Nikolai Gogol's DIARY OF A MADMAN Opens At Pushkin Hall

The Russian Arts Theater and Studio (TRATS), a New York theater company founded in 2004, continues its 2023 season with Diary of a Madman, based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol, newly adapted by Di Zhu and Aleksey Burago. Renowned director Aleksey Burago leads an international ensemble featuring Albert Baker, Luisa Menzen, Sarah O'Donnell and Tom Schubert. This limited engagement runs June 2 to August 5, 2023 at Pushkin Hall (165 W86th Street, Manhattan). Tickets are now on sale at www.russiantheater.org.

Seasoned Brazilian-American actor Tom Schubert comes spectacularly unhinged as Poprischin, a lowly St. Petersburg civil servant who is driven mad by his lack of status and his confusion at a changing world. In creating Gogol's topsy-turvy madhouse, actors Albert Baker, Luisa Menzen and Sarah O'Donnell join forces to deliver a dizzying and dazzling parade of thirty plus characters.

Russian-American director Aleksey Burago is a protégé of the world famous Muscovite director Pyotr Fomenko and is known for his work in Russian stages and TV, including The Hermitage Theater and Aleksandrinka Theater (Beyond Recognition), Moscow TV (Queen of Spades), Youth Theater (The Emperor's New Clothes, Stoned), Interatelier Theater (Fandor and Liz), and The Baltic House Theater (Camille). Shortly after completing his directing studies at the prestigious Russian Institute of Theater Arts (GITIS), Burago left Russia and moved to the United States in search of a better life.

In 2004, he founded The Russian Arts Theater and Studio with the hopes of passing on the unique heritage of Russian theater training while sharing lesser-known Slavic classical and modern plays with New York audiences. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Burago cancelled the theater's season plans and mounted a stage adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm in protest of the war. A portion of ticket proceeds were donated to Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

"In our explorations of Ukrainian writers and culture, we returned to the works of Nikolai Gogol. Gogol's infamous madman cannot be more relevant today," says Burago. "Poprischin is all of us-excluded, persecuted and destroyed simply because he refuses to conform and submit to authority. Instead of respecting each other's differences, we resort to labeling, silencing, torturing, and when that fails-annihilating."

On the company's website, it states "The artists of The Russian Arts Theater and Studio stand in solidarity with our friends in Ukraine. Founded in 2004 in New York City, our company is at its very core an American company, made up of actors from around the world, united by the common desire to create theater that uplifts those around us, not to destroy. There is never a justification for the invasion of a sovereign country. Our hearts are with all those affected by this tragedy. Our stance is clear: we say NO to war!"

Performances of Diary of a Madman will take place Jun 2 to Aug 5, 2023 at Pushkin Hall, located at 165 W86th Street, in Manhattan. The performance schedule is Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm. Critics are welcome. Tickets are $35, are available at www.russiantheater.org. Standard ticketing fees apply.

For more information about the show and artists involved, please visit www.russiantheater.org.

 

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