Presnyakov Brothers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Presnyakov Brothers, Oleg and Vladimir, are
writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short stori ...
,
playwrights A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwrigh ...
,
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
s, directors,
theatrical producer Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
s, and
actors An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
. Oleg was born in 1969 and Vladimir in 1974, the sons of an Iranian mother and a Russian father. Both brothers graduated from M. Gorky Urals State University in
Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...
,
Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblastʹ, p=svʲɪrdˈlofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the c ...
. Until recently, they were both also on the faculty of that same university: Oleg in literary theory and philology, and Vladimir in literary theory and psychology. Together, the two founded the university's Youth Theatre, "Theatre under the name of Christina Orbakaite", an organization committed to producing experimental theatre work. Oleg and Vladimir also write in tandem; all their plays are presented and published under their chosen joint name: The Presnyakov Brothers. Students of
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, the Presnyakov brothers are praised in Russia for their attention to natural-sounding speech, dialogue that sounds "overheard on the street." Their cool, sardonic wit enlivens their plays, and together, they create bitter and funny examinations of life in a
post-Soviet The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...
Russian culture Russian culture ( rus, Культура России, Kul'tura Rossii, kʊlʲˈturə rɐˈsʲiɪ) has been formed by the nation's history, its geographical location and its vast expanse, religious and social traditions, and both Eastern cultu ...
. "Since their first play appeared in Russia's capital city, the Brothers Presnyakov have become "something of a trademark," wrote the local English-language daily, The Moscow Times, in a review last year(2004)."
The International Herald Tribune ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
,Theater: The everyday facets of 'Terrorism', by Erin E. Arvedlund, 27 May 2005.
/ref>


Bibliography


Plays

* Z.O.B (1999) * Floor Covering (2000) * Europe-Asia (2000) * Terrorism (2000) * Set-1 (2001) * Set-2 (2001) * Captured Spirits (2002) * Playing the Victim (2002) * Bad Bed Stories (2003) * Something about technologies of how to live life (2003) * Resurrection. Super. (2004) * Pub (2005) * Before the flood (2006) * Magic horse(2008) * Hungaricum(2009)


Screenplays

''Bed Stories'' (Postelnye stseny, Постельные сцены)(2005); Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov '' Playing the Victim (film), Playing the victim'' (Izobrazhaja zhertvu, Изображая жертву)(2006); Directed by Kirill Serebrennikov * Grand Prize Winner, 1st
Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...
, Italy (Cinema 2006) 13–21 October 2006. * Won best Screenplay Award in Russia, 2007. ''Europe-Asia''(2009); Directed by Ivan Dihovichnij ''Day D.'' (2008) Directed by Mikhail Porechennkov


Novels

* ''Let's kill the referee!'' Original title(2005) Language: Russian * The novel has been translated and published in German language.(2007) Published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch,
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany. Title in German- * The novel has been translated and published in
Hungarian language Hungarian, or Magyar (, ), is an Ugric language of the Uralic language family spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighboring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union. Out ...
as well.(2007) Published by Gabo Kiado,
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hungary. Hungarian title- * The novel has been translated and published in
Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spelling: Roumanian; , or , ) is the official and main language of Romania and Moldova. Romanian is part of the Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance sub-branch of Romance languages, a linguistic group that evolved fr ...
.(2009) Published by Editura Art, Bucuresti. Romanian title- * ''Playing the victim: The novel'' Language: Russian * ''Europe-Asia: The novel, Европа — Азия'' Published by AST. Moscow, 2009. Language: ussian


Radio

* '
''A weekend in the country''
'' Produced by BBC Radio 3 as part of a Drama of the Week, ''Fear and Loathing in Russia'' Today, in 2017, translated by Noah Birksted-Breen (Sputnik Theatre Company).


Plays published

* ''Terrorism''
Nick Hern Books Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of Play (theatre), plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen Publishing, Methuen drama editor Nicholas Hern in 1988. History Nick Hern ...
,London, 2003. Language: English * ''Playing the victim''
Nick Hern Books Nick Hern Books is a London-based independent specialist publisher of Play (theatre), plays, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen Publishing, Methuen drama editor Nicholas Hern in 1988. History Nick Hern ...
, London, 2003. Language: English * ''The Best'' Published by Eksmo, Moscow, 2005. Contains ''Playing the victim''-play, ''Floor covering''-play, ''Captured Spirits''-play, ''Terrorism''-play, ''Something about technologies of how to live life''-play. Language:Russian * ''Pub'' Published by AST.Moscow, 2008. Contains ''Bad bed Stories''-play, ''Before the flood''-play, ''Pub''-play


Terrorism

''Terrorism'' is the duo's best known and most widely performed play. Synopsis: Six scenes from urban life. Delayed passengers grumble about a bomb scare at the airport. A man and a woman commit adultery. Office workers bicker while one of their number quietly exits to hang herself. Two grannies in a playground complain about their menfolk and make fun of a man seated on the next bench. Policemen in their barracks scrap amongst themselves. The passengers on the plane finally prepare for take off. By the end we realise these apparently random scenes are in fact linked by an almost invisible thread, subtly indicating that we bear responsibility for one another even in our soulless urban limbo. * It premiered at the Chekhov
Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; , ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was founded in by the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright ...
in 2002, directed by Kirill Serebrennikov, winning that theatre's annual competition for best new play, an award funded by the Russian Ministry of Culture. * Translated by Sasha Dugdale, directed by Ramin Gray, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
in London took the play, where it became a critical and popular success, 2003. * ''Terrorism'' has been performed across Europe, in Germany,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, Spain, Ireland,
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
, etc., and out of Europe, in Australia,
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
* It had its American premiere
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in May 2005 in a co-production between
The New Group The New Group, is a New York City Off-Broadway theatrical troupe founded by Artistic Director Scott Elliott, that produced its first play, Mike Leigh's '' Ecstasy'', in 1995. The New Group is run by founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, an ...
and The Play Company in New York. directed by Will Frears; sets by David Korins; costumes by Sarah Beers; Presented by
the New Group The New Group, is a New York City Off-Broadway theatrical troupe founded by Artistic Director Scott Elliott, that produced its first play, Mike Leigh's '' Ecstasy'', in 1995. The New Group is run by founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, an ...
, and the Play Company. At the Clurman Theater/Theater Row, 410 West
42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...
,
Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has also been used as a given nam ...
; * In Washington, D.C., US,
Studio Theatre A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...
staged in June 2005. Directed by Keith Alan Baker; * In Canada, the play premiered in Toronto, April 2008. Directed by Adam Bailey; Royal Porcupine Productions. * Fragments from play in English, English Studies Forum, by Kevin Ewert,
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
at
Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...
*


Playing the Victim

''Playing the Victim'' was first staged at the Traverse Theater as part of the
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
Fringe Festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...
(co- produced with the
Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...
) and Told by an Idiot in 2003. Directed by Richard Wilson. ''Playing the Victim'' revolves around Valya, a student who gets a job playing the victim in police crime-scene reconstructions. Even though they are simulated, his repeated participation in one gruesome end after another highlights the violence and brutality endemic in contemporary life. Meanwhile, in a parallel plot that parodies Shakespeare, the ghost of Valya's father tells him that he was poisoned by his brother who later married Valya's mother. While the finale is inevitable – Valya takes his mother, his uncle and his girlfriend (who has become a bit too insistent regarding marriage) to a final meal – its setting is not: a Japanese restaurant where he feeds them fugu, a fish that's filled with lethal toxins unless filleted perfectly. (The film version of the play, for which they wrote the screenplay, won the Best Film prize at the
Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. From 2022, the festival was officially recognized as a competitive festival by the Internation ...
2006.) Synopsis: A young man drops out of university and goes to the police. He's done nothing wrong he just wants a job. A particular job. Playing the victim in murder reconstructions. He has a fear from death. Maybe by getting close to death he can manage to cheat his own In the British version of ''Playing the Victim'', for example, the police captain who reconstructs murders gets bumped off – and his murder gets reconstructed by another captain. Including their rewrites, the brothers can't recall how many plays they have penned. –
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...
, Two for the road, interview with the brothers Presnyakov, 2006.


Interviews

* "Two for the road", ''Time Magazine'', interview with the Presnyakov Brothers, by Yuri Zarachovich, "A life on the go adds grist to our impression mill," says Oleg Presnyakov. Not that any of the Presnyakovs' delicious plot twists are ever final, mind you. "We love remaking our works," says Vladimir. "Playing with our characters again and again lets us see how their situations are developing." "We have often wondered if just one of us exists, while the other is just a figment of his imagination," says Vladimir. "Except," adds Oleg, "we never got to sort out which of us is which." "People are very informed about what's happening in the world, but it seems to us it's important that people be conscious of the idea and not fence off or partition their fears," Vladimir said.


Reviews

*
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, by Michael Billington (critic), 5 STARS, 15 March 2003. * ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' (UK), 20 January 2003, Chekhov's children, An Exciting New Generation of Russia Playwrights Is Coming Here, By Patrick Marmion *
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
, by John Lahr 6 June 2005. *
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, by Ben Bratley, 24 May 2005. *
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, interview with the Presnyakov Brothers, by Erin E. Arvedlund, 29 May 2005. * ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', by Peter Marks, 11 June 2005. * ''
The International Herald Tribune ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'', by Erin E. Arvedlund, 27 May 2005. * Broadway.com, by William Stevenson, 2005. * The Internet Theater Bookshop * Broadwayworld.com * Theatermania.com, by Brian Scott Lipton · 24 May 2005 · New York * TLS100,
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
, Online Review, London, by Sharrona Pearl, 2003. * THE NEW GROUP Production History * ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', by Pawit Mahasarinand, 11 January 2008


References


External links

* *
Literary Managers&Dramaturgs of Americas
* http://www.lmda.org/blog/_archives/2006/6/9/2020841.html * http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=5010 * http://www.wspolczesny.pl/teatr/rep/of.html * http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=775769 * http://www.rian.ru/culture/cinema/20070709/68621745.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Presnyakov Actors from Yekaterinburg Russian dramatists and playwrights Russian male dramatists and playwrights Living people Iranian people of Russian descent Russian people of Iranian descent Year of birth missing (living people) Writers from Yekaterinburg