The O’Neill National Theater Institute
& The St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy
Perform ETUDES on HERCULES
MAY 2 & 3

Waterford CT, April 15, 2003 – The O’Neill National Theater Institute (NTI) at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center teams up with students from the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy in Russia to present a work-in-progress performance inspired by the story of the Greek hero Hercules, who was sentenced by the gods to serve a tyrant king and overcome twelve feats of strength and skill so difficult they seemed impossible. The performance, under the direction of Sergei Tcherkasski, Vice-Rector for International Relations as well as a professor of acting and directing at the Academy, will be presented as a work-in-progress in St. Petersburg prior to its final performance at The O’Neill. Donny Levit, NTI directing teacher, assists in the creation and collaboration between these groups. This is the first time NTI students have worked with Russian students to create their Final Project. ETUDES ON HERCULES will be performed at 8:00 p.m. in the Dina Merrill Theater on Friday, May 2 & Saturday, May 3. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

Each semester, the students at NTI culminate their semester by creating a “final project”. Chosen specifically for them, it may be the presentation of an established piece, an adaptation of a literary work, or an original creation. The goal of this is to draw together the major elements of acting, movement, and voice they have learned. Recent NTI classes have created THE ODYSSEY, THE DREAM PROJECT, adapted Angela Carter’s novel NIGHTS AT THE CIRCUS and presented WORKING ON LEFTY, suggested by Clifford Odets’ similarly-titled play WAITING FOR LEFTY.

NTI Director David Jaffe said, “The goal of the final project is to utilize their strengths as an ensemble and apply the skills they’ve learned to uncharted territory. Sergei Tcherkasski and his Russian students are joining this project with the same goals. I believe that the American and Russian students will find common ground in this collective creation — and benefit from their unique and shared experiences.”

NTI is a college-accredited training program for theater artists. The seven-day-a-week schedule includes classes in acting, directing, playwriting, movement, voice and design. This challenging, professional curriculum is enhanced by special workshops, guest artists and theater trips. Two weeks of the semester are spent abroad. In the past, NTI students have traveled to Stratford-upon-Avon to study with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Moscow to train with master teachers from the Moscow Art Theater School and the Vakhtangov School. In 1992 NTI began a collaborative relationship with the Moscow Art Theater (MXAT), offering a semester of study at MXAT in addition to its stateside program.

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center a learning community dedicated to advancing the American Theater through programs that encourage creative excellence and develop diverse voices and new work. These include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute. The O’Neill also owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, childhood home of America’s only Nobel Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O’Neill, and holds an annual celebration honoring the life and works of its namesake every October.