This month: Chekhov Festival of Modern Theater; Bolshoi Presents Shakespearean Passion
This resource looks at culturally-informative Russian news broadcasts and presents each with rhetorical and contextual analysis as well as a brief vocabulary list aimed at intermediate-level Russian students.
Chekhov Festival of Modern Theater Selling Out
Russia Channel reports that this year, the famous Chekhov Festival, which features various some of the world’s best modern productions, will see 22 plays in 10 languages on offer. This year, a Chinese “water opera” will be staged in the Moscow State University’s Botanical Gardens. Also on offer are a French production that promises to “bend the rules of physics” through acrobatic staging and a German production that promises “sarcasm penetrating to goose bumps” in its mixing of Shakespeare and rap.
Phrases to watch for:
фестиваль проходит под знаком китайской культуры – festival is dominated by Chinese culture
программа поражает самых искушенных зрителей – program astonishes the most sophisticated audience
сценическая классика – classics of the stage
в центре внимания – человеческое тело, его художественная энергия –
по мотивам чеховских сюжетов – based on Chekhov’s plots
пронизывающий до мурашек сарказм – sarcasm penetrating to goose bumps
Bolshoi Presents Shakespearean Passion
First Channel devoted a report to a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, now being performed as a ballet at the Bolshoi Theater. The play has been “translated into the language of dance” and has already received worldwide success. Now, body language expresses the emotions of the play, and everything is clear without words. The report quoted soloist Kristina Kretova has saying that her friends and colleagues, watching the full dress rehearsal, couldn’t hold back their tears.
Phrases to watch for:
по силе эмоций этот спектакль настолько яркий – by power of emotions, the play is so bright
зрители не могут сдержать слез – spectators can’t hold back tears
спектакль был переложен на язык танца – the play was translated into the language of dance
получил мировой успех – received worldwide success
все понятно без слов – everything is clear without words
генеральный прогон – full dress rehearsal
ведущая солистка – lead soloist
