Vision helps 'Godunov' live up to its importance

Two years ago, in a sealed section of Moscow's Archives for Literature and Art, music professor Simon Morrison found a handwritten score and stage notes for a 70-year-old theatrical production of Alexander Pushkin's "Boris Godunov."

Now, here at Morrison's home campus, those decades-old papers have come to compelling, if uneven, life.

With the original 1936 compositions by Sergei Prokofiev and stage notes from director Vsevolod Meyerhold, "Boris Godunov" combines the extraordinary talents of undergraduate students, faculty and graduate students in a historic performance. The artistic vision fueling this effort is commendable. Nevertheless, the depth of talent involved in the production's technical aspects occasionally overwhelms the actors' efforts.

The projection of an old, traditional red curtain at the start of the play was a unique way to bring the audience together in nostalgia, reminding it that this was a remarkable moment in theater history. This beginning — like most moments during the production — emphasized that this was not going to be a "safe" Princeton performance, and such risk taking deserves our applause.

The music in "Boris Godunov," which Meyerhold believed was essential to the play, is a highlight of the performance. The singers and instrumentalists were able to stir the audience's emotion in a way that no other element of the play could. My only complaint here is that the actors were sometimes overshadowed, this time by moments when their voices couldn't be heard over the music.

The actors themselves employed engaging movements and facial expressions. Character development was still a work in progress, though; as I left the performance, I wondered whether some of the actors were simply playing themselves.

Other actors did manage to match the talent of the faculty and designers behind them. Roger Mason '08 — who, like every actor in the play, portrayed multiple characters — brought a dynamic personality to every role he played. As an old monk named Pimen, he turned potentially soporific monologues about Russia's rulers into some of the most captivating moments in the performance.

Meanwhile, Lily Cowles '09 brought seductive charm to each role she took on. A bar scene, during which Cowles played a runaway named Grishka Otrepiev who is being chased by the police, was a moment of comic genius.

Unlike many amateur performances, the lighting design in "Boris Godunov" refused simply to supplement the actors; rather, it made a statement of its own. At each scene change, a background was projected on the back wall, which helped orient viewers to the plot's progression. At the same time, however, the lighting often left the actors in the shadows. While this was clearly a conscious and artistic choice, it made for an uncomfortable audience experience, as onlookers struggled to see the play's central characters.

The set design featured mobile brown bungee cords, hung from the ceiling and attached to the stage. This was a creative choice, giving the actors flexibility to communicate their emotions and emphasize plot points. Sometimes, for example, the actors would snap the cords across the stage to heighten the dramatic tension.

But when the actors weren't using the cords, they became a distraction — the stage just looked busy. During the aforementioned bar scene, for example, a translation of a Russian song was projected onto the screen, but the bungee cords blocked the words, preventing onlookers from reading them and understanding the song.

If these obscuring elements of the production were a conscious choice, their artistic value was unclear. Still, other elements of the set — especially the background set that held the singers and instrumentalists — were fabulous, taking set design at Princeton to a new level and creating a breathtaking backdrop for the emotions playing out on stage.

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Keep your tickets to this sold-out performance! Its historical significance and artistic vision are worth seeing, but don't expect an over-romanticized version of history.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.