Bard SummerScape premieres original stage adaptation of “The Master and Margarita” this Saturday, July 13
This Saturday, July 13, the 2013 Bard SummerScape festival in New York’s Annandale-on-Hudson presents the world premiere of an original stage adaptation of The Master and Margarita (1937) by Mikhail Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most beloved Russian novels of the 20th century, and SummerScape’s theatrical adaptation comes courtesy of visionary Hungarian director János Szász in collaboration with Gideon Lester, Director of Bard’s Theater Programs. Szász, whose previous stage adaptations of Bulgakov’s underground classic have already “made it big” (Moscow Times) at both the Hungarian National and Moscow Art Theatres, also directs Bard’s new production: an exploration of miracles, madness, and the magic of theater itself, that marks the novel’s first major American stage adaptation in several decades. The Master and Margarita will be presented in nine performances between July 13 and 21 (with previews on July 11 and 12) in Theater Two of the Frank Gehry-designed Fisher Center, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, on Bard’s glorious Hudson Valley campus.
Russian playwright and novelist Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940) found himself forced to work under the repressive and often dangerous conditions of Stalin’s regime. This is reflected in his art, not least in his undisputed masterpiece, The Master and Margarita, which was written in secret and only published – even in its earliest, least complete form – in 1967, once both he and the de facto Soviet leader were safely dead. The novel then proved an instant sensation, and this cult status was just the beginning. Today, The Master and Margarita is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century fiction, and – as a 2009 survey revealed – is the most popular novel in contemporary Russia, with a major international following.
Bard’s director and co-adaptor, János Szász, is the creator of eleven motion pictures, including European Film Award-winner Woyzeck (1994), and of important stage productions in his native Hungary, Russia, and the United States. He and co-adaptor Gideon Lester have already collaborated on a number of projects at the American Repertory Theater (ART) in Cambridge, MA; of Szász’s ART production of The Seagull, the Boston Globe observed:
“What Szász has done is to create a strange new world for Chekhov’s play and also to pay careful, deep attention to the emotional and intellectual depths of the text. He’s not just messing with it for the sake of showy effect; he’s reimagining it in order to remain true to his understanding of its deepest essence. … The production fully succeeds.”
Bard’s first-rate cast stars Ronald Guttman (Woland), whose numerous TV credits include Mad Men, Lost, The West Wing, and Sex and the City; Stephanie Roth Haberle (Margarita), of Crimes and Misdemeanors, Philadelphia, and Hollywood Ending; Arliss Howard (the Master), best-known for his standout role in Full Metal Jacket and CableAce Award-winning turn in HBO’s Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture; and Michael Medeiros (Pontius Pilate and other roles), whose credits range from X-Men: First Class, Margot at the Wedding and Synecdoche, New York to TV’s Law & Order.
Theater at Bard SummerScape 2013
The Master and Margarita (1937)
Adaptation by János Szász and Gideon Lester
after the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov (1891–1940)
Suitable for audiences of age 15 and older (contains nudity)
Cast:
Woland: Ronald Guttman
Master: Arliss Howard
Behemoth and others: Peter Macklin
Pontius Pilate and others: Michael Medeiros
Margarita: Stephanie Roth Haberle
Ivan and others: Ean Sheehy
Koroviev and others: Mickey Solis
Azazello and others: Danny Wolohan
Ensemble:
Sonia Feigelson (Bard College, Class of 2013)
Schuyler Helford (Bard College, Class of 2013)
Hannah Mitchell (Bard College, Class of 2013)
Alexander Setzko (Bard College, Class of 2013)
Artistic team:
Director and adaptor: János Szász
Adaptor: Gideon Lester
Set and lighting designer: Maruti Evans
Costume designer: Oana Botez
Sound designer: Ien DeNio
Movement: Doug Elkins
Casting: Judy Bowman
Previews:
Thursday, July 11 at 7:30pm
Friday, July 12 at 7:30pm
(Tickets: $30)
Performances:
Saturday, July 13 at 7:30pm*
Sunday, July 14 at 3pm*; post-performance talk with director János Szász, Director of Theater Programs Gideon Lester, and members of the cast
Wednesday, July 17 at 3pm; post-performance talk with director János Szász, Director of Theater Programs Gideon Lester, and members of the cast
Thursday, July 18 at 7:30pm
Friday, July 19 at 7:30pm
Saturday, July 20 at 3pm
Saturday, July 20 at 7:30pm
Sunday, July 21 at 3pm*
Sunday, July 21 at 7:30pm
(Tickets: $45)
*Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available exclusively to ticket holders for this performance. The round-trip fare is $40 and reservations are required. Visit fishercenter.bard.edu/transportation for more information.
SummerScape theater performances are held in Theater Two in Bard’s Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Frank Gehry and celebrated since its opening as a major architectural landmark in the region.
Performances of The Master and Margarita have been underwritten by the Martin and Toni Sosnoff Foundation.
Highlights of the Bard SummerScape Festival 2013
Russia’s profound and far-reaching impact on 20th-century culture will be explored at the 2013 annual Bard SummerScape festival, which once again offers an extraordinary summer of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret, keyed to the theme of the 24th annual Bard Music Festival, Stravinsky and His World. Presented in the striking Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and other venues on Bard College’s bucolic Hudson River campus, the seven-week festival opened with cabaret from Sandra Bernhard and A Rite (2013) by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and SITI Company, and will close on August 18 with a party in Bard’s beloved Spiegeltent.
Complementing the Bard Music Festival’s exploration of “Stravinsky and His World,” some of the great Russian-born composer’s most captivating compatriots provide key SummerScape highlights. As well as the world premiere of this original stage adaptation of The Master and Margarita, these include the first fully-staged American production of Sergey Taneyev’s opera Oresteia and a film festival titled “Between Traditions: Stravinsky’s Legacy and Russian Émigré Cinema.”
SummerScape 2013: other key performance dates by genre
MUSIC
Bard Music Festival, Weekend One: “Becoming Stravinsky: From St. Petersburg to Paris” (Aug 9-11)*
Bard Music Festival, Weekend Two: “Stravinsky Reinvented: From Paris to Los Angeles” (Aug 16-18)*
*Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for certain performances on August 9, 11, 16, and 18. The round-trip fare is $40 and reservations are required; see further details below.
OPERA
Sergey Taneyev: Oresteia
Sosnoff Theater
July 26* and Aug 2 at 7pm
July 28*, 31, and Aug 4* at 3pm
Tickets: $30, $60, $70, $90
DANCE/THEATER
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and SITI Company: A Rite
July 6 at 8pm and July 7* at 3pm
Sosnoff Theater
Tickets: $25, $40, $45, $55
*Round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is available for this performance. The round-trip fare is $40 and reservations are required; see further details below.
FILM FESTIVAL
“Between Traditions: Stravinsky’s Legacy and Russian Émigré Cinema”
July 12, 13, 19, 20, 26; Aug 2 and 3 at 7pm
July 13, 20, 21, 27; Aug 3 at 2pm
July 14 at 3pm
July 21 at 5:30pm
July 27 at 6:30pm
July 27 and Aug 2 at 9pm
Ottaway Film Center
Tickets: $12
SPIEGELTENT
Live Music, Cabaret, Family Performances, and Festival Salon
Prices vary
Venues:
SummerScape opera, theater, and dance performances and most Bard Music Festival programs are held in the Sosnoff Theater or Theater Two in Bard’s Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Some chamber programs and other BMF events are in Olin Hall. The Spiegeltent has its own schedule of events, in addition to serving as a restaurant, café, and bar before and after performances. The Film Festival screenings are at the Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center in the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Center.
New York City Round-Trip Bus Transportation:
Inexpensive, convenient round-trip transportation from Manhattan to Bard is provided, exclusively to ticket holders, for select SummerScape and Bard Music Festival performances (as indicated above). The round-trip fare is $40, and reservations are required. The bus departs from behind Lincoln Center, on Amsterdam Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets. For details, including departure times, visit fishercenter.bard.edu/transportation.
Bard SummerScape Ticket Information
For tickets and further information on all SummerScape events, call the Fisher Center box office at 845-758-7900 or visit www.fishercenter.bard.edu.
Bard on Twitter
Follow news about SummerScape at twitter.com/Bard_FisherCtr.
# # #
©21C Media Group, July 2013