M²
Inspired by the writings and lives of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Tommaso Marinetti

Theatre Novi Most presented the premiere of M², an original performance about the beginnings of the Futurist movement at The Open Eye Figure Theatre, June 25-28, 2009 to enthusiastic and multi lingual audiences.  The show will be remounted at Open Eye May 13-23, 2010 and will continue to develop this year with performances in New York and Russia being planned for summer 2010.  All photos from Open Eye Figure Theatre performance, June 2009.  Photos by Robert Perry and Leiah Stevermer.

About M²:  As General Motors and Chrysler file for bankruptcy and North Korea reminds us that Nuclear war is a threat we can still count on, Theatre Novi Most offers a look back to a time when a rebellious few saw in the automobile and modern warfare, the pinnacles of human creation and ingenuity.  M² is the story of Vladimir Mayakovsky, Filippo Marinetti, and the art movement known as Futurism.

Futurism was a short lived but highly influential early 20th century art movement that glorified speed, automobiles, the age of machines and warfare. M² is inspired by the writings and lives of Mayakovsky and Marinetti, two of the founders of Futurism who preached that a new approach to art could be revealed only through the forceful and violent annihilation of all previous forms.

Marinetti and Mayakovsky embraced and shaped the tenets of futurism even as their private lives where, at times, lived in complete contradiction to what they preached.  In M², Theatre Novi Most investigates their relationships to each other, their loved ones and the philosophy they created and championed, even as they saw it co-opted by monstrous new threats to humanity (fascism). David Steinman has created a multimedia design that weaves through the piece, taking viewers on a fantastic journey of speed and time. The innovative sound design is performed live on stage by co-designer Dan Dukich. This multimedia, highly physical production is by turns funny, romantic, visually fascinating and tragic.

Vladimir Rovinsky (Co-Artistic Director of Theatre Novi Most) and Philippe Costaglioli (professor of Film Studies, St. Cloud State University) collaborated in writing a script based on texts by Vladimir Mayakovsky and Filippo Marinetti, translating some of them for the first time, into English.  The performance includes political text, private letters, poetry and prose.
 
Cast: Sasha Gibbs, Darius Dotch and Vladimir Rovinsky; Sound design by Kyle Vande Slunt and Dan Dukich; Multimedia Design by David Steinman; Lighting Design by Robert Perry; Written by Vladimir Rovinsky and Philippe Costaglioli; Directed by Vladimir Rovinsky and Lisa Channer

All photos from July 26, 2009 Open Eye Theatre production.