The theatrical arts festival dedicated to the outstanding Russian writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is not accidentally named after him. The great master of words spent many years of his life in these parts, especially in Staraya Russa, a city that became a place of inspiration and solitude for him, where he could focus on his work.
Staraya Russa left a deep mark on Dostoevsky’s biography. Here he worked on such iconic works as “Demons,” “The Adolescent,” “The Brothers Karamazov,” and “A Writer’s Diary.” To better understand and experience the atmosphere in which these masterpieces were created, festival participants, including renowned actors and artists such as Mikhail Porechenkov, Maxim Korolev, Yulia Khlynina, Olesya Sudzilovskaya, Sergei Dzeban, Svetlana Berdichevskaya, and many others, visited the F.M. Dostoevsky House-Museum. Dostoevsky and the Museum of the novel “The Brothers Karamazov”, which gave them the opportunity to immerse themselves deeper in the world of the writer.
Dostoevsky and his family first visited Staraya Russa on May 18, 1872. The city, with its green gardens and the ringing of church bells, made a very pleasant impression on the writer. There he was also able to hide from creditors, who in St. Petersburg constantly demanded that he repay a debt of many thousands.
The time spent in this city was very fruitful for the writer, so the family began to come to Russa every summer. The first summer vacation, however, wasn’t entirely successful: the cold weather meant Dostoevsky’s daughter Lyuba and his wife Anna Grigoryevna were constantly ill. Nevertheless, the following year, the family decided to rent a dacha in Staraya Russa again. This time, they settled in a two-story wooden house on the Pererytitsa River embankment, which belonged to retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Karlovich Gribbe. In this house, the family settled in six rooms on the second floor, and it is here that a museum dedicated to the life and work of Dostoevsky is now located.
As part of the festival, guests also had the opportunity to see a presentation of the project “Nikolai Stavrogin. Prologue to the Premiere”. This performance-installation is based on letters related to the production of “Nikolai Stavrogin”, which was shown at the Moscow Art Theater in 1913 and is based on the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky’s “Demons”.
The project is the result of collaboration between the Moscow Art Theatre Museum and other cultural organizations, which emphasizes the importance and relevance of Dostoevsky’s legacy in contemporary theater art.
It is very important that this history is preserved and restored. I am deeply impressed by the serious work of the authors and creators of this performance. “I am confident that such projects should be supported,” noted festival president Mikhail Porechenkov.
After visiting the museums, the guests strolled through Staraya Russa and tried the famous local kalachi, which Dostoevsky often mentioned in his books.
Mikhail Porechenkov with his wife, Yulia Khlynina and others at the opening of the XXIX International Festival of Theatre Arts named after F.M. Dostoevsky
