November 18, 1999
Contact: Charla Jenkins, University Theatre, (785) 864-2684.
LAWRENCE -- Nikolai Erdman's grotesque comedy, "The Suicide," will be staged at the University of Kansas as part of the William Inge Memorial Theatre Series at 8 p.m. Nov. 29, 30, and Dec. 1 through 6 in the Inge Theatre. The production, which is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Erdman's birth, is being directed by noted Russian actor and director Veniamin Smekhov.
Erdman was one of the most talented Russian dramatists of the 20th century, Smekhov said, and his second major play,"The Suicide," was completed around 1929. Three theatres competed for the privilege of staging the play while the work was still in progress, but they never got beyond rehearsals because the play was banned. In 1933, Erdman was arrested and exiled for allegedly "slandering the Soviet reality." He never wrote another play and never saw "The Suicide" performed.
The play was banned from the Soviet repertoire until 1987, when Gorbachev's perestroika finally allowed theatres to pull it out of the archives and to show it to the Soviet theatre-going public. Since then, it has become the fourth most performed play in Russia. A 1990 production at Moscow's Taganka Theatre included Smekhov in the cast.
Set in Russia in 1928, the biting satire of the Soviet middle class tells of Semyon Semyonovich Podsekalnikov, a hero who is an everyman/nobody. Finding himself without a job, supported by his wife, and browbeaten by his mother-in-law, he decides to commit suicide. He is immediately lionized by a parade of zany advocates who relish the idea of having a martyr to bear witness to their pet causes. One by one they beg the hero to commit suicide as the ultimate anti-Soviet act.
"The Suicide" is an example of a type of Russian comedy known as "laughter through tears," according to Maia Kipp, assistant professor of Slavic languages and literature and of theatre and film, who is working with Smekhov and acting as his translator during rehearsals.
Smekhov said Erdman's comedy has become one of the classics of world drama because it is so funny and relevant to people in any country.. "This story of a little Russian guy who has to choose to whose cause he should sacrifice his life still has a universal and lasting appeal because it reflects upon a human dilemma and deals with the power of language over the lives and actions of individual human beings, particularly in times of great social, political and economic upheavals."
Smekhov said for its time and place, "The Suicide" was a brave, outspoken play, but it is hard to understand now why the play was considered so politically "hot," both in the Soviet Union and in the West, since it is not really a direct political attack on either the Soviet or the tsarist regime.
Smekhov said the KU production blends various genres and arts including comedy, tragedy and farce, as well as ballet, circus and even visual arts.
"KU students are performing this wonderful Russian play in English. And the happy angels-spirits of Stanislavsky's, Meyerhold's, Vakhtangov's theatre, of my own Taganka Theatre, as well as of the Russian folk theatre and Italian Comedia del'Arte soar above them."
The guest director is a prominent Russian stage, screen and television actor and director. As an actor, Smekhov, who has been compared to Dustin Hoffman in the United States, is famous for playing lead roles in major Russian theatre productions and motion pictures including the most avant-garde Russian theatre, the famous Taganka of Iury Liubimov, where he has appeared in productions of "Hamlet," "Master and Margarita," "The Life of Moliere" and "The Suicide."
As a stage, screen and TV director, Smekhov has more than 60 credits to his name. Among the plays he has directed in the United States are Shvarts' "The Naked King" and "The Ordinary Miracle," Chekhov's "The Bear" and "The Marriage Proposal," and Gogol's "The Inspector-General."
Working with Smekhov on the KU production are scenic designer Michael Sentfen, Manhattan senior; costume designer Jennifer Jacob, Charles City, Iowa, senior, and lighting designer Dennis Christilles, assistant professor of theatre and film. Choreography and movement for the production were created by Smekhov's Russian colleagues Edouard Bouilov, Alex Patsioukov, and Alex Kipp.
General admission tickets for "The Suicide" are now on sale in the KU box offices: Lied Center, 864-ARTS; Murphy Hall, 864-3982; and SUA, 864-3477. Seating is limited. Tickets are $8 for the public, $4 for all students, and $7 for senior citizens. Both VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders.
Members of the cast for the KU production of "The Suicide" include (listed by name, class, parents' names, home address, and role):
COWLEY COUNTY
-From Winfield
NANCY WILCOX, senior, daughter of Jennis Wilcox, 1500 E. 10th, Margarita
Ivanovna Peryesvetova.
DOUGLAS COUNTY
-From Lawrence
LAKIN GRIFFIN, freshman, son of Mrs. Perry Henshall, 1204 Lawrence Avenue,
Kostya, the Ringmaster.
EMILY JOANNA RANDEL, freshman, daughter of Vickie Randal, 2408 Westdale Road, the Deaf Mute.
JOHNSON COUNTY
-From Olathe
NICK SCHMITZ, senior, son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Schmitz, 721 N. Persimmon
Drive, Viktor Viktorovich, a writer.
-From Overland Park
GINA GRAD, senior, daughter of Marlis Grad, Cleopatra Maximovna.
JOSH MEYER, junior, son of John and Gail Meyer, 10803 W. 156 Terrace, Aristarch Dominikovich Goloschapov, an Intelligentsia member.
-From Prairie Village
ERYN HAMER, sophomore, daughter of Douglas and Rebecca Hamer, 5520 W. 69th
Terrace, Maria Lukianovna.
LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
-From Lansing
GINGER BARTOSKI, senior, daughter of Terry and Janet Bartkoski, 605 Pine
Ridge Court, Raissa Filipovna.
MCPHERSON COUNTY
-From McPherson
KAMI BREMYER, senior, daughter of Jeff and Janie Bremyer, 1509 Heritage
Place, Tik, a clown.
SHAWNEE COUNTY
-From Topeka
DREW JOHNSON, junior, son of Alan and Kelly Johnson, 6020 Stonybrook Court,
Alexander Petrovich Kalabushkin.
ALISON B. PRESTON, senior, daughter of Wanda Preston, 5821 SW Candletree Drive, and Larry Preston, 2511 SW Meadow Lane, Tock, a clown.
(END OF KANSAS)
CALIFORNIA
-From Los Angeles
CHARLIE HIRSCH, junior, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Hirsch, 1075 Casiano
Road, Egor Timofeyevich, a postman.
ILLINOIS
-From Glenview
MELISSA SHIMKOVITZ, senior, daughter of Howard and Gloria Shimkovitz, 629
Long Road, Serafima Ilinichna, the mother-in-law.
MICHIGAN
-From Clio
MATT HISLOPE, sophomore, son of Mr. and Mrs. William D. Hislope, 3319
Merlyn Court, Father Elpidi.
MINNESOTA
-From Bemidji
PATRICK C. CARRIERE, graduate student, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald G.
Carriere, 728 W. 26th, Nikifor Arsenyevich Pugachev, a butcher.
NEBRASKA
-From Wayne
MATT CHAPMAN, senior, son of Pete and Marcia Chapman, 820 Eastview, Semyon
Semyonovich Podsekalnikov.