A Festival of Russian and Russian-language contemporary plays

"Natasha's Dream” by Yaroslava Pulinovich (2009)
Rehearsed reading, Pushkin House

This was the English-language premiere of “Natasha's Dreams” and a preview for the Russian Theatre Festival.

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Slow Sword by Yuri Klavdiyev (2007)

“part dream, part nightmare and wholly intriguing…” Guardian

“excellent performances” Time Out

“Noah Birksted-Breen's production has a beautiful economy… This is a play written and produced with genuine passion. Sputnik Theatre should be proud.” Guardian

Sputnik Theatre is the first company to stage Klavdiyev’s work in the UK. This was the World Premiere of Slow Sword.

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Techniques of Breathing in an Airlocked Space by Natalia Moshina (2006)

“this is a poetic, allegorical but also lucid dispatch from a country in crisis” Metro

“Moshina’s dialogue shifts mischievously between profound musings on God and his apparent disinterest in capitalism, to flippant, sardonic one-liners” Time Out

“...credit must go to Noah Birksted-Breen, the translator and director of this new Russian play. The script remains intimately rooted in its context without losing any of its urgency and impact, and his staging is unflaggingly inventive.” Metro

“… some finely tuned performances… an electrifying monologue on Russia’s incipient implosion...” Time Out

Sputnik Theatre is the first company to co-produce work with Free Theatre (Belarus) in the UK. Free Theatre is an underground theatre company, whose productions are banned in their home country, their Patrons are Vaclav Havel and Sir Tom Stoppard. Sputnik staged the European Premiere of Natalia Moshina’s play, winner of the Annual Playwriting Competition organised by Free Theatre.

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Russian National Mail by Oleg Bogaev (2005, 2006 & 2008)

“Although Bogaev's play is a piece of contemporary absurdism, it also belongs to a long Russian literary tradition… ” The Guardian

“Kevin McMonagle gives a convincing, tragicomic performance as Ivan.” The Independent

“Birksted-Breen's translation nicely balances bitterness and wit, and Kevin McMonagle is an appealing and affecting Ivan.” The Times

“As director and translator, Noah Birksted-Breen makes a profoundly Russian play accessible to a western audience.” Guardian

“Noah Birksted-Breen, the translator and director, retains this very Russian spirit while at the same time rendering the piece accessible to a British audience with his fresh, unstilted translation.” The Independent

“An intriguing hour-long curiosity.” The Guardian

Time Out Critics’ Choice 2005 & 2006

Sputnik Theatre is the first company to bring the work of iconic new Russian playwright Oleg Bogaev to the UK. This production was the British Premiere of Russian National Mail. The play ran for three weeks at the Old Red Lion in 2005, then for a further three weeks in the Time Out Critics’ Choice Festival at the Battersea Arts Centre in 2006, and subsequently toured to Teatr.doc in Moscow and the International Festival of New Playwriting in Ekaterinburg in 2008.

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Sputnik also organises events promoting Russian culture, most recently:

20 May 2008: Russian Soirée at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Featuring:
• Mazaika Duo - Russian cabaret music
• Katherine Graham and Sophia Lisovskaya - Russian opera
• Slavyane Folk Band
• Znaniye Russian School in London - traditional folk dances
• Sputnik Theatre company - play extract