Shakespeare & Company And Cherry Orchard Festival Co-Present STATE VS. NATASHA BANINA

Shakespeare & Company and the Cherry Orchard Festival will co-present the Arlekin Players Theatre's production State vs. Natasha Banina, a live online interactive art experiment directed by Igor Golyak, 2020 Elliot Norton Award-winner for Best Director, and featuring Darya Denisova, winner of the 2020 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress, Small or Fringe Theater, for her performance in Arlekin's The Stone. The live performance will be projected on the big screen at the Berkshire Drive-in at Shakespeare & Company's campus, 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, MA. It can also be watched from home on ZOOM. The performance will be on August 26th and starts at 8:15pm. For more information on how to access these virtual events visit Shakespeare.org.

State vs Natasha Banina began as an online experiment from Golyak's living room and became an overnight international sensation, bringing in virtual audiences from around the globe and garnering a New York Times Critic's Pick.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Arlekin on this project," said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. "They bring exciting energy, insight, and inventiveness to the conversation, not only to what theatre is today, but also how it must adapt going forward."

Performed live by Darya Denisova, State vs. Natasha Banina unfolds as a Russian teenager tells the story of her life in a small-town orphanage, and how her desire to be free led to a crime of passion. From the inside of a "Zoom court room," she makes unique appeals to the audience/jury, letting them into her world where she dreams of love, family, and her future. Ultimately, the audience will decide whether she is guilty of manslaughter. The New York Times called the piece "a captivating theatrical experience.'

Following the performance, there will be a talk back on ZOOM with the director Igor Golyak and actor Darya Denisova.

Tickets for State vs. Natasha Banina costs $15 per person for the Drive-in or $60 per car. Zoom tickets are $25. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Reserve tickets here.