Yuriy Butusov

Anton Chekhov’s first of four major plays dramatizes the romantic and artistic conflicts between its four main characters: Boris Trigorin, a well-known writer, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son the would-be playwright Konstantin Tréplev. Yury Butusov's Golden Mask Award-winning production abounds in an incredible freedom and openness, delving deep into the throes of artistic creation and the anguish of the artist who struggles to find a language of his own. This is not only a performance about the theatre, it is an anthology of the theatre. Chekhov’s characters are in the process of creating their lives or watching them fall apart, which, according to Butusov, may be a closely related activity.

In the search for a single good person in the province of Sezuan, three gods finally find only poor street girl Shen Te, whom they reward with a large gift of money. Now wealthy, Shen Te is now so exploited by all men that she has no choice but to slip into the shoes of her hard-hearted cousin, Shui Ta. Accused of murdering the missing Shen Te, the supposed Shui Ta confesses his dual role and the gods avoid a conviction. But Shen Te aka Shui Ta is now abandoned by all humans and also by the gods – helpless in the world.