23 January - 3rd February 2008, The New End Theatre
THE STAGE
"Filatova has an obvious talent as an actress... she is totally absorbed in the role and convinces. There is something engrossing about her and...she has the ability to draw the audience in and allow them to accompany her on her journey."
DALE MAITLAND CARTWRIGHT,ISLINGTON GAZETTE
"Engagingly succinct in the portrayal of the young girl, Filatova's dialogue with her audience was interspersed with a stunningly moving musical score, making this one-woman show a real joy to watch from start to finish.
Alexander Markov's direction, coupled with Vera Filatova's mesmerising sharp performance delivered a wonderfully gentle portrait of one young girl's desires. Not to be missed."
NEW CAMDEN JOURNAL
Forgiving the sins of the father
"DOSTOEVSKY’S little- known masterpiece of a girl’s unwavering devotion to her exploitative stepfather offers a typically stark portrayal of humankind’s capacity for suffering.
A stunning Vera Filatova plays Netochka, who recounts the story of her destitute childhood under the spell of her eccentric and unworldly stepfather.
Her father, as she knew him, was a gifted violinist who dreamed of becoming an artistic genius.
Years of self-loathing and neglect of his family in pursuit of the dream finally reach tipping point when he goes to watch a celebrated violinist play in town. On trying to imitate the virtuoso in front of his forlorn wife and stepdaughter, he finally realises his own fallibility – he will never join the cult of genius. This discovery drives him insane.
A one-woman show is always a stern examination but Vera’s masterful performance reveals a vulnerable nine-year-old and all her childhood foibles – almost imploring the audience to reach out and save her.
Netochka’s rose-tinted reverence for her father and his ravings, which she so energetically relives on stage, reveals the indelible mark the episode has left on her life.
The beauty of this adaptation is that Netochka exists in a vacuum. The audience can only guess her age and current predicament. One suspects she is as deluded as her stepfather – blocking out his flaws because, in spite of himself, he lifted her from the banality of life and showed her a glint of another reality.
Helped by clever use of lighting and snatched violin vignettes, Vera never lets the audience’s attention wane.
As the play draws to an end we urge Netochka to wake from her childhood reverie. Perhaps she never does."
Chic Today
"This truly captivating play portrays the subtle nuances of a woman’s character and displays Dostoevsky’s skillful exploration of the psychological. Music by Bach, Paganini and Schnitke imbued the performance with elements of poised exquisiteness and depth.
The protagonist, Netochka, is portrayed by the talented Miss Vera Filatova, whose intensely limpid performance captured the very essence of Netochka’s soul and utterly mesmerized the audience. This is certainly one captivating performance not to be missed."
Tanith Lindon for Extra!Extra!
"Director Alexander Markov punctuates Filatova’s speech with powerful excerpts of classical music, often functioning to overwhelm; silencing the young woman as she is swept up into her memory.
Vera Filatova plays the part excellently as an impassioned yet disconnected character, portraying the arrested development of a child orphaned in tragic and bizarre circumstances...The vigour of Filatova’s delivery makes her tale all the more distressing in a very dramatic & physical performance. In her manic behaviour we see both her father on the cusp of madness, and also the little orphan frozen in time by her abandonment.
Filatova’s intensity can be quite frightening at times, with arms outstretched and a manic grin as her character is caught up in the euphoria of a memory...
In a very wordy, hour-long monologue, Filatova’s emphasis and diction was particularly impressive, more so considering that English is not her first language. Although the stylised performance may not be to a naturalist’s tastes, it was unarguably powerful, and with no set and minimal props, Filatova held the space with confidence and pace."
December 2006 at the Dostoevsky's Memorial House Theatre
WINNER of the St.Petersburg Independent Theatre Festival 2006
Diploma for "Theatre of High Literature"
G.B.Kovalenko, critic, member of the festival's jury:
"This is an intelligent piece of work. Dostoevsky as performed by this young actress is indeed a real Dostoevsky! It's astonishing how she carries a word...Each word is saturated with meaning... Markov shows himself as an experienced interesting director while voice coach Valentina Beletskaya does an amazing job at working through text... The music is ideal - works well as a background and speaks for itself when the actress is silent... This is an excellent adaptation, both in its style and in its quality. There is a real purity of genre."
Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2006
"Filatova gives a luminously radiant and desperate performance as the abandoned girl, against a background of light and music co-ordinated with great style by director Alexander Markov."
PETER LATHAN, BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE
"If Vera Filatova does not win the Stage's award for best acting at the Fringe, then there ain't no justice! This is a beautiful performance, almost an acting masterclass. Her voice is strong enough to soar above some loud music and yet drop to a whisper when necessary and still be heard with extraordinary clarity. Not only that, it is a very flexible voice, and she makes the most of that flexibility.
This is a simply stunning performance in every way and deserves five stars on that alone, but the piece itself is strong too - as one would expect from one of Russia's (and the world's) greatest novelists. ... It's a simple format - straightforward storytelling - but it is hard to see how it could be bettered."
IAIN MACWHIRTER, SUNDAY HERALD
"The luminous Ukrainian actress Vera Filatova is clearly a future star. Her performance in this demanding one-woman play wins the hearts of the Baby Belly crowd. one has come back to scetch Vera for a sculpture"
"The performer is captivating, beautiful, mysterious, telling every word of her story as is they were her last; reacting to everything with an explosion of emotion and passion. ...admirable performance."
(article in Russian)
(members of the public)
Tim, UK: "absolutely brilliant solo performance...simple yet haunting production...finely honed and moving..."
JT, UK: "Powerful, captivating, and completely absorbing. As the story evolves with all the intrigue and personal suspense of a Hitchcockian mind thriller, the delivery is so sharp, the diction, meter, and rhythm so honed, you’re left viewing one of the finest and most crafted performances you’re likely to see this year"
*
BLOGS*:
Roger's Plog:
"It was an astonishing one-woman show...I can thoroughly recommend the play."
Moon Dancer, Massachusetts, United States
"The actress, Vera Filatova, was outstanding! She walked in and stumbled poorly, and I thought at first that it wasn't going to be very good. But the performance turned out to be both an outer-inner and an inner-outer portrayal of a character that as a child had a love for her step-father that borders on unhealthy. She often had a frozen smile that was both beautiful, as the actress was beautiful, and neurotic. Intense!"
MySpace blog by Gordon. "She swoops and swerves across the floor, her eyes again alight with playful demon-fire. Then, a tumble of syllables unravels to laughter: she hides her face and turns away, her shoulders shuddering, down to her hips. The act breaks free into this life of mirth: Dostoevsky steps aside as she steps forward but the exposure is too much and she flees through the audience into sanctuary without..."
Liz Davies on blog.co.uk: "beautifully performed..."