A Model For Mankind.
Leningrad, U.S.S.R., 1979.
An aged doctor is hauled off to prison to testify about his life-long friend, the famous and recently deceased Russian composer, Dmitri Shostakovich, long revered by the Kremlin as a model of Communist dedication and achievement.
A tale of love and betrayal that spans six decades of Soviet history (in two hours, including intermission), A Model For Mankind probes the enigmatic life of a great composer who struggled with the demands of personal morality against artistic ambition, of friend against friend, of memory against history.
But was he? And what secrets is the doctor harboring about Shostakovich's love life in the 1930s that his interrogators believe is so critical to the Soviets holding their edge over the West in the final years of the Cold War?
A Model For Mankind
Written By James Sheldon
The Cock Tavern Theater, London
March - April 2010
...this production of 'A Model for Mankind' thrills, moves and leaves us ponderous.
Pure GREAT modern theatre. Go see it quick.