About

A rhythmic play by contemporary Russian writer Yulia Voronova at the TOK Theatre. Central character: 15-year-old Venechka Pushkin, who spends his life in the shadow of his namesake — the Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin — hearing endless variations of 'fruit is apple, part of face is nose; poet is Pushkin, and me — I'm garbage.' Venya considers changing his surname to Bulkin, having discovered that among Russian Nobel Prize winners no one carries the Pushkin surname. The play works through the specific difficulty of being named for a figure whose cultural weight is impossible to match. In Russian; language-heavy — the play's rhythmic verse and specifically Russian schooling-and-literature references are the substance.