Pagliacci (Saint-Petersburg Opera Theatre, opera)

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players". These Shakespeare words became the motto of the production by Yuri Alexandrov. The director offers a unique version of one of the most popular operas that invariably touches human hearts with its bright love drama and vivid emotional music. In Alexandrov’s performance, a true tragedy of a theatre company director who killed his wife because of jealousy (a real legal case that Leoncavallo immortalized with his opera) was given a metaphorical interpretation. Using images and means of commedia dell'arte, the oldest drama form, the director created a timeless story about the theatre life where dramatic convention and reality are intertwined so inextricably that they can not be separated. In this play, comedy and tragedy parody each other, and everyday routine of the first act is replaced in the second act by violent colors and exquisitely stylized costumes (production designer Vyacheslav Okunev). Theatricality as a principle of existence prevails not only on the stage but also spills out into the auditorium. A great success was the role of Canio played by the soloist Victor Aleshkov. For this role, the actor was awarded with Golden Spotlights, the highest St. Petersburg theatre prize as the Best Actor in a musical theatre in 2009-2010 season. The performance also won Golden Spotlights and the national theatre prize Golden Mask as Best opera production.