Based on Martin McDonagh's play The Cripple of Inishmaan. Young Spectator's Theatre, Volgograd
Billy
On October 12, 2007, the city's most versatile theatre, the Young Spectator's Theatre, opened its season with a premiere. Moreover, the premiere was a double one: the theatre introduced Volgograd and its audiences to perhaps the most talked-about playwright in contemporary Europe, Martin McDonagh, and presented Billy, based on his play The Cripple of Inishmaan. The production was directed by Albert Avkhodeev.
The performance included a most intriguing debut: the well-known Volgograd artist and director of the Children's Art Gallery, Elena Orlova, appeared here in a new role for herself — as a theatre artist.
(inter-volgograd.ru)
The characters of the play live in a closed world, cut off from the mainland by the sea. Outwardly, their life is rough and uneventful. It is especially difficult and sad for seventeen-year-old Billy, disabled from birth and orphaned. Yet it is he who manages to travel to America and then return home, seeing the people around him — and himself — in a new way.
Press excerpts:
“The production Billy can without exaggeration be called a success for director A. Avkhodeev, artist E. Orlova, and a serious shake-up for Volgograd's theatrical life.”
(Gorodskie Vesti, 19.10.07)
“It feels as if the theatrical world has gone mad. The excitement around this author is incredible. But this is one of those cases when it is no shame to be in the crowd. Nor is there any shame for the Volgograd Young Spectator's Theatre, which showed real courage in working with this play. In fact, recently there has been no reason to feel ashamed of this theatre at all: it is interested in deep, serious questions and tries to find untrodden paths to the hearts of its audience.” (Volgogradskaya Pravda, 17.10.07)
(tuz-volgograd.ru)
