Tango Christie

by Alla Korovkina

adapted from "Anna Christie" by Eugene O'Neill

DANCE DRAMA

Reimagined by Russian theater artists, this new version of O'Neill's groundbreaking drama features dance, piano, and Russian dolls.

directed by Alla Korovkina

with composer Vasily Tonkovidov and choreographer Victoria Maximova
in Russian with English supertitles

DR. CHEKHOV'S THEATER ENSEMBLE

Samara, Russia

O'Neill's groundbreaking 1920 play "Anna Christie" reveals a woman whose life is performance: daughter, lover, whore.

Three actresses from Central Russia and a virtuoso Russian pianist reimagine the story through dance, song, Russian dolls, and dialogue. Performed in Russian, with over-sized titles projected in English.

O'Neill's "Anna Christie" is named for a woman whose life is a performance of daughter, lover, whore. The playwright’s quotes around the title hint that any of these roles are an illusion. “Anna” premiered in 1921 in New York. Wildly successful, it won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize, though O’Neill repudiated the play for its happy ending.

Russia’s Alla Korovkina has created a dance adaptation in which Anna is a doll, literally. The dance adaptation focuses on the dynamic of a woman being claimed as daughter and wife, who must find herself.

The leading role of the drama, and of the adaptation, is not Anna, but the sea. In Tango Christie that part is played by the onstage piano, thanks to Viktor Tonkovidov, who created the original score, including songs and dances.

Tango Christie comes from Dr. Chekhov’s Theater Ensemble of Samara, Russia, sung and spoken in Russian with titles projected in English. Choreographed by Victoria Maximova, the production was conceived of and directed by Korovkina, who played Catharine in David Kaplan’s 1993 Russian premiere of Suddenly Last Summer.