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Internationally acclaimed Russian play comes to ASU

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Evgeny Mironov (left) and Irina Grineva star as Grigori and Marina in the Russian play, "Boris Godunov," which opens at Gammage Auditorium tonight for a two-day set.

When Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director of ASU Public Events, saw "Boris Godunov" two years ago during a trip to Russia, she thought it was important enough to bring all the way back to Arizona.

Thanks to her efforts, Valley residents will have an exclusive opportunity to see the internationally acclaimed play performed in their back yard today and Saturday. Tempe is one of only two U.S. cities included on the world tour.

Only 200 audience members will be admitted to each performance.

"It's a very intimate experience, which creates a very powerful experience," said Kariann Medina, spokeswoman for ASU Public Events.

Friday's performance is sold out, but tickets are still available for Saturday's 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. performances at Gammage Auditorium. The $45 tickets are half price for students.

"On the international scene, this play is tremendous," Medina said. "It will be an experience that our audiences will not find at other theaters in the Valley."

The cast is made up of Russian actors who are as renowned in their country as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are in the United States, Medina said.

"The fact that they are touring the United States with this company is extraordinary," she added. "They feel that it is a very important work. It is a very well-known piece of literature in Russian history."

Alexander Pushkin wrote "Boris Godunov" about a historical Russian czar of the same name in 1825. Pushkin himself was born into Russian nobility in 1799. He began writing at 15, and by the time he was 21 his politics were enough of a nuisance for the government to exile him.

His only full-length play closely followed Nikolai Karamzin's "History of the Russian State," published in 1824. The style and themes of the play were inspired directly by Godunov's love of Shakespeare.

"The British director [Declan Donnellan] has taken this piece of literature and brought it into our time period," Medina said. "It's about Russian politics, but it's a story that has passion. It has deception, it has murder - all those elements that are very real in any time period."

Godunov was a high-level bureaucrat in the court of Ivan the Terrible in the late 16th century. When Ivan died, Godunov became regent to Feodor, the heir to the throne.

Godunov is rumored to have killed Feodor's younger brother Dmitri in order to facilitate his own succession to the throne. When Feodor died, an assembly of the Russian elite selected Godunov to lead them.

As czar, Godunov established peace with European neighbors, recognized the Russian church and colonized Siberia. He strengthened government at the expense of the wealthy landowners.

When a man claiming to be Feodor's dead brother agitated the populace, many Russians supported him against Godunov. When Godunov died in 1605, his son Feodor II lost the throne to the pretender.

Reach the reporter at jesse.christopherson@asu.edu.


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