LIFE CERTIFICATE
Screen version of Mikhail Bychkov's stage production and a meeting with the lead actress, Vera Babicheva.
The play by dramatist Ron Elisha begins in the mid-1990s and spans almost ten years. Klara Reich lost her loved ones in a concentration camp, and now she is forced every year to prove that she is still alive: to present a “certificate of life” at the German consulate in order to receive a modest pension. Each time, Klara and her grown-up, unsettled daughter Hilda meet with the consulate employee Erika. Klara's fury and sarcasm clash with the official's coldness.
Each heroine has her own drama. Klara has chosen the role of the eternal victim, Hilda is torn between her love for her mother and her desire to live her own life, and Erika is trying to unravel a family secret linked to the echoes of the Holocaust. However, the production also has plenty of humor and irony, because without them pain is impossible to endure.
You will see virtuoso acting theater, created by the renowned director Mikhail Bychkov, whose productions once ran in Latvia to consistent success. The cast includes three magnificent actresses: Vera Babicheva, Yevgenia Simonova, and Zoya Kaidanovskaya.
After the screening, viewers will meet Vera Babicheva: a discussion of the play, a story about the creation of the production, and answers to questions. An “inside look” at the challenging genre of tragicomedy.
Translation and adaptation of the play by Olga Varshaver. Running time: 2 hours with no intermission
The event will be in Russian.
