All Roads Lead to the Kurski Station (HERE)

See it if you are interested in how one company channels the Eastern European theater avant-garde of the 1960s & 1970s for a new century.

Don't see it if you are expecting a dramatic plot, or even a memorable assemblage of stage pictures.

Also I’m old enough to have experienced the theater of both Grotowski & Kantor, 2 progenitors, the program tells us, of Varda Studios’ "All Roads Lead to the Kurski Station." I admire theater that pushes boundaries. The problem in this piece: A succession of images has to do the work that drama usually does. OK. But few of the stage pictures here are fresh or memorable. An opening bath & a less gentle return to water at the end are visually & thematically compelling. But for much of the play we’re asked to watch a (well-played) drunkard on the road drink. That gets old fast. The drunkard's 2 angels work hard to ignite something, in vain. As tired as the alcoholic's progress is, it’s germane to the story. Nothing explains a Trumpian interlude or an evocation of hundreds of years of European wars. In addition to the water that bookends the piece, I’ll remember a yoke for a man’s neck, a Guernica-like horse's head, the Kremlin’s red star as star of Bethlehem. That's not enough.... Read more Read less

See it if you want a taste of Russian literature that presents a drunken-dreamlike state with young actors giving it their all with good light/sound.

Don't see it if you want a thoroughly enjoyable story - this is a different, at times loud, in-your-face type of theater that is not everyone's cup of tea.

See it if you've never experienced inventive experimental avant-garde theater. It's def not for everyone, but worth stepping out of the box for it.

Don't see it if you expect a clear str8-forward linear story. Do your homework. This is str8-forward over-the-topness in full-force, full speed ahead.

Also I GOT it. I knew what I was getting myself into.

Now I'd like to see the original 'Moscow-Petushki' or its adaptation 'Moscow Station' (friend was over it after the nude-bathing scene ended).

Excruciating to sit & wait for show to begin, while being tortured with solo-trumpet version of 'Dark Eyes' on a never-ending loop. Worse, it gets played various times during the show.

Elliot Morse plays drunk "Vienya" w/amazing non-stop energy, flair & well-staged 'ography. Unfortunately, the screeching voices of the 2 "angels/furies" (from youthful to haggy & back again) are hard to listen to & watch, as is the creepy meandering old man w/painted dark eyes (of course) speaking Russian.

We both found it interesting that near the end he's almost drowned face-first in a small water-basin (where alcoholism could lead?), while in the opening he'd been bathed in front of us in a large one (baptized in vodka?).

Note: yet ANOTHER show that imitates Tronald Dump. It's not GETTING tired. It IS tired.... Read more Read less

See it if Don't; needs too much work. More than just desire is needed to create political theatre of any kind. This may aspire but as is is nonsense.

Don't see it if You're a fan of Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Grotowski or Polish theatre in general; this effort doesn't come remotely close, even in spirit.

Also When a show's most interesting element is the brief view of an actor's backside at the start, you know there's a problem, or in this case, quite a bit lost in translation.

Director Varda's notes express a desire to revisit and resurrect something of the 1970's European political theatre in light of current events, or at least its spirit; but as Grotowski himself points out in Towards a Poor Theatre, such performances were the results of intense research and commitment over time.

His Theatre Laboratory was an undertaking that investigated the nature of acting, the actor and text, all of it a long process that involved intensive physical and vocal training.

Varda's at times inaudible actors may be game, but political theatre can't be put on like a costume; it's organic and specific to time and place, much more than loud shrieking or histrionics. The Lab's methods are valid and given time can and will produce an American idiomatic equivalent. This is not that.... Read more Read less

See it if you really, REALLY like avant garde/experimental theatre

Don't see it if you need a clear plot line and well defines characters

See it if You're in the mood for a mind stretching nonlinear trip through the mind body and spirit of a Russian everyman seeking life's meaning.

Don't see it if You cannot tolerate being suspended for a little over an hour in a state of very compelling but opaque theatrical incantations. Stunning.

See it if You love avant garde, experimental theater.

Don't see it if You get bored easily and are not very interested in politics. Out of the way theater which rarely satisfies.

Also The pre show music is absolute torture. I knew right then that this would not be a good show. The opening scene of the lead stepping into a small basin nude to be washed by servant "angels" was not my cup of tea. Occasional inventive flourishes. It is a wild ride, of which I recall very little. Mia Vallet was great as the more active angel. Nice stage presence and appearance. When a seventy minute show requires a watch check, it's a big problem. I wanted to leave after sixty. Not much meat on the bone.... Read more Read less

See it if You wanna support young, clearly talented actors who are stifled by a bad boring script and terrible directing.

Don't see it if This play is tired and boring.

Also Any play that casts women to play representations of a man's psyche is regressive as hell.

Thank god this play was an hour.

Wait the actor playing Vienya sounds like Todd from Bojack Horseman and it did provide me with like five minutes of pleasure imagining this as one of his wacky adventures.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a take on contemporary political Avant Garde theater.

Don't see it if you want a linear story with cohesive plot lines.

See it if You are interested in experimental theater without a real, linear storyline or character development

Don't see it if You are not interested in experimental theater without a real, linear storyline or character development

See it if Ready for a heavy-set experimental play with the real feel of Russia- including lifeless despair, Vodka induced delirium and red scarves.

Don't see it if Not for everyone but worth seing anyway. There is no fairytale here, it's death-in-your-ear style. In that way the plot is well developed.

See it if lol. Props to the clearly extremely talented and good spirited actors who gave it their all despite everything.

Don't see it if you like theater

Also Pro-tip: when you get frustrated just close your eyes and pretend that the guy is Todd from Bojack on a wacky adventure.... Read more Read less