The Baltic House Theatre Festival, St Petersburg: Twenty-Five Years On

One of the most important theatre festivals in Russia, the Baltic House Theatre Festival has a well-defined focus, as its name suggests. During the twenty-five years of its existence, it has showcased and in other ways nurtured and encouraged some of the greatest talents – actors, directors, designers – of the Baltic region. It has invited such leading directors as Eimuntas Nekrosius to prepare and rehearse works in its theatre – in the case of Boris Godunov in 2015, performed by the National Theatre of Vilnius. The Festival has also financed co-productions, to extend the reach of its own theatre and develop young audiences, inviting, for example, Luk Perceval and Silviu Purcarete to mount Macbeth (2014) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2015), respectively, with the Baltic House company. Maria Shevtsova is co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly and Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London