The Promise

In the spirit of 2009 — which has seen work from Belarus, Warsaw, Baghdad and wheatbelt Australia come to life at Sydney’s Belvoir Street Theatre — the next production, Alexei Arbuzov’s The Promise, is a rediscovered Russian masterpiece which previews from 11 July and has its official opening night on 15 July.

Company B welcomes director Simon Stone — one of the thrilling new voices in Australian Theatre — making his first production in the Upstairs Theatre. Simon’s 2008 production of Spring Awakening in the Downstairs Theatre received a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Independent Production.

It’s 1942, and for 827 days the Russian city of Leningrad has endured one of the longest and most destructive sieges in human history.

As the Nazis invade and demolish their beloved city in front of their eyes, three unacquainted teenagers — Lika, Marat and Leonidik — take refuge in a dilapidated apartment. Leaving their pasts behind, the three are united in their hope for a more promising future.

Arbuzov’s passionate tale is a three-hander that travels 18 years in the lives of the orphans, as they develop and follow their dreams. Once the war has subsided, the three are reunited and Lika is forced to choose between the two men she loves — the two men who kept the promise alive.

The cast in Company B’s production belong to a group of remarkable young actors making waves in the Australian theatre industry: Alison Bell (Rabbit, Moving Target, Doubt), Ewen Leslie (War of the Roses, Gallipoli, The Serpent’s Teeth) and Chris Ryan (The Call, Platonov, Othello, Hamlet).

Director of award-winning Melbourne theatre company, The Hayloft Project, Simon Stone has been blazing a path as a director, having recently been nominated for Best Director (Theatre) in the 2008 Green Room Awards. Also an actor, Simon played Nick in Company B’s 2007 production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The first production of Ariadne Nicolaeff’s translation of The Promise opened in London in 1967, starred Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Ian McShane and was directed by Richard Cotrell.

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