"Waves" Goes the Wrong Direction in Racial Depiction, Despite Its Intent and Beauty
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National Theatre at Home: Summerfolk
It's a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia's elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they're having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can't shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time. As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon? Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky's Edge) directs Maxim Gorky's razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, revived for 2026 in a new adaptation from Nina Raine (Consent) and Moses Raine (Donkey Heart).
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It's a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia's elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs. When they're having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can't shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time. As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon? Deputy Artistic Director Robert Hastie (Standing at the Sky's Edge) directs Maxim Gorky's razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial, revived for 2026 in a new adaptation from Nina Raine (Consent) and Moses Raine (Donkey Heart).
Rating:
Genre:Drama
Written By:
In Theaters:
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Runtime:149 minutes
Studio:National Theatre
Cast
Robert Hastie
Director
Rebecca Banatvala
Sasha/Understudy Varvara Bassova
Tomas Barrett
Maxim Zimin/Understudy Vlass
Tamika Bennett
Sonya
Pip Carter
Pavel Sergeyich Ryumin
Peter Forbes
Semyon Semyonich Dvoyetochiye
Brandon Grace
Nikolai Petrovich Zamislov
Arthur Hughes
Pyotr Ivanich Suslov
Ivan Ivashkin
Ensemble/Understudy Pavel Ryumin/Understudy Kropilkin/Understudy Pustobaika
Sam Jenkins-Shaw
Kropilkin/Understudy Pyotr Suslov/Understudy Sergei Bassov
Gwyneth Keyworth
Olga Alekseyevna
Daniel Lapaine
Yakov Petrovich Shalimov
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