Valery Fokin’s performance “The Marriage” will open the International Theater Festival in Poland on October 2, 2009. The Festival called “Meetings of National Theaters in Warsaw” will take place on the stage of the Narodovy Theater on October 2 – November 20, 2009. On October 3, a conversazione with Valery Fokin will take place at 3 PM, and “The Marriage” will be shown once again at 7 PM. Major European theaters, including Comedy Française (France), Ivan Vazov Theater (Bulgaria), BurgTeatr (Austria), Marina Soresku National Theater (Romania), and Piccolo Theater di Milano (Italy) will take part in the Festival.

Performances of the Greek director Theodoros Tersopoulos will continue the program of the Alexandrinsky Festival. On September 25 and 26, he will introduce “Eremos” - a one-man show of Paoplo Musio - on the Smaller Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. On September 27, his performance “Oedipus Rex,” which had opened the First International Alexandrinsky Theater Festival in 2006, will be presented on the Big Stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater. Earlier, on August 24, Theodoros Tersopoulos carried out a master class on “The voice and the body in the Ancient Greek Theater.” Students of V. Filshtinsky’s course (St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater Arts) took part in the practical part of the master class.

Today, September 22, 2009, an exhibit of students’ photos under the title “Theater by the public’s eyes” was opened in the gallery of the fourth circle at 4:30 PM. It presents portraits of the actors of the Alexandrinsky Theater. One can see here coryphaeus of the Alexandrinsky Stage and actors of younger generations, but the major bulk of the exhibit is composed of the young actors’ portraits. The exhibition is organized under the frames of the theater's program of “Formation of the youth audience and cultural theater media.” All spectators coming to the Alexandrinsky Theater’s performances will be able to visit the exhibition.

On September 18 and 19, 2009, performance of the Hungarian Katona Joszhef Theater “Ivanov” directed by Tamas Aser will be shown under the frames of the Alexandrinsky Festival. This performance was honored with the Russian National Theater Award “Golden Mask” as the best foreign performance shown in Russia in 2008. A conversazione with director Tamas Aser will take place at the Tsar’s Lobby of the theater on September 19 at noon.

The Iozhef Katona Theater of Budapest will continue the program of the IV International Alexandrinsky Theater Festival. St. Petersburg theater-goers will receive a unique opportunity to get introduced to Tamas Aser’s performances. Tamas Aser is one of the most interesting masters of the modern European theater directing Russian classics. On September 16 and 17, 2009, M. Gorky’s “Barbarians” will be presented. The Iozhef Katona Theater of Budapest is the most know theater company in Hungary. The theater was founded in 1982 as an independent company and successor of the National Theater of Budapest. M. Gorky’s “Barbarians” (2008) – one of the latest theater’s premieres – caused ecstatic reviews in the Hungarian press. Critics paid special attention to acting of the leading actor of the company Gabor Mate, who is performing the role of Tsyganov. Tickets are available at the theater and city box-offices.

Today, on September 14, 2009, a Kirill Lavrov Cup football tournament took place at the smaller arena of Petrovsky Stadium. Football teams of St. Petersburg theaters and Youth Sports Schools took part in it. The Alexandrinsky Theater’s Team won the silver medals and the second place after the team had yielded in stiff fight in the final match to the team of the Youth Theater (0:1). Member of the Alexandrinsky Theater’s team Sergey Andreyev was named the best bombardier of the tournament.

On September 16, 2009, Distinguished Artist of Russia Rudolf Kuld will celebrate his semicentenary creative jubilee. Rudolf Kuld was invited to the Leningrad State Academy Pushkin Drama Theater in 1959. Prior to that, graduate of the legendary course of the theater pedagogue Boris Zon was one of the leading young actors of the Tallinn Theater of Russian Drama, where he had managed to play twelve roles in two seasons. In the half century at the Pushkin Theater. he had played about one hundred roles. Presently, in Rudolf Kuld’s repertoire there are roles in Valery Fokin’s “The Double” after F. Dostoyevsky and “The Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy. In the new season, public will see Rudolf Kuld in Andrey Moguchy’s premiere performance “Izotov” by M. Durnenkov (the first nights on October 23, 24, 25), where the actor will play and unexpected role of an angel-magician.

Tomorrow, September 11, 2009, the Alexandrinsky Theater will open its 254^th season and the IV International Alexandrinsky Theater Festival with the first night of A. Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya.” The theater will continue working on modern interpretation of Russian classics. Prominent Romanian director and pedagogue Andrei Serban proposed his version of A. Chekhov’s play; currently, Serban lives in the U.S. and cooperates with leading drama and music theaters of Europe and America. This performance at the Alexandrinsky Theater is the first experience of Andrei Serban’s working with Russian actors. He tries to conceive the tragicomical collisions of Chekhov’s play through the prism of the esthetic and philosophical conflict of two types of theaters and two ways of stage existence.

On September 10, 2009, People’s Artist of Russia Nikolay MARTON will celebrate his 75^th birthday. Nikolay Marton not only is a coryphaeus of the Alexandrinsky Stage, but also one of the most demanded actors of the company currently living through his creative renaissance. He plays in Valery Fokin’s performances “The Inspector General” by N. Gogol, “Ksenia. The History of Love” by N. Levanov, and “The Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy. After A. Bely’s performance “Petersburg” where Marton played the role of Senator Appolon Ableukhov, the actor composed a unique creative alliance with director Andrey Moguchy, who engages the actor in all his performances at the Alexandrinsky Theater, often giving him quite paradoxical and unexpected roles.

On September 1 and 5, 2009, under the frames of “Formation of youth audience and cultural theater media,” the performance-to-premiere “Uncle Vanya” by A. Chekhov was shown at the Alexandrinsky Theater to students of St. Petersburg higher educational institutions. Students of St. Petersburg State University, the Bonch-Bruyevich University, Hertzen University, Humanitarian University and other higher schools became the first public to see the Alexandrinsky Theater’s premiere. After the performance, young people stayed in the auditorium for a conversazione with director Andrey Serban who answered numerous questions of the public and listened to their opinions on the performance with sincere interest.