“Moscow rose to its feet, the audience rose to its feet. This is true art, an astonishing performance. There is an expression: ‘art must strike back.’ The entire hall was crying and laughing — outstanding acting, a theme of generational continuity, real people. I am deeply impressed. ‘Moscow stood up, the audience stood up,’” shared her impressions Elena Yelova, actress of the Sfera Theatre, recipient of honorary awards from the Moscow Department of Culture, the All-Russian Trade Union of Cultural Workers, a letter of gratitude from the State Duma, and a diploma of the XIII International Theatre Festival “Golden Province.”

This is how the performance “I, Grandmother, Iliko and Ilarion”, presented by the Youth Theatre “Sozvezdie–Yoldyzlyk,” was received within the VIII Big Children’s Festival in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The youth theatre performed on November 1 in St. Petersburg and on November 3 at the Moscow Regional Theatre.

“I came to St. Petersburg one day earlier specifically to watch this performance. The actors impressed me. Very touching, very professional — it will stay in my heart for a long time,” noted Larisa Viljaste, Director of the Moscow Regional Theatre and Director of the Big Children’s Festival.

The performance “I, Grandmother, Iliko and Ilarion” is a laureate of the “Golden Fund of Russian Theatrical Productions.” It was included in the list of the 100 best Russian productions that convey traditional spiritual and moral values forming the all-Russian cultural code. It has also been highly praised by theatre critics at numerous festivals — the “Golden Mask” award and festival, the International Festival of Russian Theatres of National Republics and Foreign Countries “Bridge of Friendship” (Yoshkar-Ola), “Volga Premiere” (Cheboksary) — and has been recognized as a triumph of contemporary Russian theatre. The theatre is part of the large festival movement “Sozvezdie–Yoldyzlyk,” held under the patronage of the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and under the auspices of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.

Dmitry Ershov — member of the Moscow Union of Artists, the Creative Union of Artists of Russia, and the International Federation of Artists, and set designer of the Moscow Regional Theatre — also shared his impressions. He emphasized that, in his view, among all the productions presented at the festival, “I, Grandmother, Iliko and Ilarion” was the most piercing and emotionally profound. He highlighted the vivid imagery and talented cast: “Even though there were children in the audience, at the finale the hall froze, even the children froze — absolute silence before the tragic moment. Everything ended with sincere gratitude from the audience. As they say, you can’t fool the viewer.”

“I, Grandmother, Iliko and Ilarion” is the directorial debut of Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Iskander Nurizyanov, one of the best students of the outstanding theatre director, Honored Art Worker of Russia, professor, and laureate of the Russian Government Prize Mikhail Borisov. The role of the grandmother was performed by People’s Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Elena Nenasheva. Her stage partners included: theatre director of “Sozvezdie–Yoldyzlyk,” graduate of the workshop of People’s Artists of the RSFSR, Oscar winners V. V. Menshov and V. V. Alentova, Master of Directing and graduate of the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute Alexander Tumanov; Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan Denis Krutovskikh; as well as Pavel Sokolovsky and Insaf Ganibaev.

The theatre from Tatarstan presented a performance telling the story of life in an ordinary Georgian village on the eve of and during the Great Patriotic War. The production explores the deeply meaningful theme of family values, telling stories of love, friendship, and mutual support in the difficult conditions of the pre-war years. Patriotic education, respect for the older generation, and pride in one’s homeland are the central messages of the play — themes that remain highly relevant today.

The Big Children’s Festival is included in the national project “Family” and is held within the framework of the federal party project “Culture of the Small Homeland,” with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The festival is organized by the Sergey Bezrukov Foundation for Support and Development of Sociocultural Projects and the Moscow Regional Theatre.