Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz

Ivanov by Anton Chekhov

in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
Dimiter Gotscheff, director

INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

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Since 1914, Berlin’s Volksbühne has been among the most prominent and revolutionary theater establishments of the past century, playing host to some of the most influential directors, writers, actors and set designers of its day including Max Reinhardt, Erich Engel, Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller and Emil Jannings. Led by renegade German theater director Frank Castorf, Volksbühne has a tradition for presenting provocative, controversial theater that tears down classical conventions, while also confirming them in a reflective way. Treading a fine line between broad comedy and tragic melodrama, Chekhov’s prescient first play anticipates the explosive revolutionary atmosphere of Russia at the turn of the century. In this bold interpretation, Bulgarian-born director Dimiter Gotscheff eliminates all traces of naturalism, resulting in an eerie stage shrouded with mist and stripped of stage props, reflecting the existential despair and spiritual stagnation of modern society.

In German with English supertitles.
Performance includes smoke.



Post performance discussion on December 6 with company members, and director Dimiter Gotscheff. Moderated by renowned translator and UCLA Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature, Michael Heim.

Master class with members for the company. Click here for details.



Art Exhibition at UCLA Live

In conjunction with the Volksbühne production of Ivanov, UCLA Live is sponsoring the worldwide community art project that answers the simple question: "Why do you do what you do?" Over 500 submissions from the UCLA and Los Angeles community will be on exhibit in front of the Freud Playhouse, December 2-7, 2008


The Seventh International Theatre Festival is sponsored by Yahoo!

Additional funding is provided by The Audrey & Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation, members of the International Theatre Festival Host Committee and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.




Supported by Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (German Class Lottery Berlin)

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