Photo Flash: THE PAST IS STILL AHEAD Production Shots; to Open at Jewel Box Theater, 7/23

In "The Past Is Still Ahead" by Sophia Romma, one of Russia's most ill-fated and controversial cult poets of the twentieth century, Marina Tsvetaeva, revisits the tumultuously tragic and sexy events of her life--just before she succumbs to "suicide" at the hands of the Soviet Secret Police in 1941 while exiled in Siberia. The play will be presented by Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival on July 23, 27 and 28 at The Jewel Box Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor, NYC, directed by François Rochaix. Check out a first look below!

The six-character play is written in English by the Russian-born NY playwright Sophia Romma (www.sophiamurashkovsky.com ) and is based on a monologue by Israeli playwright Oded Be' eri.

"The Past Is Still Ahead" premiered at the legendary Mayakovsky Academic Art Theater in Moscow on April 25, 2007, directed by François Rochaix (of Théâtre de Carouge, Geneva) and Yuri Joffe (of the Mayakovsky Academic Art Theater). Its American debut was presented by The Past is Stilll Ahead, Inc. at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2007, directed by François Rochaix and Ms. Romma for a two-week run. That production starred YeLena Romanova, a Russian actress of theater and film, as the famous poet and featured other actors from the Mayakovsky Academic Art Theater. Subsequently, the piece was presented at Théâtre de Carouge in Geneva (2008), at the JCC in Manhattan in 2008, at the Millennium Theatre in Brooklyn, NY, at the Pushkin House in London, England and at Oxford University in 2009. This is the play's first performance with an all-American cast.

The actors will be Alice Bahlke as Marina Tsvetaeva, Inna Leytush as Marina Tsvetaeva's Mother in the afterlife and Bettina Bennett as the poet's Mother in her youth, Tosh Marks as the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Grant Morenz as the Soviet NKVD Officer who interrogates Tsvetaeva, Liora Mishelle as Marina's Muse, and Nuria Martinez as Sophia Parnok. Costume design is by Anastasia Glebova (of the Mayakovsky Academic Art Theatre). Lighting design is by Genadi Birushov from Russia. Sound design is by Dmitri German and set design is by award-winner Inna Bodner.

Photos by Jonathan Slaff