New Directors – New Voices
Russian / US Theatre Initiative (2005 - 2009)

New Directions – New Voices: Russian / US Theatre Initiative is a new and singular focus in Russia of the work of the Center for International Theatre Development (CITD) through 2009.

During the past year, initial research--US visitations to both The Golden Mask (the premier national festival in Russia) and the New Drama Festival (showcasing a growing body of new Russian writing)—made it clear to all that there was a great deal in Russia to offer US theatres.

Serious planning was engaged with both the US and Russian partners, and while problems of languages and the immensity of the country were obvious to all, we have developed (and are committed to) New Directions – New Voices: Russian / US Theatre Initiative.

This new initiative:
· focuses on both directors and new writing
· uses carefully curated visitations of US leadership to Moscow (Golden Mask Festival) and St. Petersburg (New Drama Festival), as well as Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorad, Togliatti, etc.
· continues to work with the original partner theatres, and develops new individual theatre and network partnerships
· opens up the new writing component to a broader constituency beyond the partner theatres through a developing network of dramaturgs and literary managers working with, among others, the Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
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Finally, we believe there is a convergence of US interest and Russian readiness, in terms of both the quality of the work and the organizational capacity of key Russian and US partners, that make this a unique moment for major artistic links.

The US partner theatres for the Russian/New Directions – New Voices Initiative are:

· Actors Theatre of Louisville / The Humana Festival, Louisville, Kentucky
· Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta, Georgia
· American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts
· Arden Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
· Arena Stage, Washington, DC
· Atlantic Theatre Company, New York
· Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, California
· La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California
· New York Theatre Workshop, New York
· The Play Company, New York
· Portland Center Stage, Portland, Oregon
· Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago, Illinois
· Trinity Repertory Company, Providence, Rhode Island
· Sundance Festival Theatre Program, Utah

Key partners in Russia are:

· John Freedman, critic and translator
· Eduard Boyakov, Praktika Theatre and New Drama Festival, Moscow
· Tamara Arapova, The Golden Mask Festival, Moscow
· Oleg Loevsky, Young Spectator Theater, Yekaterinburg, Russia
· Nikolai Kolyada, Kolyada Theater, Yekaterinburg, Russia
· Vadim Levanov, Togliatti Festival, Togliatti, Russia

The Russian/New Directions - New Voices Initiative is supported by a generous grant from The Trust for Mutual Understanding in New York, NY.