This is the first time New York audiences have seen Lev Dodin's well-traveled production of Brothers and Sisters, which dates from the precise beginning of perestroika in 1985. Russians would be in a better position to grasp the irony in this adaptation of Fyodor Abramov's trilogy of novels about village life in Russia's Far North at the close of WWII. Americans at this performance seem to be more aware of a great humanity, along with a healthy dose of sentimentality in Maly Drama Theater's Brothers And Sisters. A strong cast plus a memorable production makes the two-evening show a highlight of Lincoln Center Festival 2000. Such a long story is not easily summarized. Part I, "Meetings and Partings," opens with wartime newsreel images to a voice-over of Stalin addressing the Russian nation as "brothers and sisters." Nearly all the adult men were killed in the war, and young Mikhail Pryaslin (Pyotr Semak) returns from a winter of forced logging to be thrust into the role of male leader. He quickly succumbs to the wiles of widowed Varvara (Natalya Fomenko), much to the displeasure of his family. Using her powers as kolkhoz (collective) chairperson, Anfisa (Tatyana Shestakova) sends her unwanted, abusive husband away to "town" with Varvara for good. Mikhail's buddy, the freewheeling Yegorsha (Sergei Vlasov), also leaves to learn how to drive a tractor and later ingratiate himself with the Party. Hardly any time passes after a feast celebrating the end of the war and mourning the dead, then the villagers elect a new Chairman and unceremoniously give Anfisa the boot. Part I ends with a brilliant dream sequence showing all the soldiers returning to their adoring wives and Mikhail marrying Varvara with his parents' blessing. Director Lev Dodin creates numerous entrances through the audience, but these are always apt and well motivated. Each actor has a special story to tell and an individual personality to do it; spontaneity abounds in each portrayal. Inna Gabai's costumes go a long way to ensure that no one is missed. Eduard Kochergin's set creates a transparent stage and one perfectly geared to the numerous scene changes. The main element, a wall of rough-hewn logs, in turn becomes an interior or exterior, a gangplank or even eaves in Varvara's barn. A double gate of two long poles that occasionally swing out over the audience's heads easily transforms into a clothesline. Oleg Kozlov's lighting design carefully enlivens each scene. The most characteristic aspect of this and even more of Part II is the leisurely way the story unfolds. Lively group scenes that are very much played to the audience alternate nicely with more intimate ones. The feast is a prime example of the arch-Russian tradition of laughing and crying together. Whenever the women remember their dead husbands, someone is always ready with a bawdy story to help them forget. Sensual Natalya Fomenko (the widow Varvara) easily commands her scenes, but Tatyana Shestakova is weak in the pivotal role of Chairperson Anfisa. Pyotr Semak makes a sympathetic Mikhail Pryaslin, but needs more incisiveness as the central character. Igor Sklyar is perfect as village idiot Yura. [Note: see separate review for Brothers and Sisters - Part II]
