Presnyakov brothers explained

The Presnyakov Brothers, Oleg and Vladmimir, are writer, playwrights,[1] screenwriters,[2] directors,[3] theatre producers, and actors.

Oleg was born in 1969 (year) and Vladimir in 1974 (year), they are sons of an Iranian mother and a Russian father.

Both brothers graduated from M. Gorky Urals State University in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Until recently, they were both also on the faculty of that same university: Oleg in literary theory and philology, and Vladimir in literary theory and psychology.

Together, the two founded the university's Youth Theatre, "Theatre under the name of Christina Orbakaite",an organization committed to producing experimental theatre work.

Oleg and Vladimir also write in tandem; all their plays are presented and published under their chosen joint name: The Presnyakov Brothers.[4]

Students of linguistics, the Presnyakov brothers are praised in Russia for their attention to natural-sounding speech, dialogue that sounds "overheard on the street." Their cool, sardonic wit enlivens their plays, and together, they create bitter and funny examinations of life in a post-Soviet Russian culture.[5]

"Since their first play appeared in Russia's capital city, the Brothers Presnyakov have become "something of a trademark," wrote the local English-language daily, The Moscow Times, in a review last year(2004)." The International Herald Tribune,Theater: The everyday facets of 'Terrorism', by Erin E. Arvedlund, 27 May 2005.[6]

Bibliography

Plays

Screenplays

Bed Stories (Postelnye stseny, Постельные сцены)(2005); Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Playing the victim (Izobrazhaja zhertvu, Изображая жертву)(2006); Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov

Europe-Asia(2009); Directed by Ivan Dihovichnij[8] [9]

Day D. (2008) Directed by Mikhail Porechennkov [10]

Novels

Original title(2005)[11]

Language: Russian [12]

Published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne, Germany.Title in German- [13]

Published by Gabo Kiado, Budapest, Hungary.Hungarian title- [13]

Published by Editura Art, Bucuresti.Romanian title- [14]

[15]

Language: Russian [16]

Published by AST. Moscow, 2009.Language: [Russian].[17]

Radio

Produced by BBC Radio 3 as part of a Drama of the Week, Fear and Loathing in Russia Today, in 2017, translated by Noah Birksted-Breen (Sputnik Theatre Company).

Plays published

Nick Hern Books,London, 2003.

Language: English [18]

Nick Hern Books, London, 2003.

Language: English [18]

Published by Eksmo, Moscow, 2005.[19]

Contains Playing the victim-play, Floor covering-play, Captured Spirits-play, Terrorism-play, Something about technologies of how to live life-play.

Language:Russian

Published by AST.Moscow, 2008.[20]

Contains Bad bed Stories-play, Before the flood-play, Pub-play

Terrorism

Terrorism is the duo's best known and most widely performed play.

Synopsis: Six scenes from urban life. Delayed passengers grumble about a bomb scare at the airport. A man and a woman commit adultery. Office workers bicker while one of their number quietly exits to hang herself. Two grannies in a playground complain about their menfolk and make fun of a man seated on the next bench. Policemen in their barracks scrap amongst themselves. The passengers on the plane finally prepare for take off. By the end we realise these apparently random scenes are in fact linked by an almost invisible thread, subtly indicating that we bear responsibility for one another even in our soulless urban limbo.[21]

Playing the Victim

Playing the Victim was first staged at the Traverse Theater as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (co- produced with the Royal Court Theatre) and Told by an Idiot in 2003. Directed by Richard Wilson.[22]

Playing the Victim revolves around Valya, a student who gets a job playing the victim in police crime-scene reconstructions. Even though they are simulated, his repeated participation in one gruesome end after another highlights the violence and brutality endemic in contemporary life. Meanwhile, in a parallel plot that parodies Shakespeare, the ghost of Valya's father tells him that he was poisoned by his brother who later married Valya's mother. While the finale is inevitable – Valya takes his mother, his uncle and his girlfriend (who has become a bit too insistent regarding marriage) to a final meal – its setting is not: a Japanese restaurant where he feeds them fugu, a fish that's filled with lethal toxins unless filleted perfectly. (The film version of the play, for which they wrote the screenplay, won the Best Film prize at the Rome Film Festival 2006.)

Synopsis: A young man drops out of university and goes to the police. He's done nothing wrong he just wants a job. A particular job. Playing the victim in murder reconstructions. He has a fear from death. Maybe by getting close to death he can manage to cheat his own [21]

In the British version of Playing the Victim, for example, the police captain who reconstructs murders gets bumped off – and his murder gets reconstructed by another captain. Including their rewrites, the brothers can't recall how many plays they have penned. – Time Magazine, Two for the road, interview with the brothers Presnyakov, 2006.[33]

Interviews

"A life on the go adds grist to our impression mill," says Oleg Presnyakov.

Not that any of the Presnyakovs' delicious plot twists are ever final, mind you. "We love remaking our works," says Vladimir. "Playing with our characters again and again lets us see how their situations are developing."

"We have often wondered if just one of us exists, while the other is just a figment of his imagination," says Vladimir. "Except," adds Oleg, "we never got to sort out which of us is which."[34]

"People are very informed about what's happening in the world, but it seems to us it's important that people be conscious of the idea and not fence off or partition their fears," Vladimir said.

Reviews

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: www.doollee.com/Playwrights. doollee.com. 17 March 2019.
  2. Web site: PLAYING THE VICTIM (IZOBRAJAAY ZHERTVY) . Films for Africa . https://web.archive.org/web/20071019130026/http://films-for-africa.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=31 . 2022-07-01. 19 October 2007 .
  3. Web site: http://main.teatrium.ru/spekt/62.html. ru:ПАБ (премьера) . ru . ru:Театриум на Серпуховке . https://web.archive.org/web/20080201174026/http://main.teatrium.ru/spekt/62.html . 2008-02-01 . 17 March 2019.
  4. Book: Birksted-Breen, Noah . Vasilii Sigarev and the Presnyakov Brothers: Staging the New Russia . Routledge . 2020 . 9781138084223 . 168–184 . English.
  5. http://www.studiotheatre.org/about/press_releases.php?pid=88{{dead link|date=July 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}
  6. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/features/theater.php{{dead link|date=July 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}
  7. http://www.sferamm.ru/books/authorbio2110.html{{dead link|date=June 2022|fix-attempted=yes}}
  8. Web site: Архив - 2007 год. rtr.spb.ru. 17 March 2019. 10 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120210211917/http://www.rtr.spb.ru/vesti/vesti_2007/news_detail.asp?id=13055. dead.
  9. Web site: http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cinema/final.jsp?pub_id=850784&rubric_id=502. ru:КИНОСЪЁМКА: Текст братьев Пресняковых вновь экранизируется . ru:Культура . 17 March 2019.
  10. Web site: http://www.yuga.ru/news/110881/index.html. ru:Фильм М. Пореченкова, снятый на Кубани, выйдет в апреле 2008 . 16 December 2007. www.yuga.ru. 17 March 2019.
  11. Published by Afisha Industries, Moscow,
  12. Web site: Убить судью. eu.
  13. Web site: literary agency galina dursthoff. www.dursthoff.de. 17 March 2019.
  14. Web site: Ucide arbitrul! - Fraţii Presniakov - Editura ART. www.editura-art.ro. 17 March 2019.
  15. Published by KolibriMoscow, 2007.
  16. Web site: Изображая жертву. Ozon.ru. 17 March 2019.
  17. Book: Европа — Азия. 17 March 2019. www.moscowbooks.ru.
  18. Web site: Terrorism . The Presnyakov Brothers . Sasha Dugdale. Nick Hern Books . 17 March 2019.
  19. Original title- http://www.ozon.ru
  20. Book: Паб. 17 March 2019. www.moscowbooks.ru.
  21. Web site: doollee.com - the playwrights database of modern plays. www.doollee.com. 17 March 2019.
  22. Web site: Terrorism Begins Off-Broadway Previews on May 9. BWW News Desk. BroadwayWorld.com. 17 March 2019.
  23. Web site: Theatre review: Terrorism at Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. British Theatre Guide. 17 March 2019.
  24. Web site: 2006 Shows. https://web.archive.org/web/20090913163048/http://www.darlinghursttheatre.com/page/2006_shows.html. 2009-09-13. Darlington Theatre.
  25. Web site: Dance and Theatre . 28 March 2008 . 20 April 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080420121129/http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/danceandtheatre/2008/01/20/entry-1 . dead .
  26. Web site: The New Group . 2013-02-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130218005550/http://www.thenewgroup.org/history.htm . 18 February 2013 . dmy-all .
  27. Web site: Terrorism's Off-Broadway Opening, Photo Op: Broadway.com Buzz . 28 March 2008 . 7 December 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061207112148/http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Photo_Op.aspx?ci=512890 . dead .
  28. News: Social Contagion of Anxious Times, Spread by Disaffection. Ben. Brantley. The New York Times. 24 May 2005. 17 March 2019.
  29. Web site: Studio Theatre . www.studiotheatre.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20030216073334/http://studiotheatre.org/second_stage/production_history.php . 2003-02-16.
  30. News: 'Terrorism': Bleak House . Peter . Marks . June 11, 2005 . . 2022-07-01.
  31. http://www.eyeweekly.com/arts/theatre/article/24925
  32. Web site: English Studies Forum . www.bsu.edu . https://web.archive.org/web/20040512185350/http://www.bsu.edu/web/esf/1.1/ewert.htm . 2004-05-12.
  33. Two for the Road. YURI. ZARAKHOVICH. Time. 17 December 2006. 17 March 2019. content.time.com.
  34. News: The Terror We Inflict on Others. Erin E.. Arvedlund. The New York Times. 29 May 2005. 17 March 2019.
  35. News: Terrorism - Royal Court, London . 15 March 2003. The Guardian.
  36. Web site: Chekhov's children - An Exciting New Generation of Russia Playwrights Is Coming Here. https://web.archive.org/web/20120324085658/http://www.cdi.org/russia/Johnson/7027-13.cfm. 2012-03-24. January 20, 2003. The Times. Patrick Marmion. cdi.org.
  37. Unmaking the World. The New Yorker . 30 May 2005. 17 March 2019. www.newyorker.com . Lahr . John .
  38. Web site: Broadway Buzz - Videos, Interviews, Photos, News and Tickets - Broadway.com. www.broadway.com. 17 March 2019.
  39. Web site: Buy Plays, Find Plays | Every Play in the World.
  40. Web site: Broadway, regional and discount theater tickets | News, reviews, and more . 28 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20051204163326/http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/6056 . 4 December 2005 .
  41. Web site: Online Review London - Othello . www.onlinereviewlondon.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20030524093429/http://www.onlinereviewlondon.com/reviews/terrorism.html . 2003-05-24.
  42. Web site: The New Group. https://web.archive.org/web/20130218005550/http://www.thenewgroup.org/history.htm. 18 February 2013. 18 February 2013. 17 March 2019.

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