The Storm Theatre Company Presents

COLLABORATORS

Grand Hall at St. Mary’s Church
440 Grand Street
NY NY 10002
15 January-13 February 2016

Written by: John Hodge
Directed by: Peter Dobbins
Featuring: Brian J. Carter, Ross DeGraw, Erin Beirnard, and Edward Prostak

How does Art change people? How does Tyranny change people? In post-revolution Russia, under the control of Joseph Stalin, these questions are examined in COLLABORATORS. That sounds dark and heavy, but if you are at all familiar with playwright John Hodge’s screenplays (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave), you know that he is brilliant at making dark subjects humorous.

An esteemed playwright, Mikhail Bulgakov (Brian J. Carter, perfectly embodying a man struggling to come up with the courage of his convictions) who encourages all his intellectual friends to resist giving in to the censorious climate, finds himself drawn into a sympathetic relationship with Stalin himself (an excellent Ross DeGraw) and tangentially responsible for some of the Stalin regime’s worst acts. At the same time, the member of the secret police, Vasilly (Edward Prostak, alternately charming and changeable) who initially threatened and bullied Bulgakov into writing for Stalin, finds himself drawn to resistance by the artistic process.

Caught in the swirl are Bulgakov’s worried wife Yelena (Erin Beirnard) and the other tenants of their horrible apartment (aptly suggested by the imaginative set designed by Rebecca Grazi), another playwright and his wife, and an assortment of other characters, all ably played by just a few actors nimbly multi-tasking.

- Jean Tait -