​​​​​“Brodsky/Baryshnikov” Comes to The Harris Theater Feb. 2-4

Cherry Orchard Festival, a leading presenter of international artists, theater companies andorchestras, presents the Chicago premiere of the critically-acclaimed play “Brodsky / Baryshnikov,” conceivedand directed by Alvis Hermanis, Feb.2-4, 2018 at Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr.This limited Chicago engagement caps the three-city North American tour of the production co-produced byThe New Riga Theatre and Baryshnikov Productions. Additional tour stops include Boston’s Cutler MajesticTheatre (Jan. 17-21) and Toronto’s Wintergarden Theatre (Jan. 24-27).

“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” is a one-man show based on the poems of Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky, performed by legendary dancer/actor Mikhail Baryshnikov. It is an emotional journey deep into the poet’s visceral and complex compositions. Performed in Russian and subtitled in English, Baryshnikov recites a selection of his long-time friend’s poignant and eloquent worksand his subtle physicality transports the audience into Hermanis’ reverent imagining of Brodsky’s interior world.The U.K.’s The Stage hails the work as “a deeply felt tribute…poignant,” and What’s on Stage calls it, “a gift from one great artist to another, a debt of love…you can hear a pin drop as the 90-minutes unfolds.”

“Brodsky / Baryshnikov” premiered at the New Riga Theatre, Riga, Latvia in Oct.15, 2015 and had its NorthAmerican premiere at the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s Jerome Robbins Theater, March 9, 2016. The New YorkTimes said of Baryshnikov’sperformance,“He is arguably most entrancing, and most deeply immersed in thelanguage…It’s as if the language is a current of energy activating not just his mind but his entire body; yousense that he feels its presence inside him down to his fingertips.”

Joseph Brodsky was born in Leningrad (now St .Petersburg) in 1940 and immigrated to the United States in1972. He began writing poetry in the1950s but his works were not published in his native country until the1990s. Five books of his poetry in Russian were published abroad. As an émigré he published three books of poetry in English. His first collection of essays,“Less Than One”(1986), received the NationalBook Critics Circle Award in1986, and three of his essays have appeared in “The Best American Essays.” He is also the author of two plays; “Marbles”(1989)and “Democracy!”(1990,1993). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1987 and served as Poet Laureate of the United States for 1991 and 1992. He died in January,1996.

Born 1948 in Riga, Latvia, Mikhail Baryshnikov is considered one of the greatest dancers of our time. Aftercommencing a spectacular career with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he came to the West in1974, settling inNew York City as principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). In 1979 he joined New York City Ballet,where he worked with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. A year later he was appointed artistic directorof ABT where, for the next decade, he introduced a new generation of dancers and choreographers. From 1990-2002, Mr. Baryshnikov was director and dancer of the White Oak Dance Project, a modern dance company he co-founded with choreographer Mark Morris. As an actor he has performed widely on- and off-Broadway, as well as in television and film, receiving a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for "Metamorphosis” and an Academy Award nomination for “The Turning Point.” In 2005, he launched Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) in New York City, a creative space forpresenting and nurturing multidisciplinary artists from around the globe. In 2010, he was given the rank ofOfficer of the French Legion of Honor, and in 2017 he received Japan's prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award in Theatre/Film.

Born 1965 in Riga, Latvia, Alvis Hermanis was recently named among the ten most influential European theater personalities of the last decade by DU Magazine Swiss periodical for arts and culture. Hermanis currently works with major European theater companies and opera houses. Hermanis’ theater productions have been presented at major theater festivals ranging from Avignon to Edinburgh,and have toured to more than 40 countries. His many accolades include the Europe Prize New Theatre Realities, the Stanislavsky Award, two Golden Mask Awards(Moscow), MaxReinhardt Pen (Salzburger Festspiele), Nestroy Preis (Austria), and the Konrad Wolf Award (Germany).He has been artistic director of The New RigaTheatre since1997.

Cherry Orchard Festival presents the Chicago premiere of “Brodsky / Baryshnikov” conceived and directed by Alvis Hermanis, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr.Feb. 2-4. Press opening is Friday, Feb. 2, 8 p.m. Additional performances are Saturday, Feb.3, 8 p.m.and Sunday, Feb.4, 2 p.m. Tickets are $45-$150. For tickets or more information visit harristheaterchicago.org or call 312.334.7777.