Voyage Theater Company will pay tribute to the survivors of the Siege of Leningrad in a rare, bilingual production of My Poor Marat(Мой бедный Марат)by esteemed Russian playwright Aleksei Arbuzov as directed by Wayne Maugans.
My Poor Marat is a love story set during the siege where three young people lose their innocence as they witness the horrors of war. Over 300,000 people lost their lives in Leningrad during the winter of 1942. Held under siege by the Nazis, the city was without heat, food, and water while temperatures plummeted in one of the most brutal winters Russia ever experienced. Surviving the death and destruction, the three main characters reunite in the city where they first met, only to be confronted with the harsh reality of their lives and life under the Stalinist regime.
Written in 1965, My Poor Marat was performed widely throughout the Soviet Union. The play was translated into English by British translator Ariadne Nicolaeff under a different title: The Promise. The first production of The Promise opened in London’s West End in November 1966, starring Judi Dench, Ian McShane, and Ian McKellen. It later transferred to Broadway’s Henry Miller Theatre in 1967, with Eileen Atkins replacing Ms. Dench, where it closed after only two weeks. Since then, there has been no major New York City revival.
Voyage Theater Company will present the play under its original title My Poor Maratin a brand new English-language translation by Oleg Ivanov featuring a bilingual cast. Out of the 24 scheduled performances in April, six will be entirely in Russian without supertitles.
My Poor Marat will be a featured event of New York State’s official Russian-American History Month in April as sponsored by the Russian American Cultural Heritage Center (RACH-C). Canal Park Playhouse, the historical landmark in Manhattan’s TriBeCa where the show is being performed, will also be adding special Russian items to its Waffle Iron Café menu to mark the occasion.
The cast includes Igor Semenov, Aleksandra Glinka, and Arthur Kriklivy.
The creative team includes Jay Ryan (scenic design),Peri Grabin (costume design), Paul Bartlett (lighting design), Bruce Ellman (sound design), and Stass Klassen (assistant director/dialect coach). The production stage manager is Pei-Wen Huang, assistant stage manager Clara Wilch, and prop master Christopher J. Cancel-Pomales.
About the Company: Voyage Theater Company
VTC presents new and unheralded plays and playwrights from around the world. We create opportunities for collaboration between theater-makers of diverse cultures and disciplines to engage and challenge new audiences.
The cast of SARAZAD AND THE MONSTER-KING features Penny Middleton, Kelly Higgins, AJ Converse and Rick Cekovsky.
Part of the Classic Brunch Matinee series, whimsical brunch and dinner fare is available at the theater’s Waffle Iron Café before and after the shows. The menu includes hot-off-the-waffle-iron spinach, mushroom, smoked chicken sausage frittatas; French toast; and Traditional Belgian Waffles with pure Vermont maple syrup and butter as well as the house specialty The Playhouse Pink Waffle (a pink waffle with strawberries and whipped cream). Other favorites include a chocoholic fantasy, the Decadent Dark Chocolate Waffle, entree salads and gourmet sliders.
E. J. C. Calvert (playwright) is from St. Louis, Missouri, currently living in Chicago. Achievements include: Samuel French OOB 2010 Winner, O'Neill Conference semifinalist, Leota Diesel Ashton Prize in Playwriting recipient, International Women's Playwriting Festival finalist, Chatterton Short Play Festival Audience Award winner. Her play The Bear (A Tragedy) is published by Samuel French. Recent performances and readings include Calamity Jane Battles the Horrible Hoopsnakes (Looking Glass Theatre), The Bird Girl (Last Frontier Theatre Conference Play Lab), Testify! (Roy Arias Studios), Cadaver Synod (The Brecht Forum), Witness! The Amazing Slipping Away (The Cell). She is also half of comedy duo Lizanda, who will be performing their new show #1 Besties with Boy Trouble (U.S.) at the Chicago Fringe Festival this summer. E. J. C. holds an MFA in Playwriting from the New School for Drama and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Justin Lauro (director) is a classically trained actor, having studied at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School and International Theater Workshop in Amsterdam. He served as assistant director to acclaimed Dutch director and Brecht scholar Paul Binnerts for NYU's Main Stage production of Bertolt Brecht's Man is Man, later performing in a revival of the production at the HERE Arts Center in downtown New York. Justin adapted Carol Churchill's teleplay The After-Dinner Joke for the stage and directed its US premiere at the Barrow Group Theater. A certified actor-combatant with the SAFD, Justin has worked as an assistant fight director at the Atlantic Theater Company and fight choreographer at New York Renaissance Faire and Fort Tryon Park Medieval Festival. Other acting credits include Twelfth Night, Our Country's Good, and 15-Minute Hamlet. He attended New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated with a B.F.A. in theater.
Dinner is available at the theater’s Waffle Iron Café before the show. The menu includes hot-off-the-waffle-iron spinach, mushroom, smoked chicken sausage frittatas; French toast; and Traditional Belgian Waffles with pure Vermont maple syrup and butter as well as the house specialty The Playhouse Pink Waffle (a pink waffle with strawberries and whipped cream). New menu additions include a chocoholic fantasy, the Decadent Dark Chocolate Waffle, entree salads and gourmet sliders.
Taking its cue from the classic Spook Shows of the past, Canal Park Playhouse revives this thrilling, chilling popular entertainment for the 21st Century. Kicking off with trailers from classic cult horror films from the 1950s, the magician Cardone takes the stage for a spellbinding magic show that embraces the strange, the macabre and the fantastical.While HOUSE OF GHOSTLY HAUNTS is family friendly, no one under age 7 is permitted. The show ends in 10 minutes of complete darkness.
A pre-or-post show dinner is available at Canal Park Playhouse’s Waffle Iron Café. The dinner menu includes waffle iron-prepared gourmet sliders, entrée salads as well as hot-off-the-waffle-iron omelets and waffles. For a truly devilish dessert, the Playhouse’s famous Decadent Dark Chocolate Waffle is perfect pre or post-scarefest.
Cardone is a magician, ventriloquist, escape artist, Dime Museum curator, Flea Circus proprietor, ghost master and the world’s first mentriloquist. This full time entertainer has captivated audiences around the world with his unique brand of old fashioned entertainment. His shows range from full stage productions for private and corporate functions to night club cabaret venues and his magic been featured on Fox 5 News, Good Day New York, A+E Biography, The IFC Network, MTV, CW’S Reality Show Stylista, Wonderground Las Vegas, Monday Night Magic’s Main Stage, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and as the opening act for the Miss Hong Kong Pop Show. He has also toured the world as a musician with his band and has been the main support for Blondie, Ramones, Motorhead, Bob Dylan, The Cramps, Guns and Roses, and The Dammned. Cardone holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Carnegie Mellon University and has received grants from the Henson Foundation/St.Ann's Theatre for Puppetry and Magic. cardonethemagician.com
Yo-yo champ Mark Hayward and celebrated contortionist Jonathan Burns team up for STUNT LAB, putting their madness to the test in the wackiest laboratory in world. Using everyday objects and their own ingenuity, this duo creates dangerous, amazing and wild experiments sure to please thrill seekers of all ages as they scientifically attempt “The Greatest Stunt of All Time.”A Guinness Book of World Records will be broken at every show (we hope)! Kids ages 5 to 105, prepare to be awed!
Mark Hayward and Jonathan Burns’ skills have been seen on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Jay Leno Show, America's Got Talent, and The NBC Nightly News. Their talents have taken them to stages across the United States, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and even exotic New Jersey.
Part of Canal Park Playhouse’s Classic Brunch matinee series, brunch at the theater’s Waffle Iron café is available before and after the show. The brunch menu includes hot-off-the-waffle-iron spinach, mushroom, smoked chicken sausage frittatas; French toast; and Traditional Belgian Waffles with pure Vermont maple syrup and butter as well as the house specialty The Playhouse Pink Waffle (a pink waffle with strawberries and whipped cream). New menu additions include a chocoholic fantasy, the Decadent Dark Chocolate Waffle, entree salads and sliders.