PAST EXPERIMENTS
chekhovOS
/an experimental game/
A performance experiment in development by (zero-G)'s founder and director Igor Golyak, who has been a leading innovator of virtual theater since the start of the pandemic. His recent State vs. Natasha Banina was a Critic’s Pick in The New York Times by Maya Phillips who declared “The verdict is in: the virtual can, in fact, be an effective new stage for theater.” Golyak’s latest work fuses film, theater, and video game technology to create a new medium where viewers are able to interact with the performers. Inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and drawing from recordings of Chekhov’s letters and dreams, this interactive online theater experience accesses the operating system behind both Chekhov’s computer and the world in which his characters live, searching for happiness.
Trailer, chekhovOS /an experimental game/ 2021
Arlekin’s Zero Gravity (zero-G) Lab & The Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation present
chekhovOS /an experimental game/
Inspired by The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
Conceived & Directed by Igor Golyak
Produced by Igor Golyak & Sara Stackhouse
Starring Jessica Hecht
And Anna Baryshnikov, Anna Bortnik, Darya Denisova, Jeffrey Hayenga, Melanie Moore, Nael Nacer & Mark Nelson
With Mikhail Baryshnikov as Anton Chekhov
May-June 2021
PERFORMANCES & PRESENTING PARTNERS
Co-presented by BostonFIG & Snowrunner Productions
Followed by live talkback with members of the cast & creative team
Moderated by Tom Abernathy, Studio Narrative Director at ArenaNet
Co-presented by Gift of Life (UK and Europe)
Followed by live talkback with members of the cast & creative team Moderated by Sara Stackhouse, chekhovOS Co-Producer
This event supports Gift of Life (UK/Europe), a non-profit that helps children to fight and survive cancer, founded by Russian actress Chulpan Khamatova.
Co-presented by ArtsEmerson
Followed by live talkback with cast members Anna Baryshnikov and Jeffrey Hayenga, and Igor Golyak (Director).
Moderated by Rob Orchard, Founder & Creative Consultant, ArtsEmerson
Co-presented by Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation & ShowOne Productions
Followed by live talkback with cast members Anna Baryshnikov and Mark Nelson, and Igor Golyak (Director)
Co-presented by UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) & Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA)
Followed by live talkback with Jessica Hecht (Ranevskaya), Igor Golyak (Director), & Sara Stackhouse (Co-producer)
Welcome by Kristy Edmunds, Executive and Artistic Director, CAP UCLA
Co-presented by International Online Theater Festival/Theatre Times Followed by live talkback with members of the cast & creative team Moderated by Magda Romanska, Editor-in-Chief, TheTheatreTimes.com
Co-presented by Podari.Life US
Followed by live talkback with members of the cast, Igor Golyak (Director), & Jakov Jakolov (Composer)
Moderated by Joyce Kulhawik, President of the Boston Theater Critics Association, Emmy Award-Winning A & E Critic
This event supports Podari.Life, the US-based sister charity of Podari Zhizn (Gift of Life), a non-profit that helps children to fight and survive cancer, founded by Russian actress Chulpan Khamatova.
Co-presented by Cherry Orchard Festival Foundation & ShowOne Productions
Followed by live talkback with members of the cast & creative team
