Old Globe Commissions Last Play in Soviet Trilogy

The Maly Drama Theatre of Leningrad closed its production of “Brothers and Sisters” on Sunday at the Old Globe, saying “Goodby America” to a capacity audience that gave it a standing ovation. It won’t be goodby for long. Ticket prices may have been slashed by 50% during the last week of performances, but the Old Globe gave the Maly Drama Theatre the kind of endorsement that counts--a return engagement.

The Old Globe commissioned an English translation, from the Maly’s literary manager, Michael Stronin, of the final part of the “Brothers and Sisters” trilogy by Fyodor Abramov, called “The House.” Like the first two parts of “Brothers and Sisters,” a harrowing, poetic story about one family’s struggle to survive on a post-World War II Stalinist farm, the show will be performed by the Maly in Russian at the Globe in 1990 or 1991 with an English translation to be piped in through headphones.

“The House,” which picks up the Pryaslin family’s story 20 years later, may be presented with a second play, as yet to be determined, said Old Globe managing director Thomas Hall. The Old Globe also is planning to produce a national tour of the Maly’s “Brother and Sisters.” Four or five other theaters may participate, including the Stamford (Conn.) Center for the Performing Arts, which originally tried, unsuccessfully, to negotiate for performances of “Brothers and Sisters” on the Maly’s recent trip to the United States.

Generally acknowledged as the artistic centerpiece of San Diego’s Soviet arts festival, the critically acclaimed American premiere of “Brothers and Sisters” did not pull the sellout crowds that it did in other countries. According to a Times poll, it attracted only 2% of those surveyed in San Diego as opposed to 17% for the Faberge eggs and 12% for the Georgian folk dancers. Still, although the final figures are not yet in, Hall said the show left the Old Globe in the black and, when coupled with the sellout performances by the Tblisi State Puppet Theatre, also hosted by the Globe, may even allow the theater to return $30,000 to $50,000 to the city.

Hall attributed some of the initial problems with ticket sales to ticket prices, the show’s length, and the unfamiliarity of the subject to local audiences. At $50 to $75 for a six-hour show presented at two sittings, “Brothers and Sisters” was the priciest festival ticket in town. “The House” will be about half the length and tickets will cost less. But more significantly, Hall said, it is a first step toward an Old Globe dream of presenting significant world theater annually. The Old Globe also is discussing a play it might produce in English (possibly with Russian piped in through headphones) at the Maly Drama Theatre. Hall said the Maly is interested in a play that is “uniquely American.”

“The impetus behind all this is artistic, not financial,” said Hall. “ ‘Brothers and Sisters’ was a huge artistic success. Although we were slow out of the gate, it shows San Diego has an appetite for this kind of work. Everyone is wondering what the impact of the festival is. I think a major impact has been to expand the willingness of our audience to see new and different work. And the board, along with our staff, came away feeling that it was a unique experience for all of us, and the next time we host a company of this stature, it will be easier because we have a base audience.”

PROGRAM NOTES: Des McAnuff, artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, is in New York directing and revising the book for “Chess,” a since-closed Broadway musical being readied for a national tour that will begin in Florida and include the Orange County Performing Arts Center. . . .

The San Diego Repertory Theatre received its first grant earmarked for its 4-year-old Teatro Sin Fronteras (Theater Without Boundaries) Latino theater project. It’s a $35,000 challenge grant from the California Arts Council that needs to be matched three-to-one by Dec. 1, 1990. . . .

When the Bowery Theatre mapped out its season last summer, doing a Christmas show seemed like a pretty good idea. But the surprising success of “What the Butler Saw,” its second play that opened Sept. 15, has been an early Christmas present. So the theater has scrapped a Romulus Linney play and let the butler do it through Jan. 6. This will be the second and last extension of Joe Orton’s delicious farce, however, as Bowery artistic director Ralph Elias, who is starring in “What the Butler Saw,” needs to move in to directing duties for “Teibeleh and Her Demon” by Isaac Bashevis Singer opening Feb. 1. Erin Kelly, a Bowery veteran who has been in every Bowery show except “What the Butler Saw” since Elias took over the theater, will star in “Teibeleh.” . . . San Diego comic Don Victor will perform his one-man show at the Waterfront Theatre in San Francisco on Monday. . . .

“Puss in Boots,” a dramatization of the classic fairy tale about a crafty cat, continues the Grossmont Theatre Arts Department’s first season in the East County Performing Arts Center. The play will run Thursday through Dec. 2. The four-play season at ECPAC, which includes “Our Town” and “A Doll’s House,” ends May 26. . . . Laundry or thrift items for Auntie Helen’s Fluff & Fold, a community service organization that does laundry for persons with AIDS, will net you half-price tickets for the continuing world premiere of “Solid Oak” at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre through Dec. 16. But call the box office first at 234-9583. Tonight’s performance of “Solid Oak” at the Gaslamp was canceled because of low ticket demand. . . .

Videos of the works of San Diego playwright Philip Dimitri Galas, who died in 1986 of AIDS, will be played in the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art’s Video Porch throughout the day on Dec. 1. There is no admission charge for the presentation, which is part of the World Health Organization’s second annual “AIDS Awareness Day,” designed as a day of mourning for those who have died of AIDS. Also participating in the event will be the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Getty Museum and the Newport Harbor Art Museum in Southern California.