St. Petersburg's Derevo Theatre Receives Total Theatre Award in Edinburgh

On August 23, at the Fringe festival in Edinburgh, the St. Petersburg's Derevo theatre received a Total Theatre Award, one of the highest in Great Britain as goes Physical Theatre. It was awarded for the La Divina Commedia stage play more known as Suicide in St. Petersburg. The prize was for 'outstanding mastery and innovation'. This is the first time ever it was followed by such annotation.

Mrs. Anabel Arndt, Director of the Total Theatre Network, said, 'At this time the judges decided to come up with the prize never before awarded. That is the prize for outstanding mastery and innovation. It is awarded to the company that has been consistently innovative in its art and now and here has presented the perfect image of what we call Total Theatre".

This is the second award this theatre receives in Edinburgh. On August 9, it was awarded the Fringe First prize, the most prestigious in its class. In 1997, the same prize was awarded to the theatre for the Red Zone, the show first staged in St. Petersburg in 1989 and specifically renovated to be taken to Edinburgh.

The two most prestigious Edinburgh awards is not the only thing to remember the Derevo theatre for. According to Anton Adasyinsky, the leader of the troupe, 'One event during this festival may have a continuation. The Derevo decided to show its South. Frontier movie picture. Producers took the suggestion seriously and countered with a suggestion of their own, to establish the first Edinburgh Fringe Movie Festival. So the first cinematographic work of the troupe has been shown, the principle being "One Festival - One Film". The film was once shown to a limited audience in St. Petersburg last year.