Utopia Coast

Stoppard is considering a period when the public wave of enlightenment for the first time crossed the borders of Russia, and the Russian emigration gained its voice. ^[1] The trilogy consists of three parts: “Journey”, “Shipwreck” and “Salvation” (sometimes the last part is called “Beached”). The story begins in 1833 in the village of Pryamukhino , the family estate of Mikhail Bakunin . Before us is the Bakunin family, as well as Belinsky, Bakunin, Stankevich and Ivan Turgenev: young people, good friends, passionate about the ideas of German idealist philosophers . In the second part (“Shipwreck”), the main characters are Herzen, dying of consumption Belinsky, Nikolai Ogaryov, Bakunin. Bakunin, already an anarchist, Herzen and Turgenev became eyewitnesses of the French revolution of 1848. Hopes for freedom are replaced by disappointment. And finally, the third part: London , where emigrants of various stripes meet after the collapse of European revolutions. ^[2] Herzen, Ogarev and his wife Natalya make up a love triangle. Bakunin returns from exile . Stoppard says that “he decided to adhere to history quite accurately and only twice violated this rule. For example, when Herzen was in England , Bakunin was in prison, but for the play it was necessary that in a dispute he expressed his point of view. And he appears to be in Herzen’s dream. ” ^[3]

One of the central themes of the trilogy is freedom. Herzen says he unraveled the secret of freedom: "Freedom is what people give to each other, and not what they take from each other." ^[4] Freedom is a voluntary gesture, it is the curbing of oneself. Stoppard explains it this way:

This is not to say that freedom is my right to play the trumpet in the middle of the night. If you put yourself in the place of another, then you are already a free person in the understanding that is close to me. Allowing yourself to give freedom to those with whom you are close is freedom. ^[2]

As for the title of the play, the author leaves open the question of whether the realization of utopia is possible, but believes that we should strive for it. Stoppard pays particular attention to the family, because the family is “our personal empire ”, and it is “in our power” ^[5] , which means that we must try to realize utopia even in the family. Herzen, as a result, understands that a harmonious society must exist according to the same laws as a happy family, this should be a “noble competition”, especially since the family already has an ideal model of human behavior - the relationship between children and parents. The playwright explains it this way: “You instinctively sacrifice something for the sake of your child. But we are not ready to sacrifice anything for the sake of our neighbor. ” ^[5]

For Stoppard, the human element is very important: “The plays are written about people, about relationships, about how people fall in love, grow up, get married, die, leave their wives or husbands, return to them ... The plays are not written about ideas. I was attracted to the characters. ” The playwright says that at first he was only interested in moral subjects, but “when you start reading Bakunin, Turgenev, Herzen, Belinsky, you will inevitably become interested in Russia. It seems to me that the history of a nation, a country can be as interesting and piercing as the story of one person. ” ^[6] Herzen, Bakunin, Ogaryov, Turgenev are shown very realistically, like living people, with their weaknesses and problems. Stoppard violates our usual ideas about them. ^[6]

London

Rehearsals of the trilogy began at the National Theater of Great Britain in the spring of 2002. Director Trevor Nunn admitted that this is the largest project in his career: 30 actors, 70 characters, more than 40 locations, 169 costume changes. ^[7] The scenery included seven television panels 6.5 meters in length and 9.5 meters in width, together they formed a huge screen onto which images of ships, ocean waves, a mansion, an ice rink were projected, which allowed viewers to completely immerse themselves in the atmosphere actions.

The premiere of Travel took place on June 27, 2002, on August 2 the first press screening of the entire trilogy was held ^[8] . Critics noted that the directing of Nunn completely corresponds to Tom Stoppard’s idea, although the scenes from the Shipwreck were reminded by some of the barricades of the Les Miserables ^{[9] [10]} , which Nunn had set 17 years earlier. Three parts of the play could be seen separately on weekdays, and on Saturdays at the Olivier Theater they showed all three performances in a row with a little more than an hour break between the parts.

Broadway

The New York premiere took place at the Vivien Beaumont Theater in November 2006, staged by seasoned Broadway director Jack O'Brien. The production received generally positive reviews and was nominated for 10 Tony awards, of which 7 won, including for the best new play ^{[12] [13]} .

In Russia

Work on the production of the “Utopia Coast” trilogy at the Russian State Academic Youth Theater began in 2005. The premiere of the performance was originally planned for September 2007, and took place on October 6, 2007 ^[14] . At a press conference, the playwright added that when he wrote this drama, he imagined how it could sound in Russia in Russian:

I never really wondered where my plays would be staged. "The coast of utopia" is an exception. I worked on the trilogy for four years. And from the very first day, he often gave vent to dreams of how I would see her in Russia ... This trilogy is a kind of message to Russia. ^[fifteen]

The duration of the performance on the Russian stage - all three of its parts, including breaks, is more than 10 hours (at RAMT this play runs from 12 noon to 22 pm).

On August 7, 2010 the performance was shown on the Russian TV channel " Culture ".

• 2002 in the literature

• Official Russian site
• The official English site of the play (English)