Andrey Burkovskiy to Star in ALPHA CENTAURI at Baryshnikov Arts Center
Andrey Burkovskiy will star in Alpha Centauri, a one-man show by Alexander Plotnikov and directed by Viktor Ryzhakov, at Baryshnikov Arts Center December 15-16, 2026.
Baryshnikov Arts Center will present Alpha Centauri, a one-man show starring Andrey Burkovskiy, for two performances December 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. in the Jerome Robbins Theater.
Written by Alexander Plotnikov and directed by Viktor Ryzhakov, Alpha Centauri draws on real events and largely forgotten figures from the early years of the Soviet space program. The production centers on pilots, cosmonaut candidates and test subjects whose stories were overshadowed by the Soviet Union's celebrated space achievements.
In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space. Alpha Centauri turns its attention to the men who nearly followed that path—or might have preceded him—but whose names and stories largely disappeared from public memory.
Alongside that history, the production follows a performer describing the spectacular theatrical production he once imagined creating about these men, complete with an orchestra, actors, monumental scenery, video, machinery and distant planets. None of it exists. Instead, Burkovskiy is alone on an empty stage with the audience.
Through that structure, the work explores failure, memory and the futures people imagine for themselves that never come to pass. The production is performed in Russian.
Burkovskiy's recent stage credits include Him in Delirium, Seagull: True Story, Our Class and The Dybbuk. He is a graduate of the Moscow Art Theatre School and formerly served as a leading actor with the Moscow Art Theatre.
Plotnikov works across documentary theater, poetry and contemporary performance, with recent productions presented in Estonia, France, Uzbekistan and Montenegro. In 2025, Alpha Centauri was published as his debut book, Alpha Centauri: A Documentary Poem About Cosmonauts Who Never Went to Space.
Ryzhakov is an award-winning theater and film director and educator whose career has included leadership positions at the Vsevolod Meyerhold Center and Sovremennik Theatre in Moscow.
The production team also includes lead producer Olga Burkovskaya, executive producer Oksana Kravchuk, sound designer Denis Zabiyaka and choreographer Sam Pratt.
Alpha Centauri will play December 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. at Baryshnikov Arts Center's Jerome Robbins Theater in New York City.
Tickets are on sale through Baryshnikov Arts Center.
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