An atmospheric, moving and funny account of love and life behind the 'Iron Curtain'. A new adaptation of Leonid Zorin's classic tale "A Warsaw Melody" (1967), translated by Franklin D Reeve, is presented by Belka Productions in London
'A lyrical drama in two parts', which reflects a major swing, during the 1960s, from the social to the personal in the wake of revelations about the legacy of Stalinism. As a love story, it concerns a Russian boy and Polish girl (both students) whose relationship is frustrated, first by laws which forbid Soviet citizens to marry foreigners, and subsequently by other factors which come between them. Set during the heyday of the soviet bloc, the story follows the plossomiug relationship and the struggle against social and public oppressions.
The play was performed 4,000 times in its first year alone at various venues throughout Russia and on 150 separate occasions between 1967 and 1977. The play has recently undergone a highly successful revival in Moscow, but this will be the first performance in the UK since it's original run at the King's Head Theatre in 1979.
Leonid Zorin was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1924. He graduated from the S. M. Kirov Azerbaijan University in 1946 and from the M. Gorky Literary Institute in 1947. In 1949 the Maly Theatre in Moscow produced his first play Youth (1949). Zorin went on to write The Guests (1954), Radiant May (1958), Kind Hearts (1959), The Deck (1963), The Encyclopedists (1962), Dion (produced in 1965), The Decembrists (produced in 1967), Serafim, or Three Chapters From the Life of Kramol’nikov (1968), and The Coronation (produced in 1969). Zorin is also a prolific screenwriter. His film credits include Peace to Him Who Enters (1961) and Friends and Years (1966) as well as an ITV 'Play of the Week',The Visitors, in 1961. A Warsaw Melody (1967) remains one of his most celebrated plays to date in Russia. Zorin, now in his 80's continues to live and work in Moscow.
The performance takes place from the 26th of March 2012 till the 28th of April 2012 at the Arcola Theatre in London.
Arcola Theatre
24 Ashwin Street
London E8 3DL
Office: 020 7503 1646
Source: Polish Cultural Institute in London