My enthusiasm for Russian theatre has been nurtured through the Fringe - although it has a reputation for being weighty and long, the short-form of the Fringe format encourages the more lively and experimental productions to roll up and keep it under two hours. But there seems to be a seriousness in Russian performance - even when it is comic, it is intense and betrays a faith in the theatre as the place where ideas are discussed. And relevance is never a problem: while Artem Kretov was inspired by Knut Hamsun novel, his Hunger strikes at modern day despair.
This version of Hunger transplants the action to a a talented but impoverished artist lost in a modern greedy metropolis: adding traits reminiscent of Dostoevsky`s Raskolnikov, Kretov's artist struggles to retain sanity and integrity in the environment where people only crave quick money and useful connections. Noting that the majority of people leave their chosen profession before the age of thirty, Kretov's Hunger is a plea for relentless determination, as well as a tribute to the spirit of the original novel.
"My friend director Andrey Vasiliev offer me to set up Hunger by Knut Hamsun, I agreed immediately," he remembers. "For me being an actor, always very challenging and intriguing to have a role of a person being on the edge. The story of such a character is modern and eternal in the same time. It depicts the great tragedy of the human spirit."
Kretov's description of the start of the project manages to capture everything I love about Russian theatre in a single paragraph. He acknowledges that Russian performance can be isolated from the general trends of theatre.
"Russian theatre, as well as the stage acting itself are not to say unique, but they stay aside from all other theaters," he agrees, "First of all due to schooling and traditions. Stanislavsky methods are not at all old and dusty, but are vibrant and actively used nowadays." Despite his willingness to go it alone, and resist the lure of mainstream theatre, he is serious about the importance of experience and discipline. "It is mutually important to have done the job of the director as well the acting part. A person who can apply Stanislavsky methods has a great advantage. Up till now the Russian directors have great success on the international projects, master classes et cetera."
Kretov goes on to identify those distinctive qualities that make Russian theatre stand out. "Action and multi-dimension, self awareness on the stage, motion from the inside concept to the external, from the idea to the format - that is the most attractive in the Russian theatre." he continues. "Theater is first of all a metaphor. And there is no art with no metaphor. There is nothing more exiting and beautiful than to experience one’s life within just a half an hour. The stage gives an amazing, pure opportunity just to be and live and exist."
August 14, 16, 18-19, 21,23,25,27
19:10(length 1hr 15mins)
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