AutoVladCar Exhibition/Выставка AutoVladCar Спортивный комплекс Чемпион-1: П-кт. Партизанский, д. 44 April 10-12, 2013 Free and open to the public Being from Chicago, one event that I especially miss when I’m abroad is the annual Auto Show. It’s a huge deal back home, and is truly an interesting and exciting time, as you roam among the […]

One of the biggest gambles a person can make is a gamble with their life. A duel is one such example of a gamble. Dueling consisted of two individuals with matched weapons and agreed upon rules (such as the distance apart and the role of a dueler’s second). The weapons employed in these contests ranged […]

Stirka 26 Kazanskaya Ulitsa / Sennaya Ploshad metro Coffee stop. Art space. Performance venue. Hipster haunt. Laundromat to the stars (and commoners alike). Stirka somehow manages to be all these things. Stirka, full name “Café-Laundromat ‘Stirka’ 40 Degrees,” began as a project by Anke Nowottne, who created the spot as her graduation project from the […]

Julius (“Jay”) Wachtel was born in Italy. Two weeks later he and his parents, both Holocaust survivors, moved to Buenos Aires. A decade later the family emigrated to the US and settled in Los Angeles. The fact that his mother had been liberated by Soviet troops led Jay to develop an interest in Russian history […]

Russian drama is one of the world’s most respected. Greats like Ostrovskii and Chekhov changed the way that theatre itself was defined, and revolutionized the dramatic storyline and its relation to the audience. But before Russian theatre came into its own, there were the days of Moliere re-imaginings and Russian adaption of the French comedic […]

IGU Botanical Garden / Ботанический сад, ИГУ Ул. Кольцова 93 9:00 — 18:00 Irkutsk is better known for its Siberian taiga than for tropical flora, and in the dead of winter it can feel particularly gray and lifeless. However, it’s a well-kept secret that there’s always one place you can go if you’re pining for […]

“Chmorik” / “Чморик” at Дом Офицеров Флота / The House of Navy Officers Ул. Светланская, д. 48 Starts at 5 pm; Shows every month – check the theater for schedual Cost: 200 rubles  Russia being a country so rich in the dramatic tradition, home to such greats as Chekhov, Gorkii and Ostrovskii, I was a […]

hMarat Gelman was born in Chisinau, Moldova on 24 December 1960, the son of Soviet dramatist Alexander Gelman. As a youth, he danced in “Zhok,” a Moldovan folk ensemble, and entered the Moscow Electrotechnical Institute of Communications in 1977, during which time he worked in a number of Moscow theatres, including the Mayakovsky Theatre. He […]

As Shakespeare said, all the world’s a stage, and it seems that this maxim applies even to Siberia. Indeed, Irkutsk is quite well serviced as far as theater goes: with the musical theater, A.V. Vampilov Theater, puppet theater, and youth theater, there is a range of options for even a discerning theatergoer. However, for a foreigner […]