Stage Russia: The Black Monk

A special screening within the Upenn Slavic Department's Stage Russia series

THE BLACK MONK
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Based on the short story by Anton Chekhov, THE BLACK MONK tells the tragic tale of philosophy student Andrey Vasil'ich Kovrin. On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Kovrin decides to visit his childhood friend Tanya Pesotsky at the estate of her father. As he and Tanya develop a relationsship and eventually marry, a black monk of legend begins appearing to Kovrin in visions. Though these hallucinations at first imbue the young man with joy and energy, they eventually lead to his ruin.

Kama Ginkas’ dramatization of Chekhov’s story for The Moscow Young Generation Theater has become a theatre sensation. The
Creative Team
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Director: Kama Ginkas
Design: Sergey Barkhin
Assistant Director: Nikolay Aksenov
Lighting Technician: M. Biryukov
Sound: A. Radugin
Cast
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Andrey Kovrin: Sergey Makovetskiy
Black Monk: Igor Yasulovich
Tanya Pesotskaya: Julia Svezhakova
Yegor Pesotsky: Valeriy Barinov

The show has won the Grand Prix and the Critics’ Prize for Best Production at the Baltic House international theater festival in St. Petersburg.