Drama for Contemporaries

This year, Moscow’s Sovremennik (Contemporary) Theater celebrates its 40th anniversary. But while the main festivities will be in the capital, provincial Russia and the CIS will also be marking the occasion — over the last four decades, the theater has been taking its productions all over the former Soviet Union.

On recent visits to Europe, Israel and the USA, the Sovremennik has also managed to charm Western audiences. In fact, at the Seattle Goodwill Games, the six-week run of labor camp survivor Yevgeniya Ginzburg’s play A Hard Route was a box office smash and had standing ovations every night.

For the last 20 years, the theater has been headed by talented actor and director Galina Volchek (pictured right). It is as popular as 40 years ago, and tickets for a hit or premiere are just as difficult to buy as they were then. Many spectators today include those who 40 years ago stood in line overnight to get a cherished ticket in the morning.