We went to an extremely nice theater to see a play titled "Journey into the Whirlwind" based upon a auto-biographical account written by Eugenia Ginzburg.
The play was in Russian and I understood very little of it. Here is what I can tell you - it was set in a Stalinist Era Womens Prison or Gulag. Plotwise that is about what I got - Ginzburg served 18 years for Treason. Her book was smuggled out of Russia and published (in English) in 1967. It was not published in Russia until 1990.
The production was very impressive with large moving sets that had a very industrial feel, perhaps alluding to the automation and mechanization which developed and thrived during the era. We have seen a few excellent productions at the Wilma in Philadelphia the past couple of years and I would definitely classify the Ginzburg play in the same category as those shows.
As part of the show the lobby of the theater was decorated in with Communist era slogans. A prop statue of Stalin Rested near the entrance to the theater. These props actually served a dual purpose, when you exited the theater following the performance the banners were removed revealing 8x11 B&W head shots of the artists and performers involved in the play.
Language Lesson
You may notice prior to Theater or TEATR in the title above I have a Capital "B". As noted previously the B is actually a V or Vah sounds in Russian. VLAD is actually Spelled BLAD - the L and D are goofy non-english characters. The standalone B means (at least in this context) to go somewhere. B TEATR - going to the Theater. B Restauran - Going to the Restaurant. B KENO, going to the Cinema B PARK - Going to the Park.
GULAG is actually an Acronym - Chief Administration of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies - I have no idea how the letters match up but you get the idea.
Chistii Prudi
The Moscow Theater District resides near a park named Chistii Prudii. When we left the play we were able to "Walk" on one of the iced over ponds that is part of the park.
If you look over Billie Jo's Right Shoulder you can see a girl ice skating on the bond. If you enlarge the photo you can make out a small white light in front of the skater - that is a cell phone - she is texting. The Skating Texter did eventually fall on her butt.
This the Pond under warmer conditions.
Branding
Saw a Girl wearing a Celtics Hoodie near the Mall and a Dolphins Fan on the Metro. Good to see the Miami logo - helped make me feel a little warmer in the Moscow Winter.
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