In 2012, drawing on their respective research interests of theatre and film, postgraduates Jesse Gardiner and Laura Todd created the Russian Theatre Group. Open to students from all years, the group also gained members from other departments across the University who were native speakers of Russian. Performances were once again scheduled for the last week of term in June, and rehearsals were held on a weekly basis throughout the academic year.
The group's first production was Aleksandr Vampilov’s tragicomic social parody An Incident with a Paginator, which had never been staged in the UK. Jesse remembers: “I had recently seen a good production of the play in Moscow and thought it would work well with the students. It’s a very self-contained play but has a powerful message. It’s also a lot of fun to act with all the comic misunderstandings.”
Top: Christina Kerrigan as Rukosuev; Emma Rutherford as Galoshin; Jack Fox-Powell as Kamaev; Kate Martin as Marina and Tasha Burke as Viktoriya.
Bottom: Emma Rutherford as Galoshin; Jack Fox-Powell as Kamaev and Tasha Burke as Viktoriya.