THEATRE SESSION 2020

The venue for the theatrical session was Moscow; classes were held at the country’s leading theatre university — the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), from October 12 to 30 11 young actors, directors and playwrights from Switzerland, Brazil, the USA, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Poland, and Greece came to enrich their knowledge in theatrical art.

As part of the training programme, students were able not only to attend master classes in acting, directing, drama, choreography, biomechanics, but also to communicate at lectures with Russian theatrical figures such as Grigory Zaslavsky, Alla Sigalova, and Dmitry Krymov.

The master of the course was Mikhail Chumachenko, senior lecturer of the Department of Drama Directing and winner of international theatre awards. Under his leadership, the students prepared a show dedicated to the basics of acting in the Russian psychological school.

In the classroom, they analysed Chekhov’s stories and excerpts from the play The Seagull. Despite the fact that there was not much time for rehearsals during the programme, the students were able to present their directorial sketches at the final show. Moreover, Moscow, with its rich theatrical heritage and tradition, has become a perfect venue for the session.

Students attended such performances as the ballet Anna Karenina at the Bolshoi Theatre, Seryozha and Three Sisters at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, King Lear and Master and Margarita at the Pyotr Fomenko Workshop Theatre. They also visited several theatre museums, such as the Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the Moscow Art Theatre Museum, the Nemirovich-Danchenko Apartment Museum, the Stanislavsky House Museum, and the Melikhovo Museum Reserve of Anton Chekhov in the city of Chekhov. The obligatory cultural activities also included a visit to the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Art Museum, and the Kremlin Museums.