The Hive Theatre to Premiere A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION, 1/16-2/1

THE HIVE THEATRE is pleased to announce the world premiere production of A Brief History of the Soviet Union, written by Vladimir Zelevinsky and directed by Jacques Stewart. A Brief History of the Soviet Union will play a three-week limited engagement at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre (312 West 36th St, 1st Fl, Manhattan). Thursday, January 16th, 2014 through Saturday, February 1st, 2014.. Opening Night is Friday, January 17th at 8 p.m.

The Hive Theatre dares to bring you the entire lifespan of the world's largest country! The mysteries of Lenin's tomb! The secret of Stalin's death! The spying techniques of the KGB! All shall be revealed! 100 years of history in 100 minutes! Four actors navigate between an array of juxtaposed Soviets who are living in the thick of some of the most pivotal moments of the past century. Farcical, approachable, sometimes sentimental, and always hilarious - "A Brief History" explores how similar people really are, regardless of how their regime may want them to live.

The production features lighting and sound design by Becky Heisler. The production stage manager is Spencer Clouse.

A Brief History of the Soviet Union performs the following regular schedule through Saturday, February 1st, 2014:

Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m.
Saturdays at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $18 and are available online at hivetheatre.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater ½ hour prior to performance. Running time: 100 min. Website: www.thehivetheatre.com.

*Appearing Courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. Equity Approved Showcase.

VLADIMIR ZELEVINSKY studied playwriting at, of all places, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After getting his degree in Nuclear Physics, he took the obvious next step, writing as a theatre critic for The Boston Globe. That was followed by four years as the playwright-in-residence at the Theatre Cooperative (Somerville, MA), where his full-length plays included "What Time Is It?" (2004), "Forget Herostratus!" (2005, adapted and directed), and "Manifest Destiny" (2006). He is a two-time finalist for the Heideman Award ("Theme and Variations" and "Silence") and won the Turner Cassity Prize (Best One-Act Play in Verse, 2012) for "The Terrible Tragedie of the Poet and the Tyrant". His plays were produced all over the US, as well as in Canada, UK, and Ireland. His latest full-length play, "A Room in the Middle", was produced in 2013 at the Metropolitan Playhouse in East Village.

JACQUES STEWART (Director) is an award-winning international director, choreographer, writer and performer. Artistic Director of the Weathervane Theatre since 1992. Director of Skybo Productions & Casting in NYC. Director of more than 50 New York, regional and stock productions. Writer for the stage, with works produced in New York City and regionally. Founder and Producing Artistic Director of ArtBRIDGE, a NY company creating cross cultural bi-lingual theater in Central America. Co-founder and former co-artistic director of Teamwork Dance, a New Jersey-based modern Dance Company. Member of SDC.

THE HIVE THEATRE is deeply committed to nurturing artists in and around the New York City metro area, of all ages, types and backgrounds. We provide affordable productions that engage audiences as participants in an immersive theatrical event. Our core values include DEVISE through collaboration with an emphasis on experimentation, EXPOSE what must be said, for those who won't say it, and for those who refuse to hear it and ILLUMINATE our fears, because the truth is what scares us the most. The Hive co-creates by producing original works created from the ground up by the full company, reinventing the classics, and fostering the work of new and underexposed playwrights. www.thehivetheatre.com