Brodsky / Baryshnikov is a one-man show based on the poems of Nobel laureate Joseph Brodsky, performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Conceived and directed by Alvis Hermanis, noted Latvian director of The New Riga Theatre, Brodsky / Baryshnikov is an emotional journey deep into the poet’s visceral and complex compositions. Performed in Russian, Brodsky’s mother tongue, Baryshnikov recites a selection of his long-time friend’s poignant and eloquent works. His subtle physicality transports the audience into Hermanis’ reverent imagining of Brodsky’s interior world.
Brodsky / Baryshnikov
Cherry Orchard Festival
Performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov
Directed by Alvis Hermanis
Based on the poems of Joseph Brodsky
Performed in Russian with English surtitles
English translation by Jamey Gambrell
Scenographer – Kristine Jurjane
Light Designer – Gleb Filshtinsky
Sound – Olegs Novikovs
Light – Lauris Johansons
Video – Ineta Sipunova
Stage Manager – Linda Zaharova
A co-production of The New Riga Theatre and Baryshnikov Productions.
New York times review: ”Mr. Baryshnikov eventually removes jacket, shirt and shoes, revealing a still limber body. At times he performs slow, dance-like movement, twisting his torso and stretching out his arms in graceful, flowing forms. He spins like a top, briefly, during a snatch of writing that begins “Spinning like a shaman in the room,/I wind its emptiness around me in a ball…Electronic music occasionally blares. There is also an old reel-to-reel tape recorder, from which, at a couple of points, we hear a recording of Brodsky himself reading, in a musical, incantatory style that’s quite striking…“
MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV
Born 1948 in Riga, Latvia, Mikhail Baryshnikov is considered one of the greatest dancers of our time. After commencing a spectacular career with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he came to the West in 1974, settling in New York City as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). In 1979 he joined New York City Ballet, where he worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. A year later he was appointed artistic director of ABT where, for the next decade, he introduced a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990-2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was director and dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, a modern dance company he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris. As an actor he has performed widely on-and off-Broadway, as well as in television and film, receiving a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for “Metamorphosis” and an Academy Award nomination for “The Turning Point.’ He is currently performing in two solo theatrical productions, “Letter to a Man” directed by Robert Wilson and “Brodsky/Baryshnikov” directed by Alvis Hermanis. In 2005, he launched Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in New York City, a creative space for presenting and nurturing multidisciplinary artists from around the globe. In 2010, he was given the rank of Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and in 2017 he received Japan’s prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award in Theatre/Film. Learn more about Mikhail Baryshnikov.
ALVIS HERMANIS
Born 1965 in Riga, Latvia, Alvis Hermanis was recently named among the ten most influential European theatre personalities of the last decade by DU Magazine, a Swiss periodical for arts and culture. Hermanis currently works with major European theater companies, including Burgtheater Vienna, Schaubühne Berlin, Münchner Kammerspiele and Schauspielhaus Zürich; and in opera houses including Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opéra National de Paris, Staatsoper im Schiller Theater in Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and La Monnaie Brussels. He has staged operas at the Salzburger Festspiele since 2012. His opera stagings include among others “Il Trovatore” featuring Placido Domingo and Anna Netrebko (2014) and “Die Liebe der Danae” (2016) at the Salzburger Festspiele, “La Damnation de Faust” featuring Jonas Kaufman with Opéra National de Paris in 2015, “I due Foscari” featuring Placido Domingo and “Madama Butterfly” with Teatro alla Scala in 2016 and “Parsifal” at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2017. Hermanis’ theater productions have been presented at major theater festivals ranging from Avignon to Edinburgh, and have toured to more than 40 countries. His many accolades include the Europe Prize New Theatre Realities, the Stanislavsky Award, two Golden Mask Awards (Moscow), Max Reinhardt Pen (Salzburger Festspiele), Nestroy Preis (Austria), and the Konrad Wolf Award (Germany). He has been artistic director of The NewRiga Theatresince 1997.
JOSEPH BRODSKY
Joseph Brodsky was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1940 and immigrated to the United States in 1972. He began writing poetry in the 1950s but his works were not published in his native country until the 1990s. Five books of his poetry in Russian were published abroad: “Ostanovka v pustyne” (1970; revised 1989),” “Konets prekrasnoi epokhi” (1977), “Chast’ rechi” (1977), “Novye stansy k Avguste” (1983), “Uraniia” (1984), and “Peizazh s navodneniem” (1996). As an émigré he published three books of poetry in English: “So Forth” (1996), “To Urania” (1988), and “A Part of Speech” (1977). “On Grief and Reason,” his second collection of essays, was published in 1996. His first collection of essays, “Less Than One” (1986), received the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1986, and three of his essays have appeared in “The Best American Essays.” A long essay on Venice was published in English as “Watermark” in 1992. He is also the author of two plays; “Marbles” (1989) and “Democracy!” (1990,1993). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987 and served as Poet Laureate of the United States for 1991 and 1992. He died in January, 1996.
CHERRY ORCHARD FESTIVAL
Cherry Orchard Festival, produced by the Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation, has built a solid reputation for presenting moving and intriguing concerts and theatrical productions by international artists and ensembles to audiences across America. The Festival’s mission is to initiate and promote global cultural activity and an exchange of ideas to an inter-generational audience through entertaining and educational programming and events in al genres. The team is committed to provide the finest entertainment, exceptional musical performances and enlightening educational programs to its patrons. For more information visit CherryOrchardFestival.org.
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