Russian Plays, Anyone?

[Benjamin Sher]

        NAME:   Benjamin Sher

        E-MAIL:  bs07 at gnofn.org

        ORIGIN: Born in Poland in 1947, immigrated to Israel in 1951,
remained in Israel until 1959 (7th grade), then immigrated again to the
United States, where my parents settled in New Orleans, LA.

        EDUCATION:

         B.A. Philosophy, University of New Orleans, 1969.
         M.A. English, University of New Orleans, 1975
         M. A. Thesis: Revolt and Bondage:War-Prison Symbolism in Hamlet.

        ADDRESS: 802-C Fern St.
                 New Orleans, LA 70118

        PROFESSION: Russian Literary Translator

        Current projects:

        A) SOVIET POLITICS AND REPRESSION IN THE 1930'S -- under contract
to Yale University Press (Annals of Communism series -- forthcoming
publication, 1997).

        B) I am planning to inaugurate early next year my modest SHER
PUBLISHERS, an electronic venture, with the publication of my translation
of Konstantin Vaginov's surrealistic masterpiece THE TOWER (original
title: The Goat's Song, St. Petersburg, 1928), a novel about the Russian
intelligencia in the post-Revolutionary materialistic, Bolshevik period,
an age of corruption, decandence and spiritual malaise.


                                T H E A T E R:

        My active interest in the theater as a translator/playwright dates
from about 1990 when I translated/adapted a couple of plays by the
Shargorodsky Brothers, Russian emigree writers and humorists.

        1) YANKELEVICH!
            A two-act comedy about the trials and tribulations of a 70-year
old Russian emigree in New York in the 1980's, who, out of sheer
loneliness in the Big Apple, hires a bodyguard under the pretext that he
is a major arms manufacturer.

        2) MAZEL TOV, TOVARISHCH!
           A farce set in Moscow in the 1930's concerning the age-old
generational conflict of parents (Orthodox Jews) and children (idealistic,
secular, ambitious Party members). It features a wild "circumcision" plot
(Is the baby Jewish or is he not?!). The ab ove two plays were created in
collaboration with my friend Justin Winston.

        These two plays whetted my appetite as I took on the theater world
by storm :-).

        3) THE DOG.
           A chamber play in two acts, for three actors, commissioned by
Valentin Krasnogoroff of St. Petersburg (now of Haifa, Israel), followed.
A grim, tragic allegory of genocide set in an SPCA in Russia in the 1980's
(or anywhere) features a demure, self-sacrificing woman and a leader of a
Russian black market gang and, of course, a "dog." The play was a huge
success in Russia, where it played, at one time or another, in over 35
theatres throughout the Soviet Union.

        4) WOMAN OF ST. PETERSBURG (PETERBURZHANKA).
           A full-scale MONODRAMA in four acts, was translated under an
exclusive agreement with the playwright, Vladimir Balashov of Russia. This
play calls for a supreme actress who can grow in two hours from an 18-year
old ingenue just before the Revolution (1916) to a 28-year during the
increasingly repressive 1920's, then a 43-yea r during the great 900-day
Siege of Leningrad (1941) and then age to a 76-year old crone fighting
desperately to tame her wild, individualistic grandson (1974). While
obviously based on modern Russian history (in the same way Greek plays are
based on univ ersally known myths or a play on Lincoln is based on common
knowledge by Americans), the play is profoundly dramatic, with each act
involving its own special dramatic plot, yet the whole is integrated by a
host of leitmotifs (symbols, actions, rituals, values) and all set in one
room. The history is entirely subordinated to the tremendous, relentless
emotional drive of the play. That is precisely the challenge. Only a great
actress, I believe, could pull this off, especially outside of Russia. A
history alien to most Americans would have to be totally transfigured if
not transcended by a red-hot performance that brings out the universal
drama of survival and triumph that this play represents.

        5) LADY CAT'S CAT~A~STROPHE.
           In 1992, I was commissioned by Natasha Ramer, a Russian director,
formerly associated with Liubimov at the Taganka Theater in Moscow, to
translate and co-adapt Marshak's classic children's story for the theater.
The play is LADY CAT'S CAT~A~STROPHE, a two-act morality play in verse
(large cast) about a rich aristocratic cat who learns the meaning of love,
friendship and loyalty when her house is accidentally set on fire
(literally, of course, right on the stage!) during a banquet hosted by her
for the socially ambitious animals of her neighborhood). This
cat~a~strophe sends her on a long journey of self-discovery and final
rescue by her poor cousins whom -- you guessed it! -- she had arrogantly
dismissed earlier when they had come begging for scraps for their
families.

        6) THE POSSESSED by F. Dostoevsky. A Trilogy (one play for each of
the novel's three parts). A poetic dramatization utilizing a variety of
poetic genres. The first play, on which I am currently engaged, is
entitled: BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL. A proposal incl uding a manifesto and 6
scenes are available upon request.

        None of the above plays has as yet been performed, I am sorry to
say. I am a translator, not a producer or director. I hope you will find
some of these plays worthy of your attention.
        As soon as I complete my Yale assignment, I will be returning to
the magical reality of the theater.

        Thank you very much for your attention.


                                        Benjamin Sher
                                        bs07 at gnofn.org