Much Ado

Part of "the gulling scene" from Much Ado
at the Pushkin Theatre

Today (June 15) was supposed to be our boat ride down the Moscow River, but the incessant rain made that a no-go.  So pretty much everyone just stayed inside all day – many sleeping off the late night they had the night before (nothing illicit folks – just a little good old fashioned clubbing).  I skyped in the morning with Brian (did my parental skype Saturday night, so they didn't have to stay up so late).  Then I worked a bit on my dissertation, and then finally, at 6:00 we all gathered to head back to the Pushkin Theatre for their production of Многа Шума из Ничего (Much Ado About Nothing).  This is a production I had seen two years ago, and I really like it.  There’s something distinctly Western about it – it doesn’t feel as Russian as the other shows we see.  And that, perhaps, is a symptom of the fact that the show was actually developed while the company studied in England with Declan Donnelan (or so JT tells me).  But whatever the case, it is an energetic, music-filled, sparkling show.  And the couple who played Beatrice and Benedick were the main couple from Good Person of Szechwan just two nights before.  All the roles that these people must have in their heads!  And how brilliantly and fully they play all of them! It’s so impressive and inspiring.  How I wish I could do rep theatre with a resident company…

After the show, I did a bunch of internet searching to see if I could find the music from the show. It’s all performed by a Russian band called Группа W/ (the W band).  But they don’t seem to have much of a web presence after about two years ago.  It took a lot of weird websites before I was finally successful though!  I was able to actually find some of this music that I’ve loved since I saw the show two years ago!  So that was a little personal triumph over technology for me.  Huzzah!

Aside from an evening of internet and laundry, we also had a quick potluck after the show (minus the pot… we pretty much just had chips and cookies and candy) to check in after the week and to welcome the chair of our department as well as our group leader JT’s wife to Moscow – they had both flown in that morning.  It was a fairly pleasant evening.  I am really enjoying this group and their enthusiasm, and it will be good for our department chair to see their awesome work this week!

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