Directors from Russia and China to Reinterpret Mikhail Sholokhov’s Novel
From 27 to 30 October, the main stage of the Theatre of Nations in Moscow will host the premiere of the play «And Quiet Flows the Don» based on the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov. The production is a collaboration between Chinese theatre director Mou Sen and Russian director Murat Abulkatinov. The project represents a joint artistic statement from two theatrical schools and offers a fresh perspective on one of the key novels of 20th-century Russian literature.
The choice to focus on «And Quiet Flows the Don» is not solely due to its significance in Russian culture. Sholokhov’s novel remains popular in China, where Soviet literature has held a prominent place for decades. For the Russian-Chinese team, the production becomes an opportunity to view the familiar text through different theatrical traditions.
Mou Sen, who serves as the artistic director for the production, has long been engaged with Russian classics. His directorial portfolio includes plays based on the works of Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Arbuzov, and Sholokhov. In «And Quiet Flows the Don,» the director primarily focuses on the fates of ordinary people caught in the midst of sweeping historical changes.
Together with Murat Abulkatinov, Mou Sen travelled to the Don to explore locations associated with the novel and the biography of the writer. The creative team visited Veshenskaya, where Sholokhov lived and worked, as well as memorial sites in the Rostov region: the writer’s old house, estates, churches, a parish school, a Cossack homestead, and natural sites described in the work.
For the Theatre of Nations, such trips have become part of the process of staging plays based on works of Russian literature. Previously, creative teams travelled to Srostki while preparing «Shukshin’s Stories», to Melikhovo for work on «Ivanov», to Yasnaya Polyana and Astapovo before staging «Living T.», and to Repino during the production of «The Last Summer».
The visual concept for «Quiet Don» was crafted by Chinese artist Xin Ge and Russian artist Anastasia Yudina. The space of the performance will be constructed using ideas from contemporary installation art. Costumes, lighting, and video sequences will also play a significant role. The musical component is based on the heritage of Cossack songs.
The theme of land and a vanishing culture takes on a special significance in the performance. After a trip to the Don, Mou Sen described the sand as one of the main visual impressions of the expedition, linking it to memories of a world altered by wars and revolutions. This approach allows «And Quiet Flows the Don» to be seen not only as a historical epic but also as a story of people facing irreversible changes.
Murat Abulkatinov notes that working with a Chinese director offers a fresh perspective on the novel. The differences in theatrical methods between the two directors become part of the very process of creating the play: the Eastern theatrical tradition provides additional ways of interpreting the text, which is considered one of the most important works of Russian literature.
The production features actors from the Theatre of Nations, including Yaroslav Medvedev, Ekaterina Voronina, Marina Lebedeva, Glafira Lebedeva, Kamil Tukaev, Anastasia Svetlova, Leonid Timtsunik, and others.
The Russian-Chinese production «Quiet Don» will continue the international direction of the Theatre of Nations, which regularly invites foreign directors and engages with works from various cultures. In this instance, international collaboration becomes part of the artistic concept itself: a classic Russian novel is given the opportunity to resonate both from within the Russian tradition and through the perspective of a Chinese director.
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