Pushkin

See it if You’re a Russian or Pushkin fan.

Don't see it if You want feeling behind the language or a script that MOVES.

Also Read that this play was in verse, but I couldn’t hear it at all, just a lot of stilted line readings. Not the actors fault, it seems oddly written and misguidedly directed. Too long by half an hour.... Read more Read less

See it if you have an intense interest in Russian history and/or literary figures, you don't require high stakes to remain engaged in a story

Don't see it if you expect a script to be rigorously thought-out, you dislike overtly "talky" plays, you want high drama with major stakes.

Also Pushkin is dull. Exorbitantly so. It is long winded. It has an act break that is at least 20 minutes too late and ends with a dull thud rather with a loud bang. It contains writing and directing tropes that haven't felt fresh since the mid-80s. And, above all, it is an endless slog.

Despite claims that it is a verse play, there is little verse to be found. And whenever traces of it can be uncovered, it amounts to no more than a few scant couplets to punctuate the end of a scene or a character's exit.

The performances are dull, but one can't hold the actors at fault for this. It is an immense challenge trying to imbue some sense of urgency or stakes into the lifeless text and one can't help but think that any attempt to do so would result in catastrophe.

While Pushkin isn't a terrible play, it is, decidedly, not a good one.... Read more Read less