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Burnt by the Sun

This event has now finished Until May 20 2009 National Theatre, Lyttelton, South Bank, London, SE1 9PX Full details & map

Theatre: West End

RecommendedLast chance
© Catherine Ashmore

Time Out says Rate it

Drifting around in Russian dachas is normally a sign that Chekhov is back in town. But Peter Flannery's tense, absorbing play, based on the Oscar-winning film by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov, is set in 1936 at the beginning of Stalin's purges. The Chekhovian atmosphere is rudely broken when a fleet of military aircraft fly over the house and the Young Pioneers pass by on parade. As Vicki Mortimer's set gently spins to reveal different parts of the house, we meet a group of nostalgic elderly musicians, Kotov, a Russian general who believes in Stalin, communism and the motherland but is also devoted to his wife, and the quixotic Mitia, who wildly plays the piano while wearing a gas mask. It's hard to know when or how Kotov realises the danger he's in. Flannery's adaptation can't recreate the visual splendour of the film, but the whole company makes its mark in Howard Davies's atmospheric production.

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National Theatre, Lyttelton, South Bank, London SE1 9PX

National Theatre, Lyttelton

The Lyttelton provides the National Theatre with a classic-looking theatre space - though, thankfully, it comes without the obstructive pillars of...

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Transport Waterloo 

Telephone

020 7452 3000

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

National Theatre, Lyttelton map

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