Theatre Project 27
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Dear Sara!

Now the whole world is united by a common misfortune: a pandemic of coronavirus infection. Theatres and museums are closed; quarantine has been declared in many countries. At a time like this, we have nothing left but to believe in the best, to support each other and to dream. To dream about the normal life that was with us and maybe still will be.

Our names are Natalia and Julia, we are a young producer and director. We love theater for teenagers and dream of opening our own space where there would be theater, co-working, different studios, where teenagers would feel comfortable and could find something to do. For now, our theater exists on different venues. We take good performances for the teenagers to different cities and produce ours. We have recently opened and so far we have only one performance - "The Jobs Essay", which tells about Steve Jobs. It is loved by boys! The audience that you can find anywhere, but not in the theater.

Now you cannot perform plays, many theaters are closed and we are saving ourselves by creating a show - and this is "Pax". This is our dream! You wrote a fantastic book! We're in love with it. And this PAX is more important to us now than ever. This PAX is also important for teenagers, because the theme of responsibility is one of the key to personal formation.

We would like to ask your permission to make a stage version and performance. It is a non-profit, private project that should be created by a young, talented dream team. We know that the rights belong to Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, but they are not interested in theater.

We do know about the upcoming movie. And we are well aware of the US practice of banning any live stage productions in case the rights are sold to the movie folks. For us here it seems a strange tradition. We are quite used to watching many versions on screen and stage – of both classics and modern literature. We enjoy comparing them, and statistics confirms the increase rather than the decrease of interest in stage version when a movie appears (and vice versa). Also, it takes years to make a movie, and banning theater productions for this period is not fair anyway.

Theatrical production of a small theater for teenage audience will not create competition to the proposed film, but on the contrary, will increase interest of the piece. Theater is very important, it is that thread that connects the child and the book. The sensual experience lived by a teenager will be remembered by him forever - and he will certainly be interested in the book, he'll take it in his hands and read it. You know for yourself how important this connection between the book and the theatre is for a child - from the experience of the DREAM project.

I honestly admit that there is almost no such theater for teenagers in our country. Usually it's the classic works "The Wizard of Oz", "Tom Sawyer", "Scarlet Sails" and so on. It's not very inspiring for today's teenagers. And in this sense, a play on modern children's literature, on your book "Pax", can be a real breakthrough in the formation of dialogue with a teenage audience. And it is important for the future.

We believe that in such a difficult period for our planet, miracles happen. And you can create one of them.

With hope and faith in the best,
Julia and Natalia.

Contacts: zaj-nati@yandex.ru
+7 (904) 5167570


About us
"Theatre Project 27" is a professional independent theatre from St. Petersburg (Russia), which aims to create, together with young directors, new generation performances for teenagers. That is to work for the most difficult audience, which for theatre is the hardest to keep. The first production of the team - "The Jobs Essay" 9+ (directed by Ivan Pachin) tells teenagers about the life of the legendary man, creator of Apple, Steve Jobs. The premiere of such an unusual performance caused a wide media response and interest in the audience. For the first time, a modern hero from the world of new technologies speaks from the stage in a teenage play. The show has already been invited to many significant children's theatre festivals in Russia: "Theatrical syndrome. Children's World" (Krasnoyarsk), "Marshak" (Voronezh) and others.
The team
Yulia Kalandarishvili (director) is one of the most promising and demanded young directors working in the field of theater for children and teenagers. She has staged more than 10 productions for teenagers in different cities of Russia: "The Diary of a Killer Cat" (Ann Fine, Sevastopol TUZ), "Tsatsiki Goes to School" and "Tsatsiki and the Family" (Moni Nilson, Theatre "Saturday", St. Petersburg), "I'm Anna. I'm the Fist" (Martha Raitses, Krasnoyarsk Puppet Theatre) and others. Nominee of the "Breakthrough" award for young directors and participant of the "Children's Weekend" program at the main national theater festival "Golden Mask".

Yevgeniya Platonova (artist) – artist and costume designer. She has staged such productions as "Love for Three Oranges" (Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, directed by N. Vorobyeva), "Warrior" (Novosibirsk "First Theatre", directed by Y. Kalandarishvili), "Diary of Killer Cats" (Sevastopol TUZ, directed by Y. Kalandarishvili), etc.

Ilya Pashnin (light artist) – twice nominated for the main national theater prize "Golden Mask". He has produced more than 25 performances (among them - "Utopia" at the Theatre of Nations (directed by M. Gatsalov) and "The Gods of Perm" at the Theatre-Theatre (directed by D. Volkostrelov)). Participated in festivals: Open look 2015, Cross Art 2014/15. Light artist of the festival dedicated to the 25th anniversary of contemporary dance in Russia (Erarta Stage).

Gleb Kolyadin (composer) – composer and pianist. He is the author of music for many performances of Andrzej Buben, for "Context Project" by Diana Vishneva and others. He is a composer and pianist for the iamthemorning project, which won the Progressive Music Awards in the category "Best Album of the Year" in 2016. Since 2011 he has been actively performing in Russia and Europe, collaborating with such musicians as Árstíðir (Iceland), Gazpacho (Norway), Balmorhea (USA), Jivan Gasparyan (Armenia) and Riverside (Poland). In 2019 and 2020, won first place in the list of best pianists/keyboarders of the year as a result of readers' voting in the Prog magazine.

Yegor Lavrov (multimedia artist) is a young, promising artist on video and multimedia, co-author of such performances as: "Thumbelina" (Bolshoi Puppet Theatre (BPT), dir. E. Lozhkina-Belevich), "Egorkin's Bylina" (Krasnoyarsk Puppet Theatre, dir. R. Kudashov), "Pinocchio" (BPT, dir. R. Kudashov, etc.), "The Jobs Essay" (Theatre Project 27, dir. I. Pachin), "Seagulls" (BPT, dir. R. Kudashov) and others. Author of the design of BPT social media.

Ivan Pisotsky (actor) is an actor of the St. Petersburg City Theater. He stars in: "Monday begins on Saturday" by A. and B. Strugatsky (directed by N. Lapina), "Residents of Different Planets" based on Volodin's texts (directed by N. Lapina), "You do not choose times" based on the works of sixties's authors (directed by N. Lapina), etc.

Maria Vinogradova (actress) – actress, involved in various projects (City Theatre, New Stage Alexandrinsky Theatre), starred in a movie ("Alien Face" directed by

Grigory Zhikharevich, role: Alina Babayeva; "Countdown" directed by: Sergei Popov, role: Jeanne, "Street of broken lights". Reg.: Kirill Kapitsa, role: Verka, etc.).

Natalia Sergeevskaya (producer) – theatre producer. Since 2010 she has worked at the St Petersburg Bolshoi Puppet Theatre, where she rose from administrator to head of the development department. Over the years she has invented and launched several laboratories, festivals, a large-scale forum of theatre managers, etc. Each project was highly appreciated both by its participants and experts from outside.
Our thoughts about the concept
In adolescence, the question: "What is the right thing to do?" is important (as if there was an answer to that question). In psychology, this is called the formation of the "concept of the self", when a person develop his or her own view of concepts and phenomena. This is what the teenager who does not have a personal opinion, personal experience, which gives ready-made answers, suffers from. This is what makes his or her process of cognition of the world interesting. This book is called "Pax", which translates as "The Peace". What does this word mean here? "I'm exactly where I should be and I'm doing exactly what I should be doing. It's Peace," they explain to the protagonist. So, the peace is not just a general concept that unites everything, it's not just the absence of conflict, and not just what's inside me, it's what I create. Here, now and incessantly. It is no coincidence that the story of the boy and his fox is being recalled with the story of the Little Prince, because the question of responsibility for one's neighbor is an eternal question. It is only through someone you are connected with, undivided ("two, but not two"), that you can feel what you bring into this world and what you deprive it of. It's only through someone you care about, someone you feel like yourself. This is the most tangible reference point for a sensitive soul. Moreover, this story is devoid of sentimentality, alien to the perception of a teenager, an edification that they will never listen to. It's a nude reality with all the ugliness and subtlety. War exposes it like nothing else. It's a reference point, it's a reminder of true values. The important question is in the book: how to find the truth about yourself. Not about the world, not "in general", but about yourself. Only then can you allow yourself to build the world you feel the price of.