performed with freshness and vigor
by an immense and starry cast
Ben Brantley - New York Times
Beginning on October 17, Tom Stoppard’s trilogy,
The Coast of Utopia, will be performed over the
course of six months, featuring 44 actors playing
70 roles, covering three decades of Russian life
and history.
The stellar cast includes Billy Crudup, Richard
Easton, Jennifer Ehle, Josh Hamilton, David Harbour,
Jason Butler Harner, Ethan Hawke, Amy Irving,
Brían F. O’Byrne, and Martha Plimpton.
Reviewing the original London production at the
National Theatre in 2002, Newsweek said “’The
Coast of Utopia’ dazzles with words and ideas.”
And the Sunday Times of London wrote “Nobody
in the theatre today can match Stoppard for a
combination of sinuous argument, intellectual
elan and sheer coruscating wit. The dialogue has
a leaping, athletic energy: excitement of the
mind and the heart.”
In the mid-19th century as revolution swept across
Europe, a group of Russian intellectuals, journalists,
critics, philosophers, poets and their friends
tried to topple the tsar for the cause of freedom.
Stoppard’s epic follows these men and women
over thirty years, as their intertwined lives,
passions and dreams drive them in pursuit of perfection.
VOYAGE (Part 1)
The first part of the trilogy, Voyage, is Stoppard’s
nod to Chekhov set at the grand Russian countryside
estate of the Bakunin family. Four eligible sisters
are under the sway of their charismatic brother,
Michael, who interferes in their lives, while
fervently seeking a greater purpose in his own.
As his political and philosophical journey unfolds,
Bakunin’s compatriots will include Vissarion
Belinsky, George Herwegh, Karl Marx, Nicholas
Ogarev, Nicholas Stankevich, Ivan Turgenev and,
of particular note, the visionary leader Alexander
Herzen.
SHIPWRECK (Part 2)
The second part of the trilogy, Shipwreck, centers
on the visionary Russian leader Alexander Herzen
and his fellow revolutionaries who find inspiration
as well as frustration in exile in Paris and London.
As the revolution of 1848 unfolds outside Herzen’s
door and the tides of political and social upheaval
swell, Herzen's circle, and his family, are profoundly
affected.
SALVAGE (Part 3)
Part 3 of the trilogy, Salvage, brings maturity
and resolution. As imperial Russia is set adrift
with the freeing of the serfs, Alexander Herzen
and the revolutionaries in his circle look back
from the vantage point of their exile in England
at their dreams of overturning the tsar, at the
paths taken and not, and at the Russia of their
memory.
Creative: Tom Stoppard : Playwright
Jack O’Brien : Director
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask : Sets
Catherine Zuber : Costumes
Brian MacDevitt : Lighting / Voyage
Kenneth Posner : Lighting / Shipwreck
Natasha Katz : Lighting / Salvage
Mark Bennett : Original Sound & Music
Cast: Billy Crudup
Richard Easton
Jennifer Ehle
Josh Hamilton
David Harbour
Jason Butler Harner
Ethan Hawke
Amy Irving
Brían F. O'Byrne
Martha Plimpton
Advisory: The Coast of Utopia may
be inappropriate for children aged under 13 years.
No children under 5 years of age will be permitted
in the Vivian Beaumont Theater
Performance times:
Voyage - 3 hours with one 15 minute intermission
Shipwreck - 3 hours with one 15 minute intermission
Salvage - 2 hours 30 minutes with one 15
minute intermission
