Natalia Lizorkina's play "Vanya is Alive" was written in early summer 2022 in Moscow. The plot of the play revolves around the death of a Russian soldier, Vanya, the main character's son, in the war in Ukraine. However, we can only guess about this plot. Throughout the play, the heroine denies her son's death – this theme is explored through dialogues she has with other characters, real or imagined. In fact, the real plot of the play is denial and silence. Words express their opposite meanings – but putting them back in place, aligning them with their literal meanings, proves to be an unsolvable task. All of this accurately reflects the artistic confusion that all artists from Russia find themselves in now, and not only them. How can a person exist in a world where one can no longer rely on language, on spoken words? Which message deserves trust, which description truly describes something?
Author: Natalia Lizorkina
Director: Philipp Grigoryan
Cast: Marina Weis, Maria Zharkova
Director: Philipp Grigoryan
Cast: Marina Weis, Maria Zharkova
Philipp Grigoryan is a director, set designer, and drama teacher. He graduated from the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute and completed his postgraduate studies. In his theatrical projects, he often acts as both a director and an artist, which significantly shapes the style of his productions: a balance between drama and visual art, performance, and installation. He has participated in the Diaghilev International Festival, the International Festival and School of Contemporary Performing Arts TERRITORIЯ, the National Theatre Award "Golden Mask" showcase, and other festivals. He is a laureate of the National Theatre Award "Golden Mask" (in the category of "Experiment") and collaborates with the Wuppertal Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre, Gogol Center, Theatre of Nations, Stanislavsky Electrotheatre, Practice Theatre, Vene Teater, among others.
PHILIPP GRIGORYAN
director
director
Born in Moscow, Natalia works in theater and cinema as a playwright, screenwriter, and creative producer. She completed the playwriting courses at GOGOL SCHOOL and also took Sasha Denisova's course at CWS. Additionally, she completed showrunner courses at the Moscow Film School. Her plays have been nominated three times and made it to the shortlist at the "Lyubimovka" and "Echo Lyubimovki" festivals.
NATALIA LIZORKINA
playwright
playwright
Weis was born into an ethnic German minority in the Soviet Union. In 1991, she graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre School. After completing her studies, she performed at the Stanislavsky Drama Theater. In 1993, she moved to Germany, where she has lived and worked ever since. She has acted at the Badisches Staatstheater, at the State Theater in Karlsruhe, at the Berlin Volksbühne and the Maxim Gorky Theater, as well as at the Hamburg Kammerspiele. She has also appeared in films and television series. Marina was starring in the premiere performance of the Museum of Uncounted Voices.
MARINA WEIS
actress
actress
Maria graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS). Since 2008, she has been living in Berlin, working on independent projects in theater and cinema, as well as civil society initiatives. Maria dedicates her projects to developing new pedagogical methods and dramaturgical research on political and historical themes, particularly focusing on the culture of memory. Recently, Maria made her debut as a translator, translating a play from Russian to German for the independent anti-war festival "Echo of Lyubimovka Berlin." Masha also works in a human rights organization and actively supports political emigrants and people in exile. Currently, she is working as an emerging producer and co-screenwriter on a documentary film project about the resistance of artists in Russia
MARIA ZHARKOVA
actress
actress