Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theater: Sweeping water movements

A Stargorod Chronicle in two parts, based on the novel *The Cathedral Clergy* by N. Leskov., running time: 3 h 40 m, prime February 4, 2022
Ticket price range 1500—10000 rub.

Author — Nikolay Leskov
Director — Yevgeny Kamenkovich
Designer — , Mariya Borovskaya, Vladislav Frolov
Translator —
Choreographer — Ramune Khodorkaite
Ass. director — Yulia Verzunova
Music designer — Nikolai Orlovsky
Teacher — Ivan Verkhovykh, Mikhail Krylov, Vera Kamyshnikova, Oksana Globa, Ksenia Kutepova

ВНИМАНИЕ! Во время действия спектакля, выполняя поставленные режиссёром творческие задачи и ремарки автора, артисты курят на сцене. Просим учесть эту информацию, планируя посещение данного спектакля.

Upcoming Performances

October, 16, 19:00

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November, 10, 19:00

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December, 24, 19:00

«Leskov truly believed in the humanizing power of Christianity: active love, sacrificial service to one’s neighbor, purity of soul, and inner integrity—for him, these were not the bland platitudes of a routine Sunday sermon, but matters of genuine faith. He sought out those who possessed these treasures. When people of such meekness, heroism, kindness, and courage seemed not to exist in the real world, he would invent them.» (Maya Kucherskaya, from the author’s preface to the book *The Overlooked Genius*).

*Waiting for the Stirring of the Waters* is a chronicle-play recounting the stories of two priests, a deacon, and the petty bustle of provincial Stargorod; of good and righteous people rendered powerless by denunciations, slander, and bureaucratic idiocy; of the gap between ecclesiastical reality and church ideals; of villains who—defying the conventions of fairy tales—triumph over heroes; and of the inexorable march of time, erasing the patriarchal world from the landscape of Russian life.

The play’s title alludes to the novel’s original version. It was under this very title that the first installment of what would become *Cathedral Folk* (*Soboryane*) was published in the journal *Otechestvennye Zapiski* (Notes of the Fatherland). That is also the source of the genre definition—“chronicle”—which is so important to the author.

Audience reviews of the production can be found on our forum under the hashtag #чающиедвиженияводы

Those Awaiting the Stirring of the Waters is yet another example of just how completely the Fomenko Workshop can immerse its audience in the nineteenth century, how subtly the theatre feels this historical period and how authentically it recreates its psychological realities. […] Those Awaiting the Stirring of the Waters sounds like a prayer for good people who are defenseless against attack and therefore so easily become targets of collective persecution.: Vyacheslav Surikov, Vedomosti

Artistic director and stage director Evgeny Kamenkovich has brought Nikolai Leskov’s novel The Cathedral Folk to the stage of the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop. Fifteen years after The Most Important Thing and a year after Doctor Zhivago — with Ulysses, The Gift and A Modern Idyll now also part of the theatre’s history — Kamenkovich continues his own tradition with all the assurance of a master: he takes prose notoriously difficult to dramatize and paints the monochrome fresco of the text in vivid theatrical colors. […] All of it — novel and chronicle, clergy and province, the imaginary (yet utterly real) town of Stargorod and the Russian fairy tale — has reached the stage in the form of an astonishing chronicle brought to life, its characters caught at the crossroads of eras.: Elena Shaina, Theatre To Go

Those Awaiting the Stirring of the Waters is a classic viewed from a contemporary angle, masterfully combining intellectual depth with psychological insight. This is something I value especially highly. Its measured, unhurried pace perfectly matches life in a tiny town lost somewhere in the vastness of Russia. Yet it is so richly and compellingly inhabited that you begin to feel as though you yourself belong in Stargorod and have known the people onstage intimately for years. Creating this sense of belonging is one of the production’s triumphs.: Irina Petrovskaya-Mishina, Musecube

The production carefully preserves Leskov’s language, which the actors recreate with virtuosity: like the healing stirring of the waters, it murmurs and ripples in intricate patterns, flowing with magical unity and the translucent fluidity of a chronicle, delighting the ear with its exquisite complexity and strange Old Russian flavor. The authorial tone of The Cathedral Folk is preserved as well: idyll, satire and humor, together with high tragedy, merge onstage into a rich polyphony. The production also succeeds in conveying Leskov’s sense of the fairy tale — through its sets and costumes, the intonations of the acting, the almost tangible magic of the text and the measured pace of the storytelling.: Elena Shaina, Theatre To Go

Beyond the philosophical depth of its statement, the production demonstrates the fantastic form the Fomenko company is in today: the historic core of the ensemble is in superb shape, the middle generation is at the height of its energy and commitment, and the brilliant younger actors have already made their talents unmistakably clear. The theatre has assembled remarkably versatile performers, capable of exploring themselves within any directorial idiom and of working with ideas and complex material that is not always inherently theatrical. Powerful voices, vivid physicality and genuine, unforced artistry — this is contemporary theatre breathing the air of the present. Those Awaiting the Stirring of the Waters is an example of true ensemble acting, with every performer exactly where they belong.: Elena Shaina, Theatre To Go

The production’s musical numbers are crafted with exceptional care. They are woven so tightly into the fabric of the performance that they cannot be separated from it. The characters seem to perform them spontaneously, although this clearly demands not only vocal ability and temperament but meticulous work on intonation and pronunciation. Nikolai Orlovsky, singing in the role of Father Zakharia Benefaktov, is quite simply brilliant.: Vyacheslav Surikov, Vedomosti

As the production unfolds, one can sense the audience’s initial wariness and mistrust of the characters giving way to ever greater attention and emotional tension. The spectators grow accustomed to these people and begin to take their lives deeply to heart. The acting is superb. Truth and simplicity are the first words that come to mind when watching Ivan Verkhovykh as Tuberozov. Yet behind this simplicity one senses the dignity of truth and an inner gravity. […] Ivan Verkhovykh prepares the audience with great assurance for the cathartic culmination of his character in the production’s finale.: Natalia Anisimova, Russky Blogger

This is Leskov. This is wonderful contemporary theatre. And most importantly, it is not about religion. […] It is about Truth. And what matters most is that, in the end, everyone will arrive at their own truth. […] Those Awaiting the Stirring of the Waters is a production that leaves you with a sense of light. Sad, but luminous. And isn’t that exactly what we all need?: Irina Petrovskaya-Mishina, Musecube