Aleksandr Vvedenskij „EGLUTĖ PAS IVANOVUS“ (Rež. Jonas Vaitkus)

Alexander Vvedensky

Christmas at the Ivanovs’

Two-act musical performance

Running time: 2 h 35 min

Premiered on: 14 January 2012

Performed in Russian, with Lithuanian captions

Creative team:

Directed by: Jonas Vaitkus

Set and Costume Design by: Jonas Arčikauskas

Score by: Algirdas Martinaitis

Choreography by: Leokadija Dabužinskaitė

Stage Manager: Gelena Ivaškevič / Nadežda Pereverzeva

Assistant Director: Leokadija Dabužinskaitė

Translated into Lithuanian for captions by Sigitas Parulskis

Cast:

Aleksandr Agarkov, Viačeslav Lukjanov, Vladimir Serov, Maksim Tuchvatulin, Valentin Novopolskij, Sergej Zinovjev, Valentina Lukjanenko, Larisa Popova, Artūras Aleksejevas, Edita Gončarova, Jurij Ščiuckij, Vera Stasenia, Inga Maškarina, Jevgenija Karpikova, Anžela Bizunovič, Valentinas Krulikovskis, Nijolė Kazlauskaitė, Dmitrij Denisiuk, Telman Ragimov, Aleksandr Kanajev, Artur Svorobovič, Jevgenija Rusakova, Valentin Kirejev, Igoris Abramovičius, Jelena Juščenko, Jevgenija Gladij, Vladimir Dorondov, Nikolaj Antonov, Tatjana Genzel, Vidmantas Fijalkauskas, Jelena Bogdanovič, Liuda Gnatenko, Ruslan Kižajev, Laima Košytė, Jekaterina Makarova, Aleksandra Metalnikova, Jelena Orlova, Juliana Volodko, Nikolaj Malov, Anastasiya Shpakouskaya, Viktorija Aliukonė-Mirošnikova, Vytautas Lukočius, Valentinas Krulikovskis

The pre-holiday bathing of children in a family of wealthy intellectuals is suddenly cut short when the nanny grabs an axe and beheads one of the girls. The ending is just as abrupt – after a series of unexpected deaths, the story simply runs out of characters. Such is the plot of this play by prominent Russian absurdist Alexander Vvedensky, interpreted on stage by the creative team of the director Jonas Vaitkus.

The production conjures up absurdity-infused anticipation of Christmas, while cartoonish characters fumble around. In the ensuing mixture of alogisms, naivety and horror, a pinch of the sacred is also evident. At the intersection of paradoxical poetry, metaphysics and linguistic games, the subconscious overrides the conscious, and fragmentation surpasses wholeness.

The play is rooted in the genre of the Christmas story. The plot blends a traditional Russian Christmas narrative and a Soviet-era New Year celebration. After the Bolshevik-led October Revolution, the celebration of the major religious holiday was forbidden in Russia; decorating Christmas trees was only allowed from 1937. The anticipation of a Christian miracle was replaced by a belief in a ‘bright future’. Christmas at the Ivanovs’ discredits the notion that ideologies such as communism are immortal. Vvedensky’s work is not just a reflection of life and culture of the 1920s and 1930s; it covers a broader spectrum: the literature of previous decades, cultural and historical outlooks, the issue of entrenched cannibalistic ideas – those that became facts and shaped the development of reality in the country.