Teresa Durova Theater will bring Karelo-Finnish legends to Grozny

On April 8, at 19:00, the north winds will blow from the stage of the Chechen State Academic Theater named after H. Nuradilov: the Moscow musical and drama Theater of Teresa Durova, with the support of the general partner, VTB Bank, will tour the city of Grozny for the first time, where the play "The Magic Mill of Sampo" will be performed. It is based on the ancient and mysterious Karelo-Finnish epic "Kalevala". The tour will become a highlight of the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia, announced by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, and will serve to strengthen national accord, friendship, as well as preserve cultural traditions, languages, and historical memory.

Mysticism of the North… Free winds wandering across the tundra between the hills, carrying echoes of shamanic singing. Or is it birdsong? Or the cry of a beast? There's definitely some kind of magic here!

The play is based on the great and mysterious Karelo-Finnish epic Kalevala, where there is a lot of magic. All the main characters appear on the stage: the mighty sorceress Louhi, ancient as the world itself, the wizard Vainemainen, the skilled blacksmith Ilmarinen, the young and strong Lemminkainen…

This story is about the confrontation between the dark and evil northern side of Pohjela and the kind and bright southern Kalevala, the land where the real heroes live. And Sampo is a mill forged by one of the good sorcerers, its purpose is to bring happiness and well—being. But the appearance of such a mill only exacerbates the enmity between the north and the south.

The theater decorated the narrative with incredible descriptions of nature, amazing mythical heroes and their brave deeds with ethnic music performed by live orchestra. The audience will hear wonderful instruments that convey the spirit of ancient legends, such as the jowhikko, kantele, jaleika, ocarina, and others.

"On stage, in fact, there is a parable that children watch together with adults, and it is difficult to say who and how it gets into more and affects whom more. But it has a strong effect," Moskovsky Komsomolets writes about the production.

In 2020, the play "Sampo's Magic Mill" became a participant in the Marshak Children's Theater Festival, as well as a Large Children's Festival, where director Teresa Durova was awarded the Legend of the Children's Theater award.