NucKids will stage a musical about making a choice between virtual and real worlds

27.07.2022

NucKids participants have started rehearsals for a new musical, and a tour of Russia is planned. This season, kids from nuclear cities will show a performance about the choice between virtual reality and real life.  In August, young actors will perform at the largest venues in the country, don’t miss it.

“This season’s production is called Best Life, says NucKids project manager Anna Trapeznikova. - Today’s children know how to use gadgets, understand the Internet from the cradle and often believe that virtual life is much better than real one.  In the new musical we want to show how to escape from the world of illusions”.

The main characters in the story are brother and sister.  Together with the rest of the pupils, they are drawn into a new virtual game, which leads them to existence in two parallel worlds.  The roles of the main characters and their virtual avatars are played by different actors.  Let’s not disclose the plot further.

“The performance is philosophical, difficult to play and stage,” — emphasizes director Igor Morozov.  — “We live one life in the real world and another in the virtual one.  Which one is more important is an open question.  What we value more: the imaginary world, where everything we want to do is done by one click and is easily accessible, or the real one, where we have to take care of ourselves and our loved ones, where opportunities are limited, but physical intimacy and deep emotional contact are possible”?

According to the director, no one has yet tried to approach such a story on the theatrical stage in Russia.  The most famous movies on this theme were made by Steven Spielberg ( Ready Player One) and Gavin Hood (Ender’s Game).

“We will have and thriller, and horror, and fiction, and the drama of maturation, and a lots of humor – wonderful dialogues were written by the author of the script Michael Pokrass – continues Igor Morozov. - At the same time there are no multimedia screens, not much scenery, but excellent light, costumes, a lot of music – the current production is even more of a musical than the past performances of NucKids”.

About 70 children and teenagers from nuclear cities of Russia: Krasnokamensk, Glazov, Sarov, Novouralsk, etc.  Traditionally take part in the production. This season the geography of the project covers 32 cities.  It is not easy to gather the children, to pay attention to everyone, not to offend anyone, to keep them motivated and engaged during all the rehearsals and tours.  “On the day when the roles were finally allocated, I wanted to call the SWAT team, ambulance and firefighters all together,” Igor Morozov is joking.

This is already the 14‑th season of NucKids, and the performances have always been presented to the audience at their best.  This year, despite the complexity of the material and theme, this project will not break its tradition.

TOUR SCHEDULE

On August 7th — Bryantsev Youth Theater, St. Petersburg
August 10th — Tovstonogov Bolshoi Drama Theater, St. Petersburg
August 14th — Neutrino Cultural Center, Desnogorsk
August 18th — Et Cetera Theater, Moscow
August 19th — Et Cetera Theater, Moscow
August 22th — Youth Theater, Nizhny Novgorod

REFERENCE

Nuclear Kids participants are the сhildren of employees of Russian nuclear industry enterprises and foreign partners of ROSATOM. The project has already covered 24 countries.  Many NucKids artists study at such famous universities as Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), Moscow Art Theater Studio School, S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography (VGIK), Oleg Tabakov Theatrical School, and others.  They star in movies, work in show business.  Among them are Daria Antonyuk, winner of The Voice project, actors Anton Loban, Alexander Nikolaev, Dmitry Simonov, Evgeny Egorov, Vlad Tashbulatov, Viktor Zakalyapin.