Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg season: Uncle Vanya / Life and Fate, Theatre Royal Haymarket

The Maly Drama Theatre brings two Russian plays to London this May. Established in 1806, the esteemed St Petersburg theatre company boasts a hoard of prizes and accolades, including the only Olivier ever awarded to an international ensemble, for 1989's Stars in the Morning Sky. British director Peter Brook hailed them 'the finest ensemble theatre in Europe'

Over a decade since their last London appearance, Maly Drama Theatre company take over Theatre Royal Haymarket for two weeks to stage Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and a stage adaptation of Vasily Grossman's war memoir Life and Fate.

Chekhov's late, great play about a family seduced by the allure of urban life, frustrated by provincial ennui but troubled by the prospect of selling the crumbling country estate is well known and regularly seen on the London stage, most recently in a contemporary version by Robert Icke. This production, directed by Maly Theatre's Lev Dodin, has been hailed as 'definitive' by critics around the world.

Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate is an epic story of the eastern front during WWII. It follows a Jewish family through concentration camps, Siberian Gulags and the Battle of Stalingrad. It was first published in 1980, after being smuggled out of the Soviet Union. The Maly Theatre adaptation has toured internationally since its premiere in 2007, picking up awards and acclaim along the way.

The two shows will be performed in Russian with English surtitles and they will play in repertoire from 8 to 20 May.
Click here to book Uncle Vanya
Click here to book Life and Fate