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Living Pictures and Cegin Productions presents "Diary of A Madman" |
Diary of A Madman at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff between Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 October, 8pm (Saturday Matinee 2pm). Considered by many to be Gogol’s best work, Diary of a Madman, is set in 1830s St Petersberg, among the petty repressed Tsarist Russia. The one man show is based on the character of Poprishchin (performed by Robert Bowman) who is a 40 year old low ranking civil servant, who is driven insane by government bureacracy and hierarchy. Gogol’s dark comedy focuses how one man’s reality spirals deeper into a surreal fantasy world. He imagines what life would be like with the woman he longs for to gradually believing he could be the next King of Spain. Robert Bowman (who has performed with the RSC, Bristol Old Vic and Sherman Cymru) will captivate audiences will his believable portrayal of one of Gogol’s most interesting characters. Director Sinead Rushe said: “Gogol's Diary of a Madman is a funny and brutal exploration of one man's struggle to keep a grip on reality. The story is unique in Gogol's repertoire: it is the only story he wrote in the first person and it takes the unusual form of a diary or memoir. Set in St Petersburg in the 1830s Russian equivalent of The Office, Diary of a Madman is ostensibly a satirical exposure of the stupidity of officialdom, and of the snobbery and complacency of the ruling elite in Russian society. But it is also a portrayal of psychosis. As the entries accumulate, the diary's drama heightens, and its coherence unravels. While the hero longs to express himself he simultaneously fears what he may betray; he alternates between two worlds – the inside and the outside – an alternation which structures the story and which brings about its wonderful tragi-comic effect. For Gogol, madness means a failure to find your proper place in the world, or the compulsion to occupy a place to which you're not entitled. Diary of a Madman is a moving portrayal of one man's longing to find such a place for himself, a place where he is visible, where he matters, and above all, belongs. This project is an exciting opportunity for Robbie Bowman and I to explore together our interest in the Michael Chekhov Technique, an approach which privileges the actor's imagination and the actor's ability to transform.” Diary of A Madman will be at Chapter Arts Centre between Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 October, 8pm (Saturday Matinee 2pm). Tickets are £12 / £10 / £8. For tickets and further information, please contact Chapter Box Office on 029 2031 1050 or visit www.chapter.org A free post show talk will take place with the Director, Sinead Rushe and actor, Robert Bowman following the performance on Friday 7 October and Living Pictures will be running workshops at Chapter. For further information about the workshops and booking places, please contact Living Pictures on 07709250848 or email livingpictures@btopenworld.com |
| Living Pictures web site: www.chapter.org |
| livingpictures@btopenworld.com e-mail: |
Monday, September 5, 2011 |
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