Between interviewing people and seeing a play every night – thank you John Freedman, critic of The Moscow Times for the impeccable recommendations and the free tickets – plus finding myself hopelessly lost in Moscow at least three times a day, I haven’t had time to figure out how to upload my pictures. I’ll try tomorrow, I promise.  I can’t really say much about the journalists I’ve interviewed yet, for various reasons, but the theater has been incredible. On Tuesday, I attended a premiere at Theater Ten’ (Shadow Theatre) in which I was one of five lucky audience members who got to sit in a tiny room and watch the most amazing story played out on a miniature replica of the Bolshoi Theatre populated by tiny actors and tiny audience members and tiny, gorgeous sets.  (Sometimes you also get to trade your money in at intermission for tiny money with which you can buy tiny sandwiches, but those were not available at the premiere.) This is a family run tiny theater and many of Russia’s most famous directors and designers have worked here – staging King Lear, Tartuffe, etc. all in miniature.

Also lots of Chekhov, Ionesco, more Chekhov, and tonight a new play.

Okay I have to go, I’m late and I have to factor in my getting lost time.

Here it is, the little alleyway.

Well, my Russian visa finally came through so here I am. Today I spent three hours trudging the streets of Moscow to get the visa registered. Two of those hours were spent asking passersby, “Skazhite, pazhoulista, vy ne mogli byi skazat gde nakhoditsa Bolshou Sergeevsky pereulik’?” or approximately “Tell me, please, there is no possible way you could tell me where is located Big Sergei’s Little Alleyway?” Nobody could tell me. One old man even insisted that no such alleyway ever existed, nor would ever exist. “It’s simply impossible.” he kept repeating, “It may not be!” Finally I found what according to MapQuest looked like Big Sergei’s though it wasn’t marked, and walked into to a swanky apartment building called the Millenium House where the front desk girl assured me she had no idea what I was talking about until the doorman interrupted, “Big Sergei’s is the very little alleyway we’re standing on right now!”

So I got my visa stamped and I’ll post pictures of me standing in the alleyway tomorrow, don’t worry.

Also, in more fellowship news I’ve interviewed a total of one journalist, rocked a bus tour, and seen a Chekhov medley? performed on by students in an abandoned gallery space near the Arbat – in one scene a seagull peed on Irina’s head while she lamented her life at the post office. I thought this was really funny, though the rest of the  audience found it to be serious. Eventually everyone else started laughing, too, and I thought, yes I am quite correct. This is indeed funny and thank God I was here to make that clear to everyone.

Almost set to go to Moscow (please come through, Russian visa) to interview journalists and hopefully see a lot of plays. The great critic John Freedman has translated a lot of the younger Russian playwrights into English and I’m trying to get a hold of his Olga Mukhina collection since everyone raves about her. It’s currently going for $99.95 on Amazon. While trying to figure out my theater schedule I also stumbled upon this description of a  newer play called The Siege at the Moscow Art Theatre:

Those who will come to look ours play, will see fine, hazardous actors, graceful modern scenography, they will listen to a wonderful alive music. And if to define the maintenance of performance shortly, it’s about war.

Marin Ireland!