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BLESSED XENIA. THE STORY OF LOVE
16+
Main Stage
1h. 30min.
Without intermission
VALERY FOKIN
Director, Author of the performance
ALEXANDER BOROVSKY
Scenic Design
ALEXANDER BAKSHI
Sound
OKSANA YARMOLNIK
Costumes

DAMIR ISMAGILOV
Lighting Designer
IVAN BLAGODYER
Musical Director, Assistant Director


IGOR KACHAEV
Plastiс Art
SOFIA MATVEEVA, LUDMILA FILIPPOVA
Assistant Director


ANNA BLINOVA / JANINA LAKOBA
Xenia
TIMUR AKSHENTSEV
Mityay
VLADIMIR MINAKHIN
Vasiliy
IGOR VOLKOV
Father Paisius
ANNA SELEDETS
Priest's Wife
IGOR VOLKOV
The Handicapped man
DMITRY BUTEEV
The Blind man
VLADIMIR MALIKOV
Andrei Fyodorovich

GALINA KARELINA /MARINA ROSLOVA
The Grandmother
ANNA STEPANOVA
The Granddaughter
DMITRY BUTEEV
The Young man #1
MATVEY PTASHNY
The Young man #2
ALEXANDRA BOLSHAKOVA
Katya
SERGEY PARSHIN
Saltykov
SVETLANA SMIRNOVA
Marfusha
NIKOLAI MARTON
The Death

ANNA VELICHKO, ELENA GLADKOVA, ANASTASIA GREBENCHUK, IVAN ZHUKOV, IRINA LEPESHENKOVA, MARIA NEFYODOVA, ANNA PODZHIDAEVA, MARINA ROSLOVA, SVETLANA SHEYCHENKO, SERGEY ELIKOV, VALERY STEPANOV, MAXIM YAKOVLEV
Adults
ALEXEY ZAZYBIN, KIRILL KATAEV, DANIIL KATERININ, GRIGORY KULIKOV, NIKITA SIMONOV, YESENIA TOLSTAYA, ALEXANDER KHARITONOV, ARINA SHAROVA, EGOR SHCHERBAKOV
Children
EVGENIA KADOCHNIKOVA, ANDREY OGORODNIKOV, ANTON POPOV, VALERY STEPANOV
Musicians

Valery Fokin’s performance, dedicated to the life of legendary Saint Blessed Xenia of Saint Petersburg, the patron of the ‘world’s most malicious city’, has become one of the most notable productions within both city’s theatrical environment and in director’s career since its premiere on February 27, 2009. Fokin has long been excited by various Saint Petersburg phenomena. It is in this very performance where he redefines them in the context of common man’s spiritual transformation − a result of the latter’s struggle against delusions of bad luck, against fears and suffers. 

The play by Vadim Levanov, the contemporary playwright classic, refers to the story of an actual person, who lived in Saint Petersburg in the middle of the eighteenth century − to Xenia Grigorievna Petrova. Her husband suddenly died without absolution. Xenia considered to hallow his immortal soul through the act of self-renunciation: she put on his dress and continued his earthly path. The audience will sight numerous people Saint Xenia met during her lifetime, who experienced her presence in centuries of Saint Petersburg’s miserable history to come. 

The new production of the legendary performance brings together masters (Nikolai Marton, Sergei Parshin, Galina Karelina) and young Alexandrinsky Theatre actors (Anna Blinova, Nikolai Belin, Timur Akshentsev). From the first performance, Blessed Xenia. The Story of Love arouses sympathy of an audience for Saint’s act of spirit, granting us with a chance to make a few step towards self-comprehension. The kaleidoscope of ages, attires, talks and behaviors follow one another on the stage. Various historic periods of mankind intertwine in a never-ending strive for spiritual truth. According to the author, the only way to achieve it is to perform an act of inner self transformation, through love alone! 

  Premiered on September 29, 2018

Media about the

“Valery Fokin has brought an Orthodox saint to the stage. Though in Saint-Petersburg she is especially, even a bit hysterically worshipped, the Director managed to spare the performance all bitter sweetness, which is, no doubt, his serious achievement as an artist”.


Dmitry Tsilikin. Xenia. God’s clown

Vedomosti, March 2009

“Fokin tells us the story of Xenia in its fullness – from the lyrical point of view, showing her emotions; from the social one, asking our common consciousness dangerous Pushkin-like questions; and from the epical one, filling the stage with characters from the XVIII century and the present age, piercing through the history of Russia and its identity”.


Alyona Karas, Bless be the one with Xenia

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, March 2009

“It’s not the first time Fokin presents his ideas concerning the ways and paths of living; the freedom of choice; and the ways and purposes of people’s spending their lives. Xenia. The Story of Love – this performance is not about self-denial. It’s not about the spiritual sight granted to us as an antipode to norms. It’s not about living a castaway’s life being the common way of saints’ living. It’s not about the mysticism of the city. Its main idea is the huge gap between the true and illusionary life. The true life is hard and lonely. The illusionary one is routine, comfortable, and fed. Having spent much effort, Fokin has managed to reconcile the intimacy of religious feelings and the hidden challenge of the ethical message”


Marina Tokareva. Foolish truth

Novaya Gazeta, March 2009

“Of course, The Xenia is about love. About its phenomenal power. It feels like I should be most serious about this matter, but I just don’t want to use fine words and dive into the sea of wise historical and cultural allusions. This is what Fokin did presenting the saint as a kind person and a real woman whose womanliness is not based on her appeal, but her very soul”


Maria Kingisepp. The unbearable lightness of life.

Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, March 2009

16+

BLESSED XENIA. THE STORY OF LOVE

Main Stage

1h. 30min.,
Without intermission

  • VALERY FOKIN

    Director, Author of the performance

  • ALEXANDER BOROVSKY

    Scenic Design

  • ALEXANDER BAKSHI

    Sound

  • OKSANA YARMOLNIK

    Costumes

  • DAMIR ISMAGILOV

    Lighting Designer

  • IVAN BLAGODYER

    Musical Director, Assistant Director

  • IGOR KACHAEV

    Plastiс Art

  • SOFIA MATVEEVA, LUDMILA FILIPPOVA

    Assistant Director

  • ANNA BLINOVA / JANINA LAKOBA

    Xenia

  • TIMUR AKSHENTSEV

    Mityay

  • VLADIMIR MINAKHIN

    Vasiliy

  • IGOR VOLKOV

    Father Paisius

  • ANNA SELEDETS

    Priest's Wife

  • IGOR VOLKOV

    The Handicapped man

  • DMITRY BUTEEV

    The Blind man

  • VLADIMIR MALIKOV

    Andrei Fyodorovich

  • GALINA KARELINA /MARINA ROSLOVA

    The Grandmother

  • ANNA STEPANOVA

    The Granddaughter

  • DMITRY BUTEEV

    The Young man #1

  • MATVEY PTASHNY

    The Young man #2

  • ALEXANDRA BOLSHAKOVA

    Katya

  • SERGEY PARSHIN

    Saltykov

  • SVETLANA SMIRNOVA

    Marfusha

  • NIKOLAI MARTON

    The Death

  • ANNA VELICHKO, ELENA GLADKOVA, ANASTASIA GREBENCHUK, IVAN ZHUKOV, IRINA LEPESHENKOVA, MARIA NEFYODOVA, anna podzhidaeva, MARINA ROSLOVA, SVETLANA SHEYCHENKO, SERGEY ELIKOV, VALERY STEPANOV, MAXIM YAKOVLEV

    Adults

  • ALEXEY ZAZYBIN, KIRILL KATAEV, DANIIL KATERININ, GRIGORY KULIKOV, NIKITA SIMONOV, YESENIA TOLSTAYA, ALEXANDER KHARITONOV, ARINA SHAROVA, EGOR SHCHERBAKOV

    Children

  • EVGENIA KADOCHNIKOVA, ANDREY OGORODNIKOV, ANTON POPOV, VALERY STEPANOV

    Musicians

Valery Fokin’s performance, dedicated to the life of legendary Saint Blessed Xenia of Saint Petersburg, the patron of the ‘world’s most malicious city’, has become one of the most notable productions within both city’s theatrical environment and in director’s career since its premiere on February 27, 2009. Fokin has long been excited by various Saint Petersburg phenomena. It is in this very performance where he redefines them in the context of common man’s spiritual transformation − a result of the latter’s struggle against delusions of bad luck, against fears and suffers. 

The play by Vadim Levanov, the contemporary playwright classic, refers to the story of an actual person, who lived in Saint Petersburg in the middle of the eighteenth century − to Xenia Grigorievna Petrova. Her husband suddenly died without absolution. Xenia considered to hallow his immortal soul through the act of self-renunciation: she put on his dress and continued his earthly path. The audience will sight numerous people Saint Xenia met during her lifetime, who experienced her presence in centuries of Saint Petersburg’s miserable history to come. 

The new production of the legendary performance brings together masters (Nikolai Marton, Sergei Parshin, Galina Karelina) and young Alexandrinsky Theatre actors (Anna Blinova, Nikolai Belin, Timur Akshentsev). From the first performance, Blessed Xenia. The Story of Love arouses sympathy of an audience for Saint’s act of spirit, granting us with a chance to make a few step towards self-comprehension. The kaleidoscope of ages, attires, talks and behaviors follow one another on the stage. Various historic periods of mankind intertwine in a never-ending strive for spiritual truth. According to the author, the only way to achieve it is to perform an act of inner self transformation, through love alone! 

  Premiered on September 29, 2018

Media about the

“Valery Fokin has brought an Orthodox saint to the stage. Though in Saint-Petersburg she is especially, even a bit hysterically worshipped, the Director managed to spare the performance all bitter sweetness, which is, no doubt, his serious achievement as an artist”.


Dmitry Tsilikin. Xenia. God’s clown

Vedomosti, March 2009

“

“Fokin tells us the story of Xenia in its fullness – from the lyrical point of view, showing her emotions; from the social one, asking our common consciousness dangerous Pushkin-like questions; and from the epical one, filling the stage with characters from the XVIII century and the present age, piercing through the history of Russia and its identity”.


Alyona Karas, Bless be the one with Xenia

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, March 2009

“

“It’s not the first time Fokin presents his ideas concerning the ways and paths of living; the freedom of choice; and the ways and purposes of people’s spending their lives. Xenia. The Story of Love – this performance is not about self-denial. It’s not about the spiritual sight granted to us as an antipode to norms. It’s not about living a castaway’s life being the common way of saints’ living. It’s not about the mysticism of the city. Its main idea is the huge gap between the true and illusionary life. The true life is hard and lonely. The illusionary one is routine, comfortable, and fed. Having spent much effort, Fokin has managed to reconcile the intimacy of religious feelings and the hidden challenge of the ethical message”


Marina Tokareva. Foolish truth

Novaya Gazeta, March 2009

“

“Of course, The Xenia is about love. About its phenomenal power. It feels like I should be most serious about this matter, but I just don’t want to use fine words and dive into the sea of wise historical and cultural allusions. This is what Fokin did presenting the saint as a kind person and a real woman whose womanliness is not based on her appeal, but her very soul”


Maria Kingisepp. The unbearable lightness of life.

Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, March 2009

“
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National Drama Theatre of Russia (Alexandrinsky Theatre)

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