The Nikolai Kolada Theatre performed Lolotta, based on a short story by Anna Matveeva
To mark the premiere of the Polish translation of Anna Matveeva's collection of short stories Lolotta and other Parisian stories, the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding and TR Warszawa invited the author and the theatre of the Nikolai Kolada Center for Contemporary Drama of Yekaterinburg to Warsaw with a guest performance of Lolotta, based on Anna Matveeva's short story.
ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE:
Paris, early 20th century. A red-haired, beautiful pregnant woman enters the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. That's how the story begins, the story which will take us from the Montmartre hill to the studio (and bedroom) of Amedeo Modigliani and to the café Rotonda, where we will watch a French stand-up. Paris, however, is not the main hero of this story. The centre of it is an accidental meeting of two people who should not meet at all, but fate decided otherwise.
Lolotta is a play of small form, staged by the famous Centre for Contemporary Drama in Yekaterinburg (ЦСД), headed by Nikolai Kolada, one of the most distinguished Russian playwrights. The screenplay is based on a short story by Anna Matveeva, a renowned writer from Yekaterinburg, a member of the "Ural magical realism" trend, winner of the Bolshaya Kniga readers' award, the most important Russian literary award.
During the hour-long performance, the viewers follow two parallel stories that intersect against the laws of physics. Lolotta (Alisa Kravtsova) is a cheeky, a little stingy, but still charming girl from the province, dependant of her lovers, who tries to save money for a better life. The years pass, however, and the hopes for a new wonderful life are fading away. We find out about all of this by listening to Lolotta's passionate confession. Meanwhile, Amedeo Modigliani (Anton Butakov), a well-known painter and author of controversial female nude paintings, experiences a creative illumination. He often changes love interests, but still remains faithful to the Green Fairy and the Dark Prince. An accidental meeting will change the fates of these two characters, who are so different from each other.
fot. Marek Gorczyński
Duration: 1 hour (without intermission)
Performance in Russian with Polish subtitles
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Centre for Contemporary Drama / Центр современной драматургии
The Centre was established in 2009 on the initiative of Nikolai Kolada as a space where talented directors, playwrights and actors create a new theatrical language for the audience. The group consists of young people with similar views, who create a bright and modern theatre, dealing with socially important problems. The artistic manager of ЦСД is Nikolai Kolada.
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text: Anna Matveeva
translation into Polish: Magda Dolińska-Rydzek
cast: Alisa Kravtsova (Lolotta), Anton Butakov (Modigliani), Alexei Chuvashov (pastor, pianist, guitarist)
staged by: Centre for Contemporary Drama, Yekaterinburg, Russia
organisation: Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding
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A MEETING AFTER THE PERFORMANCE
27 February 2019 (Wednesday) 8.15 p.m.
place: TR Warszawa/Marszałkowska street, 8
We invite you to the premiere of the collection of short stories Lolotta and other Parisian stories. The meeting will be attended by the author Anna Matveeva and translators Anna Górka, Magda Dolińska-Rydzek and Marcin Gaczkowski. The meeting will be moderated by Natalia Szostak.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Brilliant and witty, bringing to mind the best traditions of the short stories writing art. Chekhov and his affection for the hero are one thing, Zoshchenko and his ability to perceive the absurd and humour in the seemingly everyday and ordinary, and finally Nabokov and the human moisture that brings these texts to life, make them swarm and drag themselves in different directions. It is great that a Polish reader has a chance to read contemporary Russian stories, and even more so that they are greatly translated.
Weronika Murek, writer
How does a psychologist from Yekaterinburg know the secrets of Lolotta, Modigliani's model? How does an Orthodox quack from Fiershamka cured the disease brought by a meteorite in February 2013? Critics call the warm and mysterious prose of Anna Matveeva "Ural magic realism". The collection of nine short stories Lolotta and other Parisian stories is the first time the author (also a journalist and an editor) has been translated into Polish, as well as the debut of nine young translators. But most of all, it is a fascinating journey from the Ural to Paris and back to Ural, from Cossack steppe stanitsa (village) to Montrmarte's pubs and back. Along the way, unexpected transitions from a factory manager to economy class and astonishing social progress in modern Russia. Ready to go? Fasten your seat belts.
Anna Żebrowska, Gazeta Wyborcza
NOTES ON THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE DEBATE
Anna Matveeva – "I didn't have much choice, already as a child I knew I would become a writer," says Anna Matwiejewa. She was born in 1972. She lives in Yekaterinburg, which is very often the background or the protagonist of her novels. She started writing and publishing in the 1990s. To this day, she has published 17 novels and collections of short stories, which are very popular in Russia. She was nominated for prestigious Russian awards such as Bolshaya Kniga and Natsional'nyy Bestseller. Critics call her work “Ural magical realism”. Matveeva's prose has been translated into Italian, French, Czech, Chinese and Finnish. Lolotta and other Parisian stories is the author's first book published in Polish.
Magda Dolinska-Rydzek is a PhD student at the Institute of Slavic Studies at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where she recently completed her PhD thesis – The Antichrist in Post-Soviet Russia: Transformations of an Ideomyth. She’s interested in literature, translation and cycling.
Marcin Gaczkowski – literary scholar, editor, academic teacher, conducts research on Central and Eastern Europe, translates all kinds of literature from Ukrainian and Russian. A wandering philosopher, most often resding in Wrocław.
Anna Górka – graduate of Russian Philology at the University of Silesia. Thanks to the Translation School, she took her first steps towards fulfilling her dream of translating literature: Niemłody i nieładny [Not young and not pretty] is her translation debut.
Natalia Szostak – a journalist and reviewer of Gazeta Wyborcza and Książki. Magazyn do czytania [Books. A magazine to read]. On YouTube she co-leads (together with Justyna Suchecka) a book channel Krótka Przerwa [Short Break]