Dmitri and Evgeny are overwhelmed by the choices they must make after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. From fast food to watches to jeans to television, the advent of capitalism in St. Petersburg sends them on a madcap journey full of miscues, missteps and merchandise.
All the while, Mother Russia oversees the action, lamenting the fall of communism but relishing American doughnuts.
Penobscot Theatre Company’s production of “Mother Russia” is funny, insightful and thought provoking. Presenting new work such as this one has been a hallmark of Artistic Director Jonathan Berry’s tenure in Bangor. Berry, who directed this show, is returning to Chicago this summer after three years at the helm of the company, based at the Bangor Opera House. Playwright Lauren Yee’s latest work is a delightful parting gift.
“Mother Russia” premiered earlier this year at Seattle Repertory Theatre. PTC is just the second company to produce it, marking its East Coast premiere. It is set to go up at the Profile Theatre in Portland, Oregon, next month and at the Signature Theatre in New York City this fall.
The play has been in development since 2017. It was set to premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in California in 2020 but was postponed two years due to the pandemic. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the company cancelled the production.
Yee told American Theatre magazine last month that for years she has been “subconsciously writing a cycle of plays about communism in Asia in the 20th century.” “Cambodian Rock Band” is about Cambodia in the 1970s and “The Great Leap” is about China in the 1980s. “Mother Russia” completes a trilogy set over three decades.
“I’m always interested in communism and the collision with Western culture, because I think it’s a way of understanding American identity through a different lens,” Yee said.
That lens in “Mother Russia” is aimed at Dmitri (Daniel Skinner) and Evgeny (Martin Guarnieri), both 25 and unsure of what life holds for them now that the Communist government is not telling them what to do. They share a romance with Katya (Stephanie Colavito), a former pop star who spent several years living in the United States but returned when her career tanked after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Skinner is unrecognizable from his roles in “Clarkston” in 2022 and in “Birthday Candles” last fall at the Opera House. His Dmitri is a bit manic, full of false bravado and determined to consume all that capitalism has to offer. The New York City-based actor also achingly reveals Dmitri’s vulnerabilities as he is manipulated by what is supposed to be a defunct government agency. It is a layered and lovely performance.
As Evgeny, Guarnieri, a recent University of Maine graduate, is a sensitive and demure counterbalance to Dmitri’s blustery boldness. Guarnieri, who was a standout in Ten Bucks Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s “Henry V” last summer, gives an empathetic performance that perfectly portrays Evgeny’s conflicted feelings about life in the former Soviet Union and the new Russia.
Colavito, who in 2023 portrayed the returning McGrath sister in “Crimes of the Heart,” gives Katya a jaded edginess. After all, she has seen the failures of American capitalism up close. She realistically and beautifully balances the singer’s longing for the artistic freedom she was afforded in the West with her bewilderment over what she can create if the Soviet Union no longer exists to rail against.
Irene Dennis returns to the Opera House as Mother Russia in a tour-de-force portrayal that nearly steals the show out from under the other characters. Mother Russia speaks directly to the audience and occasionally comments on the action. Dennis, who appeared in several PTC shows in the 2010s, is a sardonic, judgmental grandmother in a babushka whose observations are as insightful as they are amusing.
The technical team — sets by Chelsea M. Warren, costumes by Kevin Jacob Koski, lighting by SeifAllah Salotto-Crisotbal, sound by Charlotte Laffely and props by Thomas Demers — perfectly captures the chaos of Dmitri and Evgeny’s lives inside a small apartment crammed with the accouterments of the early 1990s.
“Mother Russia” may not be as familiar to audiences as this season’s closing show, “The Rocky Horror Show,” but it is worth seeing and supporting as it is about to become part of the American theater canon. And, it’s loads of fun.
Penobscot Theatre Company’s production of “Mother Russia” runs through May 18 at the Bangor Opera House. For tickets, call 942-3333 or visit penobscottheatre.org.
