STAGE RUSSIA | MARCH 2018 KULYABIN'S "THREE SISTERS" HITS CINEMAS |
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"In the history of Chekhovian interpretations, this will go down as one of the most beautiful and radical experiments at the same time" - Afisha Moscow We are proud to present Timofey Kuyabin's powerful and memorable award-winning "Three Sisters", told entirely in Russian sign language with English subtitles. Filmed before a live audience from Novosbirsk's Red Torch Theatre. Coming to cinemas across the U.S., U.K. and Ireland on March 1. For cities, venues, dates and showtimes click HERE |
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The Idea (Director, Timofey Kulyabin) For a long time I'd been cherishing the idea of doing a production without sound, or rather somehow excluding words from the perception of the audience. For example, a classical play on the stage fenced off by soundproof glass. Later this idea transformed into this production of The Three Sisters. I got in touch with a sign language tutor and asked her to train some of my actors to perform a page from Scene One. The actors attended classes for a month and then, without any stage setting, simply “pronounced” the silent text. I instantly felt a very strange effect: the characters gesticulated in complete silence, but the text, which I knew quite well, sounded inside my head. There was a certain magic in this as the unsaid words became not less but more significant. Later we added subtitles, which only amplified the effect. Chekhov's text had turned into one of the characters, in fact into the protagonist. | | |
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The Implementation (Oleg Golovko, Set Designer) The fact that the characters in our case are deaf has affected a great number of details. Even the process of manufacturing the scenery and furniture was different. As a rule, I spend a great deal of time making sure that the scenery and props do not produce any extra sounds. In this case, it was the opposite. For the first time in my professional career I was happy to hear the stage floor creak, the doors of cupboards clap, and the dishes in the sideboard tinkle when someone passes by. As it happens, this scenery has not only a visual, but also an acoustic aspect. The Prozorovs’ house has a music score of its own. | | |
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The Performance (Irina Krivonos, Olga) Acting in gestures is close to acting in a foreign language. You have to master each word separately, then connect them and work on “pronunciation” for quite a while, otherwise you won’t “sound” convincing. All dialogues are very concrete, you cannot give prolonged speeches raising your eyes up to heavens or turning away “with implied meaning”. The action is straightforward. You look into your partner’s eyes and express very distinctly what you want from him. It results in a very rigid stage existence, it’s unbelievable pressure, but when everything converges, you gain certain freedom. You feel how polyphony gets born, and you catch its rhythms, and float along. | | |
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