The Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia returns this June 15 through 18 for four performances only of Uncle Vanya, Anton Chekhov’s great tragicomedy of wasted potential and blighted dreams, at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street), as part of the V International Cherry Orchard Festival of the Arts (CherryOrchardFestival.org). Director Rimas Tuminas’s Expressionistic slapstick production was chosen by The Guardian in London as one of the Best Theater Events of 2012, and won Russia’s Golden Mask Award. The cast features some of Russia’s most acclaimed actors: Sergey Makovetskiy, Liudmila Maksakova and Vladimir Simonov.

Uncle Vanya will be performed Thursday, June 15 through Saturday, June 17 at 7:30 PM and on Sunday, June 18 at 2:00 PM.
For years, Vanya and his niece Sonya have labored on their family’s country estate in relative harmony. But when Sonya’s father returns from the big city with a glamorous new bride, unfulfilled desires and fierce family loyalties collide to destroy the status quo. This “mercurially brilliant import” and “dazzling production” (Billington, The Guardian) is set on a stage free of clutter, samovars, birch trees, and realism. Tuminas’s dreamlike and surreal production has no feeling of ‘home’ where several generations have lived.
Uncle Vanya will be performed in Russian with English supertitles. The sets and costumes are by Adonas Jacovskis; the lighting is by Maya Shavdatuashvili; and the composer is Faustas Latenas. This is the third time the Cherry Orchard Festival, which celebrates the international arts in the heart of New York City and beyond, has presented the distinguished Moscow-based company with Mr. Tuminas as Artistic Director. The Vakhtangov was founded in 1921 by director and Stanislavsky scholar, Evgeny Vakhtangov.

On Wednesday, June 14 actors Sergey Makovetskiy, Liudmila Maksakova and Vladimir Simonov will join director Rimas Tuminas in a discussion in Russian with English translation led by Cherry Orchard Festival executive producers, Maria Shclover and Irina Shabshis at the New York Public Library, 18 W. 53rd Street, from 7 until 8:30 PM. After the presentation, there will be an open Q&A session.

More about the artists
Lyudmila Vasilyevna Maksakova (Voynitskaya Mariya Vasilievna, widow of the privy councilor, mother of professor’s first wife) is a stage and film actress who appeared in 24 films between 1965 and 1998. Honoured with the People’s Artist of Russia title in 1980, she is also a laureate of the USSR State Prize (1995) and the Stanislavsky Prize (1996).
She was born in Moscow to the Soviet opera star Maria Petrovna Maksakova and Aleksander Volkov, a theatre entrepreneur, who in 1942 defected to the West and later became the United States citizen. For decades Lyudmila remained unaware of her father’s identity. By keeping it secret, Maria Petrovna was protecting her daughter from trouble at the times when any relation to a ‘traitor’ could lead to prosecution.
In 1961, she joined the Vakhtangov Theatre where she debuted as Masha in The Cookie’s Marriage (after Anatoly Sofronov’s comedy). Her breakthrough came two years later when she played the Tatar Princess Adelma in the much acclaimed Vakhtangov production of Princess Turandot, revived by director Ruben Simonov. Among her other lauded performances were those of Lolya (Dion), Knipper-Chekhova (My Whimsical Happiness), Nicol (Le Bourgeois gentilhomme), Maria (The Cavalry Army, after Babel) and Mamayeva (Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man).
In 1964 Maksakova debuted in film, as Nina in Grigory Chukhray’s There Was an Old Couple. Over the next decade, she appeared in more than fifteen films, including Tatiana’s Day (1967), Not Guilty (1969), The Bad Good Man (1973) and Autumn (1974). She later appeared in the critically acclaimed films Old Russian Vaudeville’s Evening (1979, where she played five different women), Igor Talankin’s drama Father Sergius (after Leo Tolstoy’s short story) and Die Fledermaus, Ian Frid’s musical film after Johann Strauss’s classic, alongside Yuri and Vitaly Solomins.
The early 1980s saw Maksakova enjoying her second wave of success in theatre. Much lauded were her Anna Karenina in Roman Viktyuk’s 1983 production (based on Mikhail Roshchin’s remake of Leo Tolstoy’s novel), Paola in The Lady Without Camellias (after Terence Rattigan’s play), Bizyukina in Soboryane (based on Leskov’s novel) and Louise in I Don’t Know You from Now On, Dear (after Aldo De Benedetti’s play). Her performance in Pyotr Fomenko’s production of Guilty Without Fault by Alexander Ostrovsky, earned Maksakova the USSR State Prize in 1995, and the Stanislavsky Prize a year later. In 2000s Maksakova started to teach at the Shchukin Theater Institute.

Sergey Makovetskiy (Voynitsky Ivan Petrovich, Smariya Vasilievna) Is a 1980 graduate of Boris Shchukin Drama School, where he studied with A.A. Kazanskaya. He was admitted to the company of the Vakhtangov Theatre immediately after graduation. His roles include: Shostakovich (Master’s Lessons), Prince Alexei (Our Tsar, Our Father), Lawyer Malpieri (I Don’t Know You Anymore, Honey), Amphitryon (Amphitryon), Yago (Othello), City Provost (The Government Inspector), Trigorin (Chaika), Voynitskiy (Uncle Vanya), Onegin (Evgeniy Onegin), and Ephraim Dudak (Smile at Us, Oh Lord), among others.

For his portrayal of Voynitskiy in this production he has been honored by many prestigious theatrical awards including “Chrystal Turandot,” Stanislavsky International Award, Oleg Yankovsky Award and the Kumir Award.

Mr. Makovetskiy is often invited to perform at such other theatres as the Roman Viktiuk Theatre (M. Butterfly, Rogatka), K.S. Stanislavsky Theatre (Twelfth Night or Whatever), Sovremennik Moscow Theatre (Pygmalion), Moscow Theatre of Young Spectators (Black Monk), among others.

His debut in cinema was the role in V. Titov’s film Life of Klim Samgin based on a novel by M. Gorky. His major success began with roles in films by V. Khotinenko, A Patriotic Comedy and Makarov. His latest works include Russian Revolt, Brother II, Bedroom Door Key, 72 Meters, It Doesn’t Hurt Me, Russian Game, Temptation, Weeble-Wobble, Elimination, Nice One, Twelve, Live and Remember, Priest, The Case of Grocery Store 1, Peter The Great, Will, Life and Destiny, A Girl and Death, Two Winters, Three Summers, and Demons.

Mr. Makovetskiy is the holder of over 20 Russian and foreign cinema awards. In 2010, he was awarded the Order of Honor for merit in developing Russian culture and art. In 2012, he became a laureate of Moscow Mayor’s Award in Literature and Arts. Mr. Makovetskiy is a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, and a prizewinner of the State Award of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Simonov (Serebryakov Aleksandr Vladimirovich, retired professor) is a 1980 graduate of Boris Shchukin Drama School, where he studied with A.A. Kazanskaya. He was admitted to the company of the Vakhtangov Theater immediately. Starting in 1983 he worked at A.P. Chekhov Moscow Art Theater (MKhAT) where he played Treplev in Chaika, Valera in Tartuffe and other roles.

In 1988, he returned to the company of the Vakhtangov Theater. His roles include: Tartalia (Princess Turandot), Chopen (Summer in Noan), Kopeikin (Ancient Russian Vaudevilles), Benia Krik (Sunset), Pichem (Opera of Beggars), Jean (Freken Julie), the title role in Othello, the tragedy by Shakespeare, Colonel (Mademoiselle Nitouche), Pandar (Troillus and Cressida), Serebriakov (Uncle Vanya), Rene (Wind Blowing in the Poplars), Retired Hussar (Evgeniy Onegin), and Ephraim Dudak (Smile at Us, Oh Lord).

Additionally, Vladimir Simonov is also sought after by other theatres: K.S. Stanislavsky Theater (Podkolesin in Marriage and City-Provost in The Government Inspector), the Theater of Nations (Trigorin in Chaika play. Experience in Mastering Stanislavsky System, and Professor Higgins in Imago. Pigmalionioum), Et Cetera Theatre (Voynitsky in Uncle Vanya, Kuvaldin in Guide to Those Willing to Get Married, Sganarelle in Willy-Nilly Doctor, Sancho Panza in Don Quixote, several roles in Chekhov’s play Faces, and the title role in Boris Godunov).

He has acted in over 100 films, working with such film directors as M. Shweizer, A. Efros, P. Fomenko, I. Dykhovichniy, E. Ryazanov. His cinema works include The Single Are Granted Accommodation, Tevye the Dairyman, A Criminal Talent, How’s Life, Crucians?, Marriage, Border, A Taiga Romance, Moscow Windows, Red-Hot Saturday, Life Full of Fun, Bedroom Door Key, Children of Arbat, A Case of Dead Souls, Andersen: Life Without Love, One Love in a Million, Antidrugs, Rzhevsky vs. Napoleon, Life and Destiny, Kuprin, The Third World War, and others.

He is the holder of many theatrical awards including three “Chaika” awards, an MK award, Andrey Mironov’s Figaro Russian National Actor Award. In 2012, he became a laureate of Moscow Mayor’s Award in Literature and Arts.

Anna Dubrovskaya (Elena Andreevna, Vladimirovich’s wife) was born on November 27th in Minsk, Belorussia. Her mother was an actress of the Belorussian State Musical Theatre at the time, and Anna got her first small role in the TV series when she was six years old. She spent a lot of time backstage during her teen years and became immersed in the theatre. She was admitted to the Moscow’s B.V. Schukin Theatre School where she studied in the class of professor and theatre director, Vladimir Ivanov.
She got her first title role in the movies while still in college, in the popular comedy I Want Your Husband. Anna graduated Moscow’s B.V. Schukin Theatre School in 1994 and was admitted to the company of Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre.

While in Vakhtangov Theatre, Ms. Dubrovskaya played several title and secondary roles in the productions staged at the theatre while making her movie career. She took parts in several TV projects as well, including mini-series “La Dame de Monsoreau.” National recognition came to Anna after she played one the of the roles in the movie The Night Watch by the director Timur Bekmambetov in 2004, that became a national blockbuster. During 2004-2010 she took parts in several TV projects and mini-series, and played the title role on the movie Ivanov based on Anton Chekhov’s play. She was awarded the prestigious Russian theatrical award, “The Seagull,” twice.

Anna was highly praised, by both the press and the public, for the role of Elena Andreevna, Vladimirovich’s wife, in the production of Uncle Vanya at the Vakhtangov Theatre, which became one of her favorite parts.

Anna Dubrovskaya is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

Eugenia Kregzhde (Sophia Aleksandrovna “Sonya” his daughter of Vladimirovich’s first marriage) was born on July 15 in Riga. She is a winner of the “Kristal Turandot” award. Eugenia graduated from the Schukin Theatre Institute (where she studied with M.B. Borisov) in 2005 and joined the Vakhtangov Theatre company the same year.
The talent of the young actress was highly recognized by critics and by audience after her performance in Troilus and Cressida directed by Rimas Tuminas. Miss Kregzhde was honored to be invited by the legendary director of the Russian theatre Yuriy Lubimov to perform Lisa in his production of Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Now she is regarded as one of the leading actresses of the young generation of the Vakhtangov Theatre. She performed a role of Tatiana in Eugene Onegin during the Vakhtangov Theatre’s US tour in 2014.
Artur Ivanov (Astrov Mikhail Lvovich, a doctor) graduated from B.V. Schukin Theatre School in 2008, where he studies with V.V. Ivanov. In the same year was admitted to the company of Evgeny. Vakhtangov Theatre.
Yury Kraskov (Telegin Ilya Ilyich) is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. He graduated from B.V. Schukin Theatre School in 1989, where he studied with L.V. Kalinovsky and Yu.A. Stromov. In 1990 was admitted to the company of Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre.
As a reciter of verse he performs with the programs “Love is an endless journey” “… I want to roses”, “Inviting to listen to faraway”, and “And laughter, and tears, and love…” on many concert grounds in Moscow (Gerzen Museum, Arkhangelskoe Museum-Estate, Polytechnic Museum, and House of Veteran Teachers), Saint Petersburg, Samara, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad, Sovetsk, Zelenogorsk, and, in the Ukraine (Putivl, Kharkov, Sumy, Dnerpodzerzhinsk), Lithuania (Vilnius, Visaginas), Moldavia (Kishinev), and Armenia (Erevan).
He is well regarded for his performance as Poprischin in Diary of a Madman by N.V. Gogol, revived by Rimas Tuminas, and has performed it many times in theatre festivals of small stages in Russia as well as in such cities as Orel (Russia), Kaunas (Lithuania), Erevan (Armenia), Kishinev (Moldova).
Inna Alabina (Nurse Marina) is an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. She graduated from Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute in 1966, where she studied with Marianna Ter-Zakharova. In 1966, she also joined the Vakhtangov Theatre company.
Sergey Epishev (Elfim, a worker) is a winner of MK Theater Prize. He graduated from B.V. Schukin Theatre School in 2001, where he studied with Yu.V. Shlykov. In the same year was admitted to the company of Evgeny Vakhtangov Theatre.
Recipient of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, Russian Festival of Performing Arts “Golden Mask” Award winner, International Stanislavsky Theatre Award winner, Crystal Turandot Award winner, and Golden Nail Award winner, Artistic Director Rimas Tuminas was born on the 20th of January, 1952, in Kelme, Lithuania. In 1970-1974 he studied at the Conservatory of Lithuania. In 1978, he graduated from GITIS Academy.

The first performance, directed by Rimas Tuminas, was Yordan Radichkov’s January (1978), which was staged at the Drama Theatre of Lithuania. The first performance launched in Moscow was Oswald Zagradnik’s Peacock Melody at the Stanislavsky Theatre. From 1979 to 1990 he worked as a director at the State Academic Theatre of Lithuania, and since 1994 as a chief director.

In 1990 Rimas Tuminas founded the Little Theatre of Vilnius, where he staged numerous performances, including Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (1990), Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo, Grigory Kanovicius’s Dear God, Give Us a Smile (1994) and Mikhail Lermontov’s Masquerade (1997). The theatre toured abroad extensively (Finland, Sweden, Poland, Iceland and other countries).

Mr. Tuminas directed more than 20 plays in different theatres of Lithuania and in other countries. Among his foreign works are Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (1992) and The Seagull (1993) staged in Finland, Moliere’s Don Juan (1995) in Iceland. One of the performances, There Will Be No Death, was written in collaboration with poet Valdemaras Kukulas. In 2000 Tuminas worked at Sovremennik Theatre, and in 2002 in Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre.

Since 2007 Rimas Tuminas has been an Artistic Director of Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre. After Tuminas took over the position, the theatre occupied a leading position among other theatres, not only in Moscow but also in Russia. In 2011, the theatre was recognized as the most visited theatre in Moscow.
In 2010, he was awarded the Order of Friendship for his major contribution to the development of cultural ties with the Russian Federation, preservation and promotion of Russian language and culture abroad.

The annual Cherry Orchard Festival, a production of the Cherry Orchard Foundation, is a celebration of the international arts in the heart of New York City and beyond. Each of its world-class, multi-disciplinary performing and visual arts attractions is unique and never has been presented before in the US. Festival’s creative team finds the newest and most daring projects in the international arts arena and introduces it to audience. Festival’s mission is to initiate and promotes global cultural activity and exchange of ideas to an inter-generational audience through entertaining and educational programming and events in all genres. The team is committed to providing the finest entertainment, exceptional musical performances and enlightening educational programs to its patrons.

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