#darko tresnjak

[lenbryant]

Play review (long post)

Review: In ‘Russian Troll Farm,’ You Can’t Stop the Memes

An unlikely dark comedy imagines the people pushing #PizzaGate, Donald Trump and who knows what next.

No one misses the early days and dark theaters of the Covid pandemic, but the emergency workaround of streaming content was good for a few things anyway. People who formerly could not afford admission suddenly could, since much of it was free, and artists from anywhere could now be seen everywhere, with just a Wi-Fi connection.

That’s how I first encountered “Russian Troll Farm,” a play by Sarah Gancher intended for the stage but that had its debut, in 2020, as an online co-production of three far-flung institutions: TheaterWorks Hartford, TheaterSquared in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Brooklyn-based Civilians. At the time, I found its subject and form beautifully realized and ideally matched — the subject being online interference in the 2016 presidential election by a Russian internet agency.

“This is digitally native theater,” I wrote, “not just a play plopped into a Zoom box.”

Now the box has been ripped open, and a fully staged live work coaxed out of it. But the production of “Russian Troll Farm” that opened on Thursday at the Vineyard Theater is an entirely different, and in some ways disappointing, experience. Though still informative and trenchant, and given a swifter staging by the director Darko Tresnjak, it has lost the thrill of the original’s accommodation to the extreme constraints of its time.

Not that it is any less relevant in ours; fake news will surely be as prominent in the 2024 election cycle (is Taylor Swift a pro-Biden psy-op?) as it was in 2016. That’s when, as Gancher recounts using many real texts, posts and tweets of the time, trolls at the Internet Research Agency — a real place in St. Petersburg, Russia — devised sticky memes and other content meant to undermine confidence in the electoral process, sow general discord, legitimize Trumpism and vaporize Hillary Clinton.

Egor (Haskell King) is a friendless, robotic techno-nerd who just wants to win the microwave oven that’s a prize for productivity. Steve (John Lavelle) is a Soviet revanchist who calls the Enlightenment a mistake and Gorbachev the “world’s biggest cuck.” Nikolai (Hadi Tabbal) is a moony screenwriter manqué who thinks what he does is evil but still wants “to do a good job at it” — causing Steve, who went to junior college in California, to deride him as a “human latte” and a “performative bookstore tote bag.”

The fourth troll is the newbie, Masha (Renata Friedman). A disillusioned journalist who took the job at the agency for the pay, she wants nothing more than to move to London and recover from Russia by doing yoga. Naturally she becomes the focal point of several interconnected bids for love and dominance among Steve, Nikolai and Ljuba, whose bureaucratic fury belies a troubled emotional life beneath.

The snappy dialogue draws moderate laughs, often by squeezing banal office politics against the scarier kind. (“No Nazi content unless specifically requested by supervisor,” Ljuba warns the others.) But though Gancher subtitles the play “a workplace comedy,” you may in the end be left wondering what’s funny. The trolls’ various schemes for advancement and connection all end disastrously, as many in the audience surely feel the election did, too. Nor does it help that the cast works so hard to get a response from the audience, sometimes annoyingly demanding participation and thus a kind of complicity.

Complicity was not of course possible in the no-longer-available 2020 streaming production, which required viewers to process it on the fly, in much the way they process social media, deciding for themselves what to laugh at — and what to ponder, repost or trash. Lacking that formal congruence, the live “Russian Troll Farm” has a temperature problem: Instead of cool, it feels overheated; instead of suggestive, prosaic.

It was likewise unsettling, in 2020, that you never quite knew where the characters existed, except in the electronic ether; now, on Alexander Dodge’s white box set, they are fixed in a highly specific, nonvirtual space, with ergo chairs and a photo of Putin. Likewise, the ear-scratching interstitial noise (by Darron L West and Beth Lake) and strobey light (by Marcus Doshi) and projection effects (by Jared Mezzocchi) are almost too gorgeously professional, failing to reproduce the deliberate crudeness of the original’s fuzz, pixelation and green-screen blur.

Crudeness is key. Not only does it elicit the poetry of Gancher’s writing, which despite its shiny surface has depth; it is also expressive in itself, because crudeness is a hallmark of the trolls’ greatest hits. Egor considers his English spelling mistakes (“libral” for “liberal”) a useful way of promoting engagement. People who comment on the errors are merely being pulled even farther into the web — and the whole point of the troll farm, as an author’s note points out, is “to stir up trouble.”

At that, it succeeded, though Russia has no patent on trolls. Indeed, the Internet Research Agency shut down last year, collateral damage from the Wagner Group rebellion, but fake news has never been riper. It’s just more local. I suppose “Russian Troll Farm” wants us to consider whether we would participate in its strange, chaotic economy of lies if given the opportunity — and a microwave.

Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy Through Feb. 25 at Vineyard Theater, Manhattan; vineyardtheatre.org. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes.

Jesse Green is the chief theater critic for The Times. He writes reviews of Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway, regional and sometimes international productions. More about Jesse Green

A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 9, 2024, Section C, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Even in Person, They Just Can’t Stop the Memes. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

[wissily]

The Old Globe’s 2006 Shakespeare Festival production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare, directed by Darko Tresnjak, in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre (Photo by Craig Schwartz) source

[disneyprincessconcertfans]

Christy Altomare of "Disney Princess - The Concert" shared photos on Instagram from her new musical, "Noir". Noir will be playing from June 2 - July 3, 2022 at the Alley Theatre in Houston TX. Tix link below.

[christinealtomare]

anastasiabway: #AnastasiaTheMusical star Christy Altomare and director Darko Tresnjak at the Hartford Stage gala.

[nanasalt]

I translated this interview, for anyone interested in reading it!

BWW Interviews: Darko Tresnjak talks to us about his work in Anastasia:  The mind behind the success of A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder tells us about Anastasia, his work in New York, and his upcoming projects.

First off, I’d like to know how you got involved in the Anastasia project

My show, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder, premiered on Broadway  and the three authors of Anastasia (Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Terrence McNally) came to opening night, enjoyed it a lot, and wanted to meet with me. We have the same agency and the same agent represents all four of us, which let him set up the meeting. It was excellent and here we are.

Anastasia opened in Hartford before moving to New York. You were the artistic director there, correct?

Yes, in fact, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder premiered there and then Anastasia. I knew we had the home advantage when we opened there.

To create the show, of course you brought the Ingrid Bergman film and the animated film together, and also influence from Hitchcock, how was that?

Yes, in fact there are two clear references: in the first scene the camera flashes are a nod to the scene of the nightmare of Vertigo, and in the ballet scene when Gleb tries to draw his pistol is a wink to The Man Who Knew Too Much. In general I have always been inspired by Hitchcock because I liked him a lot when I was small. I went from Disney straight to Hitchcock.

The fans of the film grew up watching it for 20 years and now they’re coming to see the musical as adults. Did you have that in mind at the time of directing?

I didn’t want to focus on it, but it’s clear there are moments in the film that mean a lot to [the fans]. In fact, I did something on purpose when we premiered in Hartford; Anya did not come out in the blue dress at the opera, and [fans] commented on it a lot, but it was good. I reworked it so that she worse the [blue] dress on Broadway and the people were content.

But it’s normal, because you’re completing with an animated film, so the musical has to be true to it.

Of course, the fans here have embraced it. For the casting in Spain, how did casting in a language that isn’t yours affect your choices?

It was great because I was at the auditions in Madrid to find the first international cast. But you know, the interesting thing is that when the [actor’s] interpretation is defined, and when it isn’t, it’s very clear, whether or not you speak the language. The rhythms and transitions are exactly the same, and I’ve just now come from Germany where it’s the same. That is, it’s clear when people know what they’re doing, and when they don’t.

But originally it was Christy Altomare (our Broadway Anya) who taught us what we needed. It took us a lot to find out protagonist and in fact, she’s the one that leads our cast, she’s very strong, and almost never misses a show.

The protagonist has to be as emotionally vulnerable as Audrey Hepburn and at the same time have the ability to sing a those high notes eight times a week.  

And did you find that in Jana Gomez?

Yes, she's marvelous, a dream come true. I don't have children, but now I have the feeling of having daughters all over the world, (laughter), one on Broadway, for the the North American tour, one in Madrid and one in Germany. Jana is splendid, I absolutely love her interpretation, she's really made it her own.

Talking about that, now that it's released all over the world and all based on Broadway, have you considered changing things or polishing details?

That's not easy to do, there are four total productions in the world, but we've changed details. In the second act there are moments that didn't work and although it's been in here for two months, we've changed it. Now, with the tour version, we've reduced the run time by five minutes. It's a constant evolution

Of course, [the show] is alive, that's theater.

Yes. Getting to Broadway is very hard, there's a lot of pressure on you, it's very competitive, you feel that all the people around you...

Are sharks!

Exactly! And you have to get through it so it doesn't affect you. It's fun to return to your creation and change things, it's liberating, because we all make mistakes when it's released.

For example, now, you've cut the song "Crossing a Bridge."

Yes, and it pains me because the song inspired me, but the problem is that it doesn't move you to the next scene. Lynn is great at that, because for her the most important thing is to tell the story, and it's clear that this didn't.

Now let's talk about your other great work on Broadway, that is, A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder. How did that frame your career? Winning a Tony Award....

It was the last year of my mother's life. I thought that if I won [the award] she would be happy to show it off and would hold on longer.  You know the Awards are very subjective, it's based on someone seeing your work and liking it and that's it.

The truth is that it has changed my life, it's opened many doors for me and gave me many opportunities but as with any prize, you win it and you have to survive it.

But clearly you’ve done it. Now, you’ve just premiered Samson et Dalila at the Met Opera in New York. How was it?

Interesting. There was a lot of pressure though I was lucky to have Elīna Garanča, who by the way lives in Spain, and it was a dream to work with her. She’s marvelous.

You’re a great lover of the opera, would you consider redirecting your career towards that art form?

Well, I have various projects but I have many more musicals [in the works]. For example, The Flaming Kid, with libretto and lyrics by Tony Winner Robert L. Freedman (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder) and music from Tony nominee Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens and War Paint), will premier in May of this next year.

It’s very funny, but I think musicals unite many people of different ages, the way few things do. It happened with Anastasia, for example, in the USA, and seeing all the young people together enjoying the show is great, especially in in moments when people aren’t very happy. Either to forget everything or to think on something, but together.

Thank you very much, Darko!

And you.

[christyaltomaredaily]

christyaltomare: I love you Mary Beth Peil ... I am more grateful for the last two years with you than anything else. Thank you for being my rock throughout this crazy journey. Thank you for being the best acting partner in the world and thank you for believing in me. I hope your next journey is thrilling beyond belief and may it bring with it lots of good food and conversation :) ❤️❤️❤️🍾 Happy Trails

[anastasiasource]

From Jana Gómez and Iñigo Etayo Ochoa-Lácar’s Instagram stories. (Nov. 23, 2018).

[aroundfortwayne]

2021-2022 Broadway at the Embassy season announced

New Post has been published on https://aroundfortwayne.com/news/2021/07/24/2021-2022-broadway-at-the-embassy-season-announced/

2021-2022 Broadway at the Embassy season announced

The Embassy Theatre and Nederlander National Markets are thrilled to announce the return of Broadway with the 2021-2022 Broadway at the Embassy season.

[theatreisgoodforthesoul]

“The Killer” by Eugene Ionesco, translated by Michael Feingold

Theatre for a New Audience, 2014

Starring Michael Shannon, Brendan Averett, Stephanie Bunch, Liam Craig, Kristine Nielsen, Gregor Paslawsky, Ryan Quinn, Noble Shropshire, Paul Sparks, Robert Stanton, Gordon Tashjian, Benjamin Cole, Eric Folks, Jonathan Hooks, Kathleen Longazel, Anastasia Olowin, Frank Paiva, James Rees, Quinn Warren & Ariel Zuckerman

[fitz-skimmons]

Christy Altomare and Darko Tresnjak during the Anastasia Opening Night bows on April 24th.

[larryland]

Hartford Stage announces OBIE Award-winning Director Melia Bensussen as Next Artistic Director

Hartford Stage announces OBIE Award-winning Director Melia Bensussen as Next Artistic Director

Melia Bensussen. Photo by Defining Studios.

HARTFORD, CT — January 9, 2019 — David R. Jimenez, President of the Board of Directors of Hartford Stage, is delighted to announce that OBIE Award-winning director Melia Bensussen has been named the next Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning theatre. She will assume the role in June.

Ms. Bensussen will be the sixth artistic director, as well as…

[disneyprincessconcertfans]

May 18, 2022

Christy Altomare ("Anastasia", "Disney Princess - The Concert") is starring in new musical "Noir" by Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow. Show dates are June 2 - July 3, 2022 at Alley Theatre in Houston, TX.

Tix link below

[lilymalevskymalevitch]

[christinealtomare]

Première Anastasia

Eindapplaus, photocall & trapmoment

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Opening Night of the Dutch Production of Anastasia

[shakespearenews]

Selling Shakespeare With a Nod to the 1960s