Shukshin's Stories

Theatre performance Shukshin's Stories by Theatre of Nations, directed by Alvis Hermanis, programmed in Holland Festival 2010.
It is said that Vasiliy Shukshin’s (1929-1974) stories could move even party leader Leonid Brezjnev to tears. The post-Stalinist writer and film director was a master at capturing the Russian spirit in his work. The protagonists in his stories are excentric anti-heroes living in the Russian countryside, sympathetic romantics that are no match for the stubborn reality of their lives. The award winning Latvian director Alvis Hermanis (1965) has succeeded in finding a modern form for Shukshin’s writings. The minimalist setting and the lively performances of the actors, notably the stars of the ensemble Evgeny Mironov and Chulpan Khamatova, make Shukshin’s stories as powerful today as they ever were.