SCENES FROM RUSSIAN LIFE
by Maxim Gorky
The world premiere of a new version Written and Directed by Phil Willmott
Designed by Nicky Bunch.
Lighting by Hansjorg Schmidt .
Costume Design by Nell Knudsen.
Presented by The Steam Industry in association with the Finborough Theatre

Cast in order of appearance
Pavel, the actor - Richard Sandells
Katya, the prostitute - Victoria Gee
Satinin, the card player - Dean Kelly
Yegor, the furrier - Peter G Reed
Natasha, doss house skivvy - Louise Shuttleworth
Vassily, the thief - Charlie Watts
Borris, the baron - Andrew Colley
Tatiana, the widow - Ursula Mohan
Mikhail, the bereaved man - Scott MacBain
Abram, the policeman - James Folan
Olga, the landlady - Olivia Macdonald
Luka, the old traveller - Richard Gofton

15 May - 9 June 2007

Recent National Theatre and Almeida productions of Maxim Gorky’s plays have sparked a resurgence of interest in the playwright and social reformer.

The multi-award-winning Steam Industry now presents a rare opportunity to experience his undisputed masterpiece…

Set amongst the whores, alcoholics, cynics and dosshouse dreamers of a Russia on the brink of revolution, The Lower Depths is a harrowing, violent and uncompromising portrayal of the human sprit at it’s lowest ebb, with destitution and death an ever present spectre.

Can this gang of misfits and losers find any nobility in their hand to mouth struggle for survival?

With no easy answers, neat plot twists or satisfying resolution, this ruthless depiction of an underclass without hope shocked audiences in infamous Moscow, London and Berlin premieres.

Over a hundred years later, it still feels searingly relevant whenever poverty drives ordinary people to addiction and despair…

Director Phil Willmott makes his annual visit to the Finborough Theatre following his acclaimed productions of Loyalties and Trelawny of the ‘Wells’. In 2006, he was awarded a Peter Brook Empty Space award for his productions of Euripides, Brecht, Sophocles and Shaw at The Scoop open-air amphitheatre on the South Bank. Other recent productions include Billy Liar and Much Ado About Nothing at Liverpool Playhouse, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Dubai, The London Nativity and the tenth anniversary year of Fame at the Aldwych Theatre

Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), Russian author and revolutionary. The Lower Depths (1902) was first produced by Konstantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre and became one of that company’s best known productions. It has also been filmed by Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa, but has been unseen in a professional London production since the Royal Shakespeare Company’s in 1972. Gorky’s other plays include Summer Folk, Philistines, Barbarians, Enemies and Vassa Zheleznova - as well as his autobiographical trilogy - My Childhood, In the World, and My Universities.

The Press on The Lower Depths
Top theatre
Phil Willmott stages a new version of Gorky’s great play about down-and-outs in early 20th-century Russia.”
Benedict Nightingale, The Times

“If you want to brush up on your Gorky, now is the time. London's little Finborough Theatre has just launched a staging of The Lower Depths and now [the National Theatre] tackles Philistines”
Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“A spirited and compelling piece of theatre.” Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“This is a serious, stimulating and timely revival.” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“An accomplished, intelligent staging that gives Gorky’s socialist realism a highly effective 21st-century spin.” Sam Marlowe, The Times

“Bleak, yes, but here is humanity. It's a production that, several days since I saw it, has taken up space in my mind. I hope when awards get dished out, that this production wins one or two.” Whatsonstage.com

“Gorky’s exploration of the poisoned balm of self-delusion and false hopes has lost none of its significance.” Susan Irvine, The Sunday Telegraph

“Gorky shares little of the sun that shines on Chekhov in modern British theatre. Not that he’s Chekhov’s equal, but he deserves to come more out of the shadow; as he did in the 1970s with the Royal Shakespeare Company’s revivals at the Aldwych. Now, with the Finborough leading the way and the South Bank following (with Gorky’s Philistines), perhaps a patch of sun is coming his way again.”
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“The Lower Depths offers a couple of hours of drama that takes its audience into the lives of those whom they might normally turn away from if they saw them in the street.” Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“An engrossing, profound, and stomach-wrenching play”
Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine

“…scores highly for its fly-on-the wall insights and humour seen in the face of terrible adversity.” Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“Willmott’s production is highly engaging and never unbearably bleak...A strong streak of black humour permeates the play” Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“This lively, knife-sharp but ominously grim play” Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine

“A new version…that is brisk, streamlined and oozes gallows humour and salty language.” Sam Marlowe, The Times

“Willmott's translation, with its strong contemporary tang, is a continual reminder that these problems have not gone away, and it's full of bold, eloquent flourishes”
Paul Taylor, The Independent

“In this version, Phil Willmott (who also directs) uses modern British colloquialisms to update Gorky’s language of the streets.” Susan Irvine, The Sunday Telegraph

“Alcoholism, domestic violence, bankruptcy: they sound like the ingredients for a daytime talk show – which demonstrates how pertinent Maxim Gorky’s second play, written in the first years of the 20th century, remains.” Sam Marlowe, The Times

“The characters are beautifully detailed: the Baron who can recall only the clothes of his former life, the actor who dissolves his Hamlet soliloquy in vodka, the whore who always dreams of love while scratching at her crabs.” Lucy Powell, Time Out

“Passionate humanity and…uncompromising authenticity. [Phil Willmott] adds excerpts from Gorky’s other work to the play and offers a pungent, expletive-laden translation and splashes of humour.” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“This incisive production…strongly conveys Gorky’s compassion, daring and reforming zeal.” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“This stirring production” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“Willmott’s production offers an abundance of pungent detail.”
Sam Marlowe, The Times

“The…stage at the Finborough throws the front row right into the thick of the action and suits the mood perfectly. We’re close enough to feel really involved in the cut and thrust of conversation” Hugh Chapman, Extra! Extra!

“This revival sees the return to the Finborough of the ever-interesting Phil Wilmott, whose contemporary translation uses earthy language that might offend but is probably realistic.” Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“Willmott's strong, uncompromising direction” Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine

“Wilmott directs a brisk version, pointing the activity” Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“A particularly strong ensemble cast” Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“The fine ensemble cast” Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine

“Played with persuasive grittiness and glinting gallows humour by the large, characterful cast” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“The cast bring the characters bubbling to life, so that their vitality makes their sorry state more troubling.” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“The company, deploying accents from Liverpudlian to Geordie, powerfully communicate the sense of a group of disparate people hurled together by circumstance” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“There are some real moments of humour and magic from the talented cast”
Lucy Powell, Time Out

“Olivia Macdonald’s icy-hearted landlady stands out, as does Richard Gofton’s performance as Luka, the contemplative drifter.” Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“Olivia Macdonald and Richard Sandells show respective coldness and superciliousness in their sexual standoff.” Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“Played with piteous delicacy by Richard Sandells” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“Ursula Mohan is a perfect gossiping old hag with a sour look and a sharp tongue.”
Hugh Chapman, Extra! Extra!

“Ursula Mohan’s elderly Widow grumbles or laughs as her defence against the world” Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“An unnervingly heartless Ursula Mohan” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“Charlie Watts is energetic and volatile as the proud and passionate thief Vassily and Louise Shuttleworth is stoic and restrained as the landlady’s down-trodden sister.”
Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“Victoria Gee…makes fine use of her emotional range and a few telling gestures”
Hugh Chapman, Extra! Extra!

“A particularly good performance from Dean Kelly as Satinin”
The News Line (Workers Revolutionary Party newspaper)

“Good work from Richard Goughton as Luka, the mysterious old stranger and Louise Shuttleworth as Natasha, and Peter G. Reed as Yegor.”
The News Line (Workers Revolutionary Party newspaper)

“The impressively laid-back Richard Gofton plays this charmingly wise veteran”
Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“[Richard] Gofton makes his mark” Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

“Played out powerfully by Louise Shuttleworth as the abused dosshouse skivvy”
Zena Alkayat, Metro

“…touching Louise Shuttleworth” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“The furrier (Peter G Reed)…the aristocrat (Andrew Colley)…the prostitute (Victoria Gee)…the wise old traveller (Richard Gofton) – are all vividly brought to life.”
Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“The tiny Finborough Theatre doubles superbly as the dark, dingy provincial doss-house” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“Nicky Bunch's grubby, claustrophobic set, and in the Finborough Theatre's intimate studio it feels like we're holed up in there with them.” Zena Alkayat, Metro

“Nicky Bunch's excellent, atmospheric design” Paul Taylor, The Independent

“Nicky Bunch has created a sensational cell set for this piece about the seamy side of life. You can smell the dirt emanating from the doss house in provincial Russia occupied by a dozen down and outs” Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

“Nicky Bunch’s highly atmospheric set.” Natasha Tripney, The Stage

“Designer Nicky Bunch has managed to turn the upstairs Finborough into a gloomy and cramped cellar.” The News Line (Workers Revolutionary Party newspaper)

“Nicky Bunch’s atmospheric set” Susan Irvine, The Sunday Telegraph

“Nicky Bunch’s set matches the play’s grimy realism, confining the audience with the characters in a fetid, murky cellar festooned with grey washing.”
Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

“Nicky Bunch’s evocative design is meticulously realised”
Lucy Powell, Time Out

“I rather wanted to crawl onto one of the benches in her grimy but cosy lantern-lit cellar and reach for a stash of vodka.” Susan Irvine, The Sunday Telegraph

“One of the pleasures of a trip to the Finborough, is the chance to see revivals of works that are unknown but deserve to be seen. Despite its humble pretensions, this pub theatre often produces work of high quality with designs to die for.”
Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide