International Dostoevsky Theatre Arts Festival reveals lineup

The XXX International Dostoevsky Theatre Arts Festival will run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 across Veliky Novgorod, Staraya Russa, and Valdai, bringing domestic and international troupes to perform works based on Russian classics. Pushkin, A.P. Chekhov, A.K. Tolstoy, and N.V. Gogol.

Festival Scale and Leadership

The 2024 edition marked a key transformation for the festival, shifting its name to the International Dostoevsky Theatre Arts Festival and beginning a course toward scaling. The festival is led by People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Mikhail Porechenkov as president and Maxim Korolev as general producer, with theatre scholar Svetlana Berdichevskaya serving as program director.

Elena Kirillova, deputy governor of Novgorod Oblast, noted that the event marks a dual milestone with its 30th anniversary and the 205th anniversary of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s birth. The event traces its origins to a small 1992 gathering at the writer’s House-Museum in Staraya Russa, a city Dostoevsky called his place of rest, with the concept originating from the Novgorod branch of the Union of Theatre Workers of Russia. International status followed in 1996 with participants from Japan, and the festival has since drawn troupes from 21 countries and nearly 100 Russian cities.

Opening Week Features Various Russian Drama Productions

The festival opens on Oct. 29 at the A.S. Arensky Novgorod Regional Philharmonic with Strasti-mordasti by the Mayakovsky Academic Theatre of Moscow, directed by Ivan Orlov. On Oct. 30, the philharmonic hosts the ballet Krotkaya by the Kononov Concept studio-workshop under director Alexey Kononov, followed on Oct. 31 by the Pushkin State Russian Drama Theatre of the Republic of Adygea staging The Captain’s Daughter directed by Alexander Muriti.

On Nov. 1, the Pskov Pushkin Drama Theatre presents Uncle Vanya directed by Pavel Zobnin. The program continues on Nov. 2 in the philharmonic’s small hall with Tri by the independent theatrical project Kstati Theater, directed by Ekaterina Polovtseva, which serves as a spin-off of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

International Troupes Join Closing Performances

The festival closes on Nov. 2 with the Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army staging The Idiot directed by Pavel Safonov. Safonov portrays Prince Myshkin’s story as an internal spiritual journey where the protagonist travels across Russia while confined to a Swiss clinic.

International participants for the current edition include troupes from the Republic of Korea, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and India. Turkish director Tufan Afshar presents a version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, while Kazakh director Racha Makhataev stages Crime and Punishment.

Festival Extends to Venues Across Russia

Beyond the main regional venues in Veliky Novgorod, Staraya Russa, and Valdai, the festival’s geographic footprint extends from Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 as leading Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk theatres present Russian classics on their home stages. Additional local venues feature productions from the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop, the Gogol Moscow Drama Theater, the Praktika Theater, and the Novokuznetsk Drama Theater. On the stage of the Heart Club, the Russian Academic Youth Theatre will present The Dream of a Ridiculous Man directed by Vladimir Bogatyrev, and audiences can also see an immersive version of Gogol’s The Gamblers presented by the cinema and theatre workshop led by Yulia Gorbachevskaya. Furthermore, the City Palace of Culture and Youth will host Fyodor Malyshev’s staging of The Ridiculous Man by the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop, Casanova. Tsvetaeva by the Gogol Moscow Drama Theater directed by Eldar Tramov, Marina Brusnikina’s staging of To Make Us All Good and Wonderful at the Praktika Theater based on plays by Irina Vaskovskaya, and the Novokuznetsk Drama Theater’s production of Crime and Punishment directed by Daniil Nagaytsev.

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