Celebrated Chernobyl Book Gets First Russian Staging
April 27, 2006
Fedor Striy, one of few who chose to continue living within the exclusion zone near Chornobyl (file photo) (epa)
The Moscow premiere of "Chernobyl Prayer: Chronicle Of The Future" marked the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.
Belarusian author Svyatlana Aleksiyevich
wrote "Chernobyl Prayer" in 1997 based on the testimonies of people affected by the disaster, the world's worst nuclear disaster.
It has been widely translated and adapted for the stage by many European theaters.
The play's director and producer for the Russian stage says his own adaptation of Aleksiyevich's work illustrates the fear of a generation whose childhood was marked by the Chornobyl disaster and the threat of a nuclear war.
"I watched [the television news] but I couldn't understand anything, apart from these explosions," says Joel Lehtonen, a Finn. "I could see myself melting from radiation. I was scared, I remember, I was very scared."
His hope is that the play will prompt its Russian audience to reflect on the dangers of nuclear power.
The disaster resulted in the deaths of thousands and is expected to continue to cause deaths for decades to come. More than 300,000 people were evacuated in the wake of the disaster from areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.