The Colorado Shakespeare Festival experienced a 鈥淩ussian invasion鈥� in 2011, as members of the prestigious Maxim Gorky Drama Theatre in Vladivostok came to direct and perform in Gogol鈥檚 classic comedy, 鈥淭he Inspector General.鈥�
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Now it鈥檚 time for the Americans to return the favor as two members of the CSF Resident Acting Company, Geoffrey Kent and Jamie Ann Romero, reprise their summer 2012 roles in the comedy 鈥淣oises Off鈥� in Vladivostok on Oct. 26.
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In a mirror image of 2011, the exchange will feature a bilingual performance, in which Kent and Romero will speak their lines in English alongside Russian actors speaking their native language.
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Sound 鈥� awkward? It鈥檚 anything but, said CSF Producing Artistic Director Philip Sneed.
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鈥淎udiences come to realize how much actors speak in a language that鈥檚 non-verbal,鈥� said Sneed, who will help oversee final rehearsals and celebrate the Gorky鈥檚 80th anniversary.
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Michael Frayn鈥檚 manic play-within-a-play farce earns many of its laughs through non-verbal antics. And in CSF鈥檚 recent production critics called out Kent and Romero for their hysterical performances as a dimwitted actress playing an even dimmer sex kitten and an exasperated actor playing a British man hoping to get her character into the sack.
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鈥溾�橬oises Off鈥� is such a physical play. It鈥檚 an intensely visual experience and audience members can get confused even in English,鈥� said Kent, who departed for Russia with Romero on Oct. 22. 鈥淏ut they still laugh when your pants are down around your ankles or you run into a door. It鈥檚 the international language of physical comedy.鈥�
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Kent says that working with director Gorky theater director Efim Zvenyatskiy in 2011 was at first frustrating, then liberating. The language barrier meant that English-speaking actors had to curtail the usual question-and-answer process with the director and simply make choices onstage.
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鈥淎fter that first week, I had a blast,鈥� he said.
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The upcoming exchange is just the latest in a series of between CU Arts & Sciences faculty and staff and the Gorky. Sneed has overseen eight cultural exchange projects with the Gorky, including the 2011 production of 鈥淭he Inspector General.鈥�
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In 2007 Sneed, Department of Theatre Chair Bud Coleman and Kerry Cripe, technical director for both the festival and the department, traveled to Vladivostok to explore exchange possibilities.
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In 2008, Coleman and CSF costume designer Clare Henkel, who is also Sneed鈥檚 wife, were chosen by the U.S. Department of State to be cultural envoys to the city. Coleman directed and choreographed a musical, 鈥淐ompany,鈥� with students from the Far Eastern Academy of Fine Arts, and Henkel designed costumes for the production.
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Sneed and Henkel initiated the exchange with the Gorky in 1992, when they were freelance theatre artists in San Diego. The relationship continued the Foothill Theatre Company in northern California, during Sneed鈥檚 12-year tenure as director. The Gorky connection continued at CSF when Sneed took over as producing artistic director in 2006.
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The 2012 exchange is being funded entirely by the Gorky theatre.
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Sneed also is traveling to Prague in the Czech Republic to discuss the future of Tina Packer鈥檚 鈥淲omen of Will,鈥� a five-play cycle about Shakespeare鈥檚 women characters that had its first extended run on the CSF stage during the summer.
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