Stage adaptation and direction Sergey Zhenovach
Set design Alexander Borovsky
Lighting design Damir Ismagilov
In the space of “The Potudan River” there is neither a stage, nor a curtain, nor the chairs. Along the three walls of a small hall there are plain unpainted stools with numbers – a little more than thirty of them. Along the fourth wall there are long unplaned boards. There is also a river: the “trench” in the brick wall seems to have been waiting for this very production in order to become the riverbed of Potudan.
“The River Potudan” deals with the aspects which are usually considered awkward to speak about: it deals with old people’s loneliness, with the most intimate relationships between a man and a woman. It also deals with the unimaginable difficulties and simple joys of the post-war life, with the family problems of two young people. And with the despair that one is unable to hide but can only disappear together with it…
The vital in this production is what is behind the words and in between. The director transferred much of Platonov’s text into the direct speech as it turned out that the intimate space doesn’t allow to say those words in third person.
The Potudan River is a prize winner of the Golden Mask award in the nominations of Best Small Scale Production and Best Lighting Designer.
The first night 2009, February, 12
Running time 110 min
The production runs on The Small Stage.
Production Support Sistema.