Black Snow
Credits

New York Premiere of Black Snow
Adapted by Keith Reddin
From the Novel by Mikhail Bulgakov
Directed by Ralph Buckley

Buzz Bovshow, Garry Goodrow, Chris Duva, and John Hines in Black Snow.
Photo by Roger Hanna

Reviews

"Reddin's play…has the piston-powered energy of an inevitable farce…all happily realized by Ralph Buckley's inventive staging, much helped by the ingenuity of both Roger Hanna's cartoonish setting and Michele Wynne's imaginative costumes. Both Duva as the bemused, Candide-like Maxudov and Mistretta as the imperious Vasilievich are fine-etched and memorable, but this is essentially an ensemble play -- most of the actors double in a number of small roles -- and the result is boisterously delightful."

-- Clive Barnes, New York Post

"Mr. Reddin, abetted by the energetic members of the Gilgamesh Theatre Group, creates a suitably batty evening of theater…an entertaining, picaresque romp through an inane theatre world… Mr. Buckley encourages the cast of 15 to run with the free-wheeling conceit. As a result, the funniest episodes are simple, tangential moments of nuttiness: a secretary who knows what to type before it's dictated, a box office manager set upon by a wild pack of ticket buyers. Talking portraits of Moliere, Shakespeare and Sophocles (all holding their own gilded frames) come to life to sneer at Sergei, who just can't seem to get a break…the actors, and especially Mr. Duva, create a world of Slavic silliness."

-- Peter Marks, The New York Times

"This is a knowing romp not to be missed by serious theatre goers…The supporting cast of 12 career through umpteen roles and are remarkably strong, adding considerably to the production's cohesive comic styling. Director Buckley maintains a crisp pace throughout, with actors popping up all over Roger Hanna's versatile set. A key send-up in the play involves just how to offer a bouquet -- floral tributes are due to all associated with this joyous enterprise.

About The Play

In Black Snow, Keith Reddin's dramatization of the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, a young writer's dream rapidly turns into a comic nightmare when the illustrious Theater of Moscow (the famed Moscow Art Theatre) decides to make a play out of his failed novel. Sergei is propelled on a hilarious roller coaster ride through the tumultuous world of Stalinist Russia where he finds himself at the mercy of the absurdly autocratic director Ivan Vasilievich (a thinly veiled Konstantin Stanislavsky). While it would seem our young writer has joined the ranks of the great -- Shakespeare, Moliere, Sophocles -- Sergei finds trouble at every turn.

Originally produced at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Black Snow won the 1993 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Play. The New York City premiere by Gilgamesh Theatre Group featured a cast of 15 directed by Ralph Buckley with original music by acclaimed Russian theater and film composer, Alexander Zhurbin.

Playwright, Keith Reddin, is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Yale Drama School. His plays include Life and Limb, Rum and Coke, Nebraska, Life During Wartime and The Brutality of Fact. Along with Bulgakov's Black Snow, he has adapted the Soviet playwright Alexander Buravsky's The Russian Teacher. Film credits include the television movie "The Heart of Justice" and a film adaptation of his play "Big Time" for American Playhouse.

This program was made possible in part by funds from the Billy Rose Foundation.