Sparrow Hills - where Woland and his retinue say goodbye to Moscow before they fly off into the night at the end of Master and Margarita.

 

Inside the Puppet Theater - before the audience dies in a puppet fire.

 

Sam showing me the puppet theater.

 

Sam holding mermaids.

 

Moscow Times critic John Freedman gives me my theater schedule for the week.

Well the benefit was a raging success, as far as I could tell. In a super dumb move, I went to the 92nd Street Y instead of 92 Y in Tribeca and only when I ran into Tony Blair did I realize I was at the wrong celebration. So I showed up late after everyone was more than a little giddy and it seemed like it must have been an amazing party by the way everyone was stumbling around. It’s a deep-seated habit-slash-character flaw of mine to never check addresses before I leave the house. I learned it from my psychic mother. She never left the house with a clear idea of where we were going. When we were little she would put us in the car and just drive saying things like, “I’m have a strong feeling that I should turn right the next street.” Unlike me, she was usually right.

This has been an incredible fellowship year so far – I feel so lucky to have been given this remarkable support. This week I’m transcribing my notes from the trip to Moscow so I can start working on the new play again. Last week, we did a workshop of Creature with a terrific cast led by Leigh Silverman – who will direct the P73 / New Georges co-production in the fall. In addition to her other talents, Leigh turns out to be a fantastic dramaturg and I got more work done in one week than I have been able to eke out in the three years. Also, my new favorite writing schedule is 5 a.m. – 8 a.m. 

And thank you to P73 for sending me to Moscow! Now that I’m home and not in danger of being kicked out of Russia, I can say that the research for my new play involved interviewing journalists who have in one way or another run afoul of the Kremlin. One of the common themes of these talks was the idea of the reluctant dissident — most of the reporters I interviewed had been satisfied with complying with government censorship for years. They might be told to avoid a certain topic for a few weeks or asked to invite a certain official on their radio show, and they typically just gritted their teeth and agreed. What was fascinating was hearing each person’s story about the specific moment they could no longer say yes to what was being asked of them. 

The new play also has a kind of supernatural aspect to it – and I so I investigated a bit of that too. Moscow has a lot of ghosts.

But I’ll save that for later.

Here’s to a rocking benefit.  “Page 73 on Page 73″ was a success.  We can’t thank these folks enough for really knocking it out of the park: Tommy Smith, Gary Sunshine, Hal Brooks, Peter Bartlett, Mike Doyle, Matt McGrath, Debra Monk, Amy Ryan and very special guest Reggie Watts (one word: amazing).   Here are a couple of candids from the event – hope to see you next year!

Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith

Peter Bartlett, Matt McGrath, Mike Doyle, Amy Ryan and Debra Monk

Benefit Committee Member Mele Nagler and Friends

Galen Sherwin Busky, Board President Jonathan Busky and Benefit Committee Member Daphne Uviller

The grounds of Novodevichy convent, where Tsars sent the wives they were tired of and Peter the Great locked up his sister Sophia so he could steal her throne.  

Right behind me is the ice-skating pond where Kitty and Levin first meet in Anna Karenina. Also Chekhov and Gogol are buried here. And more recently, Yeltsin.