IVAN VYRYPAYEV IN SLOVAKIA
IVAN VYRYPAYEV IN SLOVAKIA

Summary/Abstract: Theatre plays by Ivan Vyrypayev, Russia’s foremost and most influential contemporary playwright, are frequently staged not only in Russia, but also abroad, several plays have even been written on demand of European theatres. Vyrypayev is a very special and in many ways antipodal author. On the one hand, he bases himself upon the Russian cultural tradition, while engaging in a critically tuned dialogue with it. He introduces new staging techniques and new themes to theatre production, which respond in a very sensitive way to the current state of European civilisation and to the situation of man in the world affected by the crisis of values. Slovak theatre became first aware of his work in the early 21st century. Since 2004, up until now, his plays Sny [Dreams], Iyul [July], Pyanye [The Drunks], Ilyuzii [Illusions], Letniye osy kusayut nas dazhe v noyabre [Summer Wasps Bite Us Even in November], Nevynosimo dolgiye obyatiya [Unbearably Long Embraces] have been staged in Slovakia. Initially, it was the Slovak independent theatre expressing its interest in Vyrypayev’s texts, but very quickly, mainstream theatres followed suit. They have crossed generational barriers, and in the staging of his plays, the actors of young and oldest generations deliver remarkable performances. In a country in the heart of Europe, the poetics of an author who creates on the borderline between the East and the West, has resonated markedly well with the audiences. The theme of the relationship between Slovak theatre and Ivan Vyrypayev’s dramatic work remains open, whereby the presented study records and reflects on the current situation.

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