Philistines

Our first production of the season is Maxim Gorky’s Philistines, under UK Director, David Zoob, and in a new adaptation by Andrew Upton. The play is fuelled by two of the greatest historical and cultural events of the 20th century: the impending Russian revolution and the arrival of naturalism on the stage. Gorky knew well the overwhelming pressure building up in Russia, and his writing grapples with the vast changes that were pressing inevitably into his society. When the play opened in 1902, there were riots in the theatre. Everyone could feel the fabric of their society tearing. Naturalism, dealing as it did with everyday characters, situations and environments expressed the idea that all lives mattered, that what anyone did and felt mattered, that it could become drama and could, in fact, affect the world. In Gorky’s Russia, this mix was intoxicating and dangerous; it was theatre that did something in the world. It upset people; it made them think. That’s what good theatre does and this production will make you sit up, take notice and ask questions about power, society, justice, and humanity.

More information at: http://www.uregina.ca/events/philistines