SUMMARY

The second issue of the «Petersburg Theatre Magazine» opens with an article by editor-in-chief Marina Dmitrevskaya on the problems of present theatrical criticism and its genres and trends.

The new productions of the play «Desire under the Elms» at the Tovstonogov Bolshoy Drama Theatre (director T.Chkheidze) and at the Maly Drama Theatre (director LDodin) are the subject of notices by Yelena Gorfunkel, Irina Tsimbal and Olga Skorochkina.

Yevgenia Tropp’s article «Walks with Trushkin» is about visits to Petersburg by the «Anton Chekhov Theatre» and its most recent premiere based on the play «Cyrano de Bergerac». Eduard Kochergin continues his personal section with the story «The kiss». Sketches by Lena Vesterholm and Leonid Popov describe the fortunes of two young actresses — Anna Aleksakhina and Yelena Rufanova (Open Theatre in Petersburg). The personal section entitled «Rezo Gabriadze Theatre» is continued. Irina Tsimbal writes about the production of «Uncle Vanya» by «Candles Theatre» at off-off-Broadway. The Ibsen festival in Norway and the Shakespeare festival in the USA are the subjects of reflections by Natalya Kazimirovskaya and Felicia Londre. Marina Dmitrevskaya in the article «The Life River in the Theatre on Rur» tells about the creative work of Roberto Culli, the well-known German stage director and the leader of the Theatre on Rur.

Galina Vishnevskaya is in Petersburg now. In dialogues with Marina Kornakova the famous singer tells about her debut as a dramatic actress in Alexandr Belinsky*s film which is devoted to problems of modern opera art in Russia and abroad.

Lena Vesterholm’s article tells about the «Russian Enterprise Theatre named after Andrey Mironov» and the work of its manager Rudolf Fur-manov. Lena Vesterholm, Darya Krizhanskaya, Lilia Shitenburg and Leonid Popov review the productions at Petersburg theatres: «A Month in the Country» (Open Theatre, director Anatoly Morozov), «Caesar and Cleopatra» (Komissarzhevskaya Drama Theatre, director Alexandr Belinsky), «Don Juan» (International Studio of Puppet and Synthetic Theatre, director Mikhail Khusid), «Jesters, or The Eulogu on Sumarokov» (Alexandrinsky Theatre, director Nora Raikhshtein).

AJ.Sumarokov was one of the founders of Russian Theatre. His dramatic fate is the theme of the article by Grigory Mordison. The article by A.Sirotinin presents «Russische Teatralien», the first Russian periodical on theatre, published in German in St. Petersburg.

Tatyana Moskvina investigates the mysterious personality of AJM.Ostrovsky.

Yevgeny Kalmanovsky’s memoirs on the outstanding Russian scholar Grigory Gukovsky opens the regular section «Teachers». Tatyana Moskvina writes about Yevgeny Kalmanovsky.

Production by Petersburg stage directors Alexandr Ieshin (in Novosibirsk) and Grigory Dityatkovsky (in Yekaterinburg) are the theme of articles by Valeria Lendova and Darya Krizhanskaya.

The essay by Marina Zabolotnyaya on the production «The Death of Van Halen» (Youth Theatre at Fountanka, director Semyon Spivak) continues the section «I Have Visited Again…»

Mikhail Trofimenkov describes Marylin Monroe’s «double» in Petersburg. His name is Vladik Mamyshev.

Natalya Zozulina talks with Urgen Schnaider. Their conversation is devoted to the problems of ballet school in Russia and other countries and to the topic of work with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev.

Olga Rozanova reflects on the fate of George Alexidze’s ballet.

The magazine begins the publication of the memoires of Sofya Sof-nichevskaya, the distingueshed actress of the older generation from Tula.

The Chronicle «Figaro» contains information on new productions, festivals, tours to Petersburg and — in addition — the daily calendar of theatrical events.