Dante Alighieri's INFERNO Comes to The Russian Arts Theater and Studio

The Russian Arts Theater and Studio, a New York theater company founded in 2004, continues its 2023 season with INFERNO, based on The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, newly adapted by Aleksey Burago and Di Zhu from Dante's Inferno, A New Translation in Terza Rima by Robert Torrance.

Renowned director Aleksey Burago leads an international ensemble featuring actors Michael Anne Hoffert-Cone, Can Deniz Erzaim, Semion Kashirin, Luisa Menzen, Ariel Polanco, Sarah O'Donnell, Tom Schubert and Mark K. Simmons. This limited engagement will play eight performances only from November 2 to November 18, 2023 at 165 W86th Street in Manhattan. Tickets are now on sale at www.russiantheater.org.

This production will play at the hauntingly beautiful Sanctuary Space inside West Park Presbyterian Church, a church that has become a contentious subject on the Upper West Side. Despite its landmarked status, the building is at risk of demolition after the church filed a hardship application with the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City (LPC). If passed, the building will be sold to developers and will make way for a high-rise condominium. Actors Mark Ruffalo, Amy Schumer and Matt Damon have joined the resident artists in rallying for the survival of West Park.

This show will also feature the paintings of internationally acclaimed artist Valery Yershov, whose works have been shown as part of the international Art Armory Show, auctioned in Sotheby's and Phillips houses, as well as being held in many private collections and museums. For INFERNO, Yershov has created the longest painting ever painted on canvas, which will serve as the backdrop of Dante's journey.

Russian-American director Aleksey Burago is a protégé of the world famous Muscovite director Pyotr Fomenko and is known for his work in Russian stages and TV, including The Hermitage Theater and Aleksandrinka Theater (Beyond Recognition), Moscow TV (Queen of Spades), Youth Theater (The Emperor's New Clothes, Stoned), Interatelier Theater (Fandor and Liz), and The Baltic House Theater (Camille). Shortly after completing his directing studies at the prestigious Russian Institute of Theater Arts (GITIS), Burago left Russia and moved to the United States in search of a better life.

In 2004, Burago founded The Russian Arts Theater and Studio with the hopes of passing on the unique heritage of Russian theater training while sharing lesser-known Slavic classical and modern plays with New York audiences. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Burago cancelled the theater's season plans and mounted a stage adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm in protest of the war. A portion of ticket proceeds were donated to Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

"As atrocities around the world continue, like Dante, we find ourselves helplessly wading through savage acts of brutality and cataclysmic destruction." says Burago. "We try to make sense of the bloodshed among our brothers and sisters, but none of the justifications hold water. Despite all our technological advances and scientific achievements, our species has yet to evolve past antiquated concepts of race, class, religion, borders, and money. We are all lost in the woods. How will we survive this blazing inferno without our Gods?"

Eight performances of INFERNO will take place Nov 2 to Nov 19, 2023 at the Sanctuary Space at Center at West Park, located at 165 W86th Street, in Manhattan. Performances begin at 7:30PM. Critics are welcome. Tickets begin at $30 and are available at www.russiantheater.org. Standard ticketing fees apply.

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