Neva News & Features

In a politically charged, haunting meditation on theater and the revolutionary impulse, Neva tells the story of Anton Chekhov’s widow, the actress Olga Knipper, who arrives in a dimly lit rehearsal room in St. Petersburg in the winter of 1905. As Olga and two other actors await the rest of the cast, they huddle together, act out scenes from their lives and muse on their art form and love - while, unseen, striking workers are being gunned down in the streets by Tsarist regime. Calderón savagely examines the relationship between theater and historical context in this ominous and tightly crafted ensemble work that allows a palpable terror to creep through the theater walls.