NEVA by Guillermo Calderon

WHY MAKE ART OR SEE ART IN A TIME OF POLITICAL UNREST?
NEVA is a highly political play for these highly political times. Using 2 distinct revolutions: Russia and Chile, Calderón examines art’s importance in turbulent times.

“Best play of the year!”
“Neva is bold, theatrical, funny, and fierce – a unique night of theatre!”

SYNOPSIS:

In a dimly lit rehearsal room in St. Petersburg during the winter of 1905, Anton Chekhov’s widow, the actress Olga Knipper, along with two other actors, await the rest of the cast and their director while unseen striking workers are being gunned down in the streets by the tsarist regime. A politically charged, hilarious, and haunting interrogation of theater and the revolutionary impulse.

As political unrest and class tensions continue to mount here in the United States today, this beautifully crafted piece of contemporary theater is more resonant than ever. One character, Masha, fiercely asks, ‘People are dying of hunger in the streets and you want to put on a play?’ and warns, ‘There is going to be a revolution.’ forcing the audience to grapple with the question: Why make art or see art in a time of political unrest?

“More conscious of the theatre’s limitations as an agent of political change, i found myself marveling at it’s ability to transcend that limitation by commenting on it.”