Russian Theatre and Russian Actors on the British Stage: A Conversation with Declan Donnellan

The Seventh Professor Dame Elizabeth Hill Memorial Lecture

Winstanley Theatre, Trinity College

Thursday, 20th October 2011, 5:30-7:00pm

Declan Donnellan is joint founder of Cheek by Jowl with Nick Ormerod, and joint Artistic Director of the Company. Cheek by Jowl was described by The Independent in 1990 as the company to have had the most significant influence on British Theatre in the 1980s. The company has been Artistic Associate at the Barbican Theatre London since 2006.

Donnellan’s unique relationship with Russia goes back over twenty five years. He has adapted Russian plays (The Mandate by Erdman and Masquerade by Lermontov) for the British stage. He has also directed The Winter’s Tale for the Malyi Theatre of St Petersburg and Romeo and Juliet for the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1999, the Russian Theatre Foundation invited him to form a Moscow counterpart to Cheek By Jowl. This company’s Russian-language productions of Twelfth Night, Boris Godunov, Three Sisters and The Tempest now represent Russia at major International festivals and have enjoyed significant critical acclaim. Donnellan’s book The Actor and The Target was first published in Russian and has since appeared in over a dozen languages.

Declan will be discussing his experiences of working in Russia, and with Russian actors; he will also talk about the place of Russian drama in the London/UK theatre repertoire, and its meanings for British audiences.

This event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a wine reception.