Oleg Palme and artists of Palme Theatre staged Hedda Gabler with respect to ideas which inspired Henrik Ibsen. We strove to examine the underlying causes behind human behavior and looked at the characters of the play as personified concentrations of ideas. Dealing with the conflict between a wish of self realization and expectations ascribed to the individual within the family circle, we explored its traumatic impact on the human soul.
Through dance, movement and elements of shadow theatre, our visually and emotionally rich show speaks directly to the minds and hearts of the public about destructive forces of Hedda’s unconscious mind. In contrast, this coexists with realistically performed characters, resolving their ambitions in their vocations, creativity and love towards others.
Our Hamlet is dark, festive and spectacular. Actors are flirting, dancing and fighting right beside your seat. We created the show on the premises of the original story and on the foundation of Shakespeare’s play. We’ve combined the almost-forgotten Scandinavian legend from the eleventh century, the famous Shakespearean tragedy about Danish rulers, and, in some sense, the story that everyone finds unexpectedly close and understandable. The pain of loss, the craving for justice, the passion of love - all pushed to their limits.
We are excited to present to you Palme Theatre’s first work on a Shakespere play. Even though we are just a small Russian-language theatre company, we have under our belt such tough-to-stage classics as Chekhov’s The Seagull and Gogol’s Dead Souls. Now Hamlet is the pride and joy that we want to share with you.
Our gratitude goes out to those who made this production possible: the technical and creative team, to our patron Vladimir Liu Mingtai and, of course, to you for sharing this experience with us.
Based on a French comedy by Robert Thomas – with synchronous translation in English
April 23, 27, May 14, 18, 2017
The play takes place in Paris, within the notary public offices of Mètre Roche, where Alice Postic, a bubbly and talkative secretary, works at the front desk. One evening, after everyone has left, she discovers Roche’s body with a knife in his back. She calls the police, but is so nervous that she loses consciousness immediately after. When officer Maximin arrives, the body is nowhere to be found. The case is then taken up by Inspector Grandin, nicknamed “Iron Head”, in whom Alice recognizes an old childhood friend.
Cast:
Аlice Postic – Alexandra Anoshina
Inspector Granden – Oleg Lobassov
Мaitre (Мaster) Rocher – Anrew Ahachinsky
Officer Maximin – Fabian Ortiz
Suzanne Brissard, Secretary – Kate Kanariov
Virginie Renoir, Typist – Angela Drugoveiko
Robert de Charance, Accountant – Alexander Puga
Clara Rocher – Violetta Kryak
Dancers – Natalie Shalagina, Victoria Kazantseva, Liza Khudyakova
Director – Oleg Palme
Crew:
Choreography – Elizabeth Vinkovska, Tamara Cheliubeeva
Music - Joseph Peters
Music assistant – Matvei Dykman
Lights – Egor Revenko,Stepan Kryak
Costumes – Maria Flyn, Iana Khoudak
Hair and make-up – Margarita Smolyakova, Iana Khoudak
Set Design – Lilia Kamneva, Vladimir Aniks
Poster – Lev Popok
Director’s assistant – Angela Drugoveiko, Konstantin Sandovich
Technical staff – Maksim Duman, Philipp Dykman
English Translation – Iana Khoudak, Maria Sokolova, Eugene Grabovy
January 10, 11, 2014
Based on the play by Anton Chekhov
Our Seagull is about how a simple collection of words on a page can take flight, and change shape into something that transcends the present, the past, and sends an infinite echo into the future. As Anton Chekhov’s play persists into our time, so do the characters take on a life of their own and come to us to grace our stage, becoming not just simple, relatable people, but enormous ideas that allow us to reflect on how we see ourselves in this world.
Vibrant characters, music by Alfred Schnitke, original choreography by Nadezhda Dobrianskaia, Russian and Ukrainian folk songs performed acapella by the Palme choir under the direction of Kateryna Kiselyeva - all of this creates a mystical and extraordinarily fantastic atmosphere of Gogol’s works, based on the epic, prosaic poem Dead Souls. In this stage production directed by Oleg Palme there is an attempt to complete the author’s task - the folk souls are symbolically torn out of greedy hands, so that they may obtain their long-awaited rest.
Chichikov (Egor Revenko) engages in dialogue, if not conflict, with Gogol (Eugene Grabovy). He is bargaining not with land owners, but with dangerous mystical creatures - the owners of dead souls. Korobochka (Yana Khoudak), hovers as a witch above the stage, reminiscing about how a seductive devil appeared in her dreams . Plyushkin (Alexander Kulyashov), also a demon, switches between hiding, then pulling out a giant sword to attack Chichikov, then cunningly trying to poison him. The dead souls are also not just an idea on paper. Just like common folk, they come out onto the stage as a choir of dancers - an element of ancient Greek theatre - but in imagery that fits the ethnic atmosphere. The souls dance. The people revel and sing. Nikolai Vasilievich is on screen, concerned about the folk souls.
