The performance is based on Daniel Kharms’s “The Old Woman” and other stories of this outstanding author. The performance also includes several miniatures from the collector of short stories “Incidents” which many connoisseurs of literature not only know by heart but also declare to be their Bible.
“My performances are always very private. This production gives me a chance to speak about fears, about an attempt to find my own ‘I;’ about my feeling of the world at the present time, with a hope that this is also important for the audience. The key concept of this performance is the fear. First of all, the fear of death, and the fear to stay unappreciated; the fear to encounter with disapproval, the fear of being truthful… The second theme is loneliness. We all are lonely, and this is our fortune and our hardship. I would love to get through the loneliness of every particular spectator. This time I will try to do this with the help of laugh, playing, jokes, and funny situations”.
Vladislav Nastavshev
The first night took place on November 30, 2012
Media about the performance
The fear is intertwined with laughter, laughter with fears. Playing is turning into reality, while the reality comes out as a game. We are young and old, living and dead at the same time. Sometimes you are tempted to ask yourself: do we exist in reality after all?
Alexandra Ilyina. The Fearful Laughter
"The Old Woman" of Vladislav Nastavshev at the New Hall of the National Theatre is a masterpiece of grotesque, putting together horrors and laughter. This total ambivalence refers not only to the aesthetics of the performance, but also to its philosophy deepened in the layers of hidden symbols
Silvia Radzobe. he Theater of Laughter
Diena.lv , 08.12.2012
