by Les Gutman

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Our theme this month, strained as it may be, encompasses a look back at the last days of Old Mother Russia, and a look even further back to a time when covers of theater playbills were works of art, even when the shows under the cover were not.. Perhaps we should also mention that, with this shorter-than -usual report, CurtainUp DC celebrates its first anniversary, and boy, has it changed!

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A Report on Waiting in Tobolsk

As the end of the Soviet Socialist Republics evolves from current events to history, the details of the beginning of that regime, the Russian Revolution and the last days of the tsars, becomes even more hazy. Washington playwright Norman Allen has written a new play, currently enjoying its world premiere at the Church Street Theatre, that illuminates this period for audiences. With an educational motive clearly in mind, Allen (who heads Signature Theatre's Signature in the Schools program, focuses on the four daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra,  and lets the captivating if horrifying story of their exile to Siberia unveil the important details of this period of Russian history.

Waiting in Tobolsk/The Children of the Last Tsar continues at the Church Street Theatre, 1742 Church Street NW, until July 19. Telephone (202) 265-3748. Further information, and directions, on the Church Street wensite, linked below.

Earlier this year, The National Gallery of Art received a bequest from the Atlas Family that forces CurtainUp to leave the theater momentarily and take up gallery watching. The bequest consists of over 150 playbills from Paris productions between 1887 and 1900 at the Theatre Libre and the Theatre de L'Oeuvre.

If you are wondering whether you should consider saving your playbills from 1987-2000 for a similar bequest, consider the artists who were busy doing playbill covers then: Bonnard, Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec and Vuillard. The exhibition, ARTISTS AND THE AVANT-GARDE THEATER IN PARIS, 1887-1900, continues through September 7 in the East Wing of the National Gallery. Telephone (202) 737-4215.