BRICS Theatre School Festival Ended in Moscow

Characters invented by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky communicated in English, Hindi, Chinese and Portuguese at the fifth Moscow BRICS International Festival of Theatre Schools held at the initiative of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts named after Joseph Kobzon. Both novice actors and students from Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Russia showed performances dedicated to Dostoevsky's writing. The event was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of the writer.

“Our students amazed me. I sat there for hourstrying to penetrate into what was happening, because it was such a collage of many works. It was amazing. We showed the performance three times, all three with full house,” said Dmitry Tomilin, director of the festival, Rector of the Institute of Theatre Arts named after Joseph Kobzon. 

All festival participants agreed that rehearsal of plays based on Dostoevsky's writing was not easy. It was especially difficult for the participants from foreign countries to understand and comprehend the themes and texts of the Russian writer.

“It's all about the same in different languages. With this author, we become equal. This is the case when differences owe not to a distance, but, on the contrary, to connection,” noted Arman Khachatryan, stage director of the Institute of Theatre Arts named after Joseph Kobzon.

This year, due to coronavirus restrictions, the festival was held in full-time format for Russian students, and online for foreign participants. Live broadcasts helped festival guests being out of Moscow not only watch each other's performances, but also take part in a busy training program.

BRICS International Festival of Theatre Schoolshas been held since 2017. In addition to the five countries, this year, organizers invited representatives of dramaschoolsfrom Armenia and Belarus. The next festival is to be held in June 2022. It will be dedicated to the works of the French playwright Molière.