Victory Day!

James here.

Taking the bus back from Baltimore and the New Russian Drama Conference.

As has happened so many times throughout the process of I am the Machine Gunner we found ourselves staring at a happy coincidence.  By an unintentional stroke of luck in scheduling, it happened that the Conference ended on May 9th – the Russian holiday that marks the end of WWII and the defeat of Fascist Germany.

Photo:  This photo of the Red Army raising the Soviet flag over the German Reichstag is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima.
 

It is not as if our group needed a reason to celebrate (our late nights at the hotel bar with Slava and Yury were proof of that already) but Victory Day provided one nonetheless. The playwrights had been kept busy with conference business over the past few days and since they had not had much opportunity to see the United States, we decided to take them to Washington D.C. to take in the sights of our nation's capitol.

Joining us for the trip was Graham Schmidt, a former Russian studies major who now runs the Breaking String Theater Company in Austin, Texas. Meeting Graham at the conference was a boon for all of us. Not only did he instantly fit in with our crew, he was able to act as translator for us during our trip to D.C.  I'm sure its not easy to keep your comedic timing when translating jokes from Russian to English (and vice versa) but he did remarkably well. In Graham, Generous Company has not only made a viable professional contact, but a genuine friend as well.

Photo:  Flanked by the Russians inside the WWII Memorial on May 9th - Victory Day for the Russians.



Standing within the ring of the World War II memorial seemed eerily appropriate given the day and the content of our show. We all took some time to talk about our grandfathers and their roles in the conflict. Klavdiev told a particularly hard story about his wife’s grandfather, a Russian submariner who had to remain motionless and quiet for a week on the ocean’s floor while German battleships and patrol boats listened overhead with depth charges at the ready. The only men allowed to move during this time were the sub’s cook and medic, who crawled slowly around the floor administering shots of glucose to the paralyzed men.

After hitting the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial we retired to a local bar to toast our grandfathers and mothers (it was also Mother’s Day here in the States) and enjoy the pleasure of each other’s company. Between beers, chicken wings, and more than a few laughs we laid a foundation not for just artistic collaboration, but for friendship as well.


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Photo (l to r):  Dave White, Rebecca Eastman, Vyacheslav Durnenkov, Yury Klavdiev and Graham Schmidt.

New Russian Drama Conference

James here.

Writing this on the final morning of the New Russian Drama Conference.  Arranged by our good friend and CITD frontman Phillip Arnoult, the conference has been a success for the Russian playwrights, who have watched productions of their plays and gotten introduced to a select gathering of American theater artists.

Photo:  The man who brought us all together; Phillip Arnoult introduces playwright Yury Klavdiev (background).

Perhaps the biggest highlight over the 2 1/2 days of the conference was the production of Klavdiev's play, "Martial Arts".  Artfully staged by Yury Urnov, "Martial Arts" tells the story of a young boy who inherits a few kilos of heroin from his parents after they are brutally murdered by gangsters.  I'll admit that the first time I read the script I became skeptical of how it could ever be produced, but Yury Urnov and his crew more than pulled it off.  Using casting elements and a set design that bent the visual perspective of the audience, Urnov's direction showcased the complexity of Klavdiev's work by presenting a fully realized and skewed version of reality that was equal parts hilarious and horror driven.

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Klavdiev during the show and he seemed very pleased with what he saw.

He was not alone in this feeling.  As the lights went down on the final act the audience erupted into cheers and fast paced, rhythmic applause.  I'm not going out on too far a limb to say that "Martial Arts" was a highlight for most people at the conference and it underscored yet again a fact that Dave and I have known for years now:

American audiences are ready for Yury Klavdiev.

Dave helped hammer that message home as a member of the post show panel.  He worked with Yury Urnov as a translator on "Martial Arts" and had some interesting things to say about Klavdiev's style. 

The conference has afforded us a unique opportunity to reach out to people and spread the word about Klavdiev and "I am the Machine Gunner" and for that we are incredibly grateful.  It seems to be one more sign that this is a project worth fighting for. . .

I can't wait to immerse myself in it once again in September.

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The Russians have landed

James here.

Back in Baltimore.

the front grille of the '62 Valiant that rusts in peace across the street where I stay in Baltimore. This car has been as much a symbol of my return trips to "Charm City" as anything else.

This time for the New Russian Drama Conference. A three day event that has gathered together theater artists from all over Russia and the United States; most notably for us -Yury “Strike” Klavdiev, the writer of “I am the Machine Gunner”.

I had met Klavdiev once before when Dave and I attended the Golden Mask Theater Festival in Moscow in April of 2009. We used that time to ask questions about the show and get to know the man behind the words. It was a 3 hour conversation that I felt got cut too short by our Moscow itinerary.

I’ve no doubt that the conference will have the man running around like crazy for the next couple of days, but I’m also doubtless that we’ll be able to get in some quality face time.

This is Klavdiev’s first trip to the United States. He flew into New York with Vyacheslav Durnenkov, another Russian playwright whose work has been seen recently at the Moscow Art Theater and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. The first official stop on their visit was a Q&A at the Martin Segal Center (CUNY) in Manhattan. They were helped by our good friend and collaborator John Freedman, who acted as translator for the two playwrights as they fielded questions from the audience. Klavdiev also talked briefly about his experience writing the piece, which you can watch in the video below.  You may need to turn your volume up in order to hear it all.





During this seminar, I also read a 15 minute excerpt from “I am the Machine Gunner”, giving those gathered a taste of Klavdiev's words and doing my best to leave them wanting more. I think it worked, as people seemed anxious to know when they would get a chance to see the actual show in its entirety.

You may be wondering the same thing.

The American Premiere of “I am the Machine Gunner” will be taking place at the Theatre Project in Baltimore during the first two weekends in September. That’s Labor Day weekend and the weekend following – September 2-5 and 9-12. We also have additional shows lining up in the Chicago area and Southern California, but I’ll drop those details in a later post.

At the moment we’re on the brink of the New Russian Drama Conference. Three days of plays, talks, and networking. A time for theater professionals from Russia and the United States to mingle: hopefully coming to a better understanding of each other.

Sixty years ago this meeting would’ve gotten us all blacklisted.

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