Театральная компания ЗМ
Andrei Rodionov, Yekaterina Troepolskaya

Svan

Meyerhold Centre, Moscow, Dmitry Brusnikin School, Moscow
Presented in the frame of Russian Case
Участник программы «Russian Case» Фестиваля 2017 года
Director: Yuri Kvyatkovsky
Age category 16+

The contemporary Russian poets Andrei Rodionov and Katerina Troepolskaya are known for their critical attitude to the current events in the country and their humanism in relation to the individual citizen. For several years now the reputation of Andrei Rodionov has gone beyond the limits of the pure poetic circles: he artistically recites his poetry at various festivals and slams, and collaborates with independent theatre artists. Rodionov’s poetry is realism of a specific kind, composed in bright brutal forms with an acute sense of humor, always rapidly responding to recent events in social life. Together with Troepolskaya, he wrote a story about the Russian Federal Migration Service (FMS), which filters the huge influx of migrants who want to work in Moscow. The bitter irony of the story, which takes place in the fictitious country Lebedyania, lies in the fact that in order to pass the exam for temporary residence or citizenship requires the applicant to be able to read poetry in Russian because, as is well known around the world, Russia is the birthplace of the greatest poets. But the cruelty of the law interferes with human feelings: a girl from the FMS falls in love with a gastarbeiter. The production by the young director Yuri Kvyatkovsky, known as the author of action performances and hip-hop operas, is staged as a satire on pretentious mass rallies, state symbolism and rituals, which every citizen of the Russian Federation who faces the state machine in real life, has to get through.


Kristina Matvienko