Word: chirkov
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...variations on an old theme often produce surprising results. Depending on the quality of the original idea, a remake can be a welcome sight to modern audiences. Alexander Chirkov's "Genesis of Genesis" attempts to accomplish this with the Biblical story of Genesis. The play is a series of episodes from the first 22 chapters of Genesis, including all the most famous: the Creation, the murder of Abel, the Flood and Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac...
...While Chirkov claims that he is "retelling these events with today's voice," the play seems unable to choose between the Biblical tradition and its desire to modernize that tradition. Original quotes from the Bible are used along with modern phrases and slang, creating a sharp and disorienting contrast. When Eve (Naava Piatka) shouts at the dying Adam (Michael Stanton), "We had something real here--this was love!" she seems more like a Danielle Steel heroine than the mother of humanity. Ironically, despite its intention to make the Biblical story more acceptable to the modern viewer, "Genesis of Genesis" implies...
Even more disturbing are episodes of Biblical patriarchs suddenly bursting into song for no apparent reason. The forced musical numbers do little to enhance the production except provide unintended comic relief: Chirkov turns the long list of Adam's descendants into a rousing chorus, with the shouted refrain, "And then he died...
...most troubling aspect of this adaptation of Genesis to the stage is its almost total lack of religious ideas. The verses of the Bible, so powerful and rich in their original context as inspired writings, have been made into musical soap operas. While it seems that Chirkov is an accomplished director in his own country--a 40-year-veteran of stage and film in Ukraine, he is almost unknown in the Western Hemisphere--he lacks a sense of the sacred in his play-writing. The story of Genesis and the events following it are given superficial treatment, and nothing more...
...Return of Maxim (Lenfilm). Maxim (Boris Chirkov) personifies the spirit of the Russian revolution. Part I (The Youth of Maxim) introduced him as an oppressed worker in Tsarist Russia (TIME, April 29, 1935). His Return shows him as a wary revolutionist two years later...