Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre premiere at the Rose Bruford College

Posted on June 16, 2014 by vakhtangov

Cover of film “Vakhtangov & the Russian Theatre”

Several days back from the UK after a successful screening and Premiere of Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre. It took place on May 10th 2014 as part of the Vakhtangov study day at the Rose Bruford college of theatre and performance organised by The Stanislavsky Centre which is based at the centre. It was a privilege to be able to participate in the and share the podium with the Vakhtangov scholar and specialist Andrei Malaev Babel who has written two books about Vakhtangov ‘The Vakhtangov Sourcebook” and “Evgeny Vakhtangov – A Critical Portrait”. Also Graham Dixon of the Mikhail Chekhov Studio in the morning session which he participated in together with Andrie Malaev Babel The morning session was dived into three parts. A long introduction presented jointly by Andrie and Graham, then the film Vakhtangov and the Russian Avant-garde which I briefly introduced and then a question and answer session with Andrie Malaev Babel, Graham Dixon and myself.

Michael Craig – Director of the film “Vakhtangov and the Russian Theatre”

The afternoon session was a master class presented by Andrei Malaev Babel which lasted a couple of hours and consisted of a series of intensive exercises and short pieces for actors. About sixteen members of the audience took part in this session and it gave a real insight into the practical insights and interpretations of Vakhtangov’s work. Natasha and myself filmed as much of the day as possible and I will try and put together a short clip to give a flavour of the day if all parities are agreeable. This was also a good opportunity to try out the new camera which I recently purchased and develop my DSLR skills a bit – gradually getting the hang of this new way of filming.

Left to right; Graham Dixon, Andrei Malaev Babel, Michael Craig

Any premier is a worry and this was no exception. I have showed the film to many people but there is nothing more effective than showing a film to a live audience and probably nothing more gratifying when the response is positive as it was in this case. I was very pleased when people came up to me after the film to express their thoughts and feelings.I was also glad to see meet some new people who share an interest in Vakhtangov like Oleg Mirochnikov the Russian theatre director who now lives and works in London as far as I am aware. He has a special interest in Vakhtangov’s work in relation to his own productions, as part of Belka Productions.I was especially glad that the actor Andrew Elias was able to attend. He has been a great supporter of the film form its early inception and throughout post production to the very end and so it was apt that he was able to make the premiere. There wasn’t much time to get to know each other but I am sure we can rectify that in subsequent meetings when I am back in the UK and of course we will be in touch over the internet.