Pushkin-Inspired Stage at Moscow Art Theatre Spotlight
Director Maxim Memedov is guiding a new production at the Moscow Art Theatre, drawing on the storytelling tradition of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. The project places Pushkin’s enduring themes on a contemporary stage, using the intimate space of the Chekhov studio to create fresh imagery and bold metaphor. The team envisions a dialogue between era and today, inviting audiences to experience a familiar tale through a modern sensibility and fresh visual language.
The premiere on April 16 features Margarita Yakimova as the mermaid, with the Prince’s role shared by Oleg Gaas and Nikita Buryachek and Polina Romanova portraying the Princess. The ensemble also includes Alena Khovanskaya, Ulyana Glushkova, Sergey Medvedev, and Mukhtar-Ali Murzin, each bringing their own voice to the unfolding maritime myth on stage.
Memedov aims to build a stage world rich with metaphor and imagery that speaks to life today. The director emphasizes empathy rather than vengeance as the driving leitmotif guiding the performance, inviting spectators to engage with the emotional core of the story and its universal questions about power, loyalty, and loss.
At first, the narrative hints at revenge, but as rehearsals unfold, attention centers on the people around the prince and the princess. The royal figures disappear into a web of confusion and torment, and the sorrow they endure becomes the engine of the drama, shaping every scene with a quiet but persistent ache.
Margarita Yakimova, who plays the sea-born daughter, speaks of her character’s remorse and the weight of family obligations that drive the plot. Her remarks suggest that ambition and duty collide, with consequences that ripple through generations and communities connected to the royal lineage.
A contemporary thread runs through the production in which artificial intelligence is used as a reflective tool for Pushkin’s world. Digital concepts inform fresh readings of familiar lines, creating a modern resonance while keeping the human center of the drama intact and accessible to today’s audiences.
Earlier collaborations included Evgenia, a writer who contributed new textures to the dialogue and storytelling approach. Her involvement helped shape the tone and cadence of the script, enriching the adaptation without diluting its core core themes and emotional gravity.