The idea for this programme was born as a result of artistic collaboration between the Alexandrinksy Theatre (the oldest state theatre in Russia) and The Meyerhold Centre, which strives to be a creative laboratory, or, as Meyerhold loved to say, a studio.

Planned to encompass five years, the programme is connected to two historically important dates: the 300-year anniversary of Saint Petersburg (2003) and the 250-year anniversary of Russian state politics in the field of theatrical art (2006).

The New Life of Tradition is a stage anthology of classical works of Russian drama, from which we would like to remove the impenetrable lustre of their textbook interpretations, without however forcing modernisation upon them.

Meyerhold, one of the most prominent director-reformers, worked in the Alexandrinksy Theatre for almost ten years, establishing on its stage the soul of enlightened innovation, which does not rush to reject archaic forms of art, but scrutinizes them as fertile soil for extant artistic ideas.

It is impossible to duplicate what Meyerhold has done, but, in our opinion, it is now a perfectly opportune moment to attempt to follow in the footsteps of his way of thinking. Meyerhold was the first to begin scrutinizing the creative work of Russia’s most prominent playwrights as if investigating a theatrical system. As such, he was also the first to address the question of reforming classical text. In essence, our project pursues the same goal. Once, upon arriving at the Alexandrinsky and calling it “the academy of Russian theatre”, Meyerhold was able to prove that tradition always turns into routine, unless you strive to continually revitalize it.

This celebratory programme will include pieces from the classical Russian repertoire that were first staged at the Alexandrinksy Theatre, and, moreover, have some sort of particular tie to Meyerhold’s work. These textbook classics will be presented here in the context of a contemporary search for a new theatrical language. Various domestic and foreign directors have been invited to take part in the project, all of whom are inclined towards the artistic re-examination of tradition.

The first production within the programme was Valery Fokin’s staging of The Government Inspector, the premiere of which took place on October 5th, 2002. Thereafter, audiences were presented with Grigory Kozlov’s staging of Pushkin’s Little Tragedies (which premiered on December 24th, 2003) and a new version of The Death of Tarelkin as directed by Matthias Langhoff (France).

Performances:
The Inspector General (Revizor)