Philistines

The Theatre Department proudly presents:

 

 

by Maxim Gorky in a version by Andrew Upton
Directed by David Zoob (Rose Bruford College in London GB)

 

(approx. 2.25 hours running time)

 

with Theatre students, Alumni, Community Players 
and featuring Mark Claxton 
(Permission from Equity Canada and sponsored by ACTRA SK) 
 
When this the Moscow Arts Theatre submitted this play to the censor in 1902, the authorities were so shocked that they cleared the play for ‘members only’ performances and even then after several important lines had been cut.  They took particular exception to Nil’s line that the Head of Household was ‘no longer master’.  All the front of house staff at the first performance were agents of the secret police and when the Arts Theatre toured the show to Bialystock there were riots in the auditorium and in the streets outside the theatre.

In Philistines, the fevered Russian sensibility and the threat of social upheaval give every personal dispute a particular charge and urgency, and yet the play has moments of lyricism, beauty and humour: it affirms our potential for redemption, despite the squalid lives that humans often create for themselves

 

Adults $15, Seniors/Children $10, U of R Students free with Student Card