of sets and costumes and collaborating with the largest theater groups of their time — Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons, Savva Mamontov's Moscow Private Opera, the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters.

As part of the special project "Golden Fund of Theatrical Productions of Russia", created by the Union of Theatrical Figures of the Russian Federation and the Tricolor company with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, viewers will see film versions of two performances at the Moscow International Music Center "Russia". Before the screenings, Mikhail Anisimov, the general producer of the project, will give a lecture.

"The Cabal of saints/Moliere", staged by the St. Petersburg State Youth Theater on Fontanka (directed by Semyon Spivak), is a reflection on the freedom of creativity and mutual responsibility of the artist and society, about the fate of genius. The play is a philosophical dialogue about the price of inspiration and the clash of high art with the pettiness of the world.

The second screening will introduce the audience to the production "Talents and Fans" by the Lipetsk State Academic Drama Theater named after L. N. Tolstoy (directed by Boris Morozov). This is a modern look at the classic play by A.N. Ostrovsky, in which the eternal theme of the clash of art and everyday life, inspiration and calculation, sounds especially relevant.

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.