‘Catherine and Baroque Storytelling’. Workshop for teenagers aged 12 to 18 workshop

Class time 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

The discussion about opera in Catherine’s time is based on Catherine’s personality. As a sovereign, a politician, a playwright and a powerful theatrical figure. In the workshops, we will try to look at her life, work, and political career as if she were the opinion leader of today.

Who was Catherine? What do we know about her? Why did she take up writing operas, and how did she write opera scenarios while she was a foreigner? What serious political issues was she talking about through the form of a magic tale? Storytelling principles work for the tasks of bloggers, marketers, coaches and speechwriters, and of course – politicians. We will discuss the structure of Catherine’s operas, analyse the stage directions and trace the political objectives the empress set for each of her works.

The second part of the meeting is creative. While in the first we analysed what artistic and dramaturgical techniques Catherine used, now we will apply them in practice. Imagine the operas we would create if we ourselves were absolute sovereigns with a passion for the theatre.

Lialia Kandaurova, journalist, lecturer in classical music, author of lecture courses, educational programmes, and podcasts on the history and perception of classical music for adults and children, will be a guide for the participants.

About the children’s programme at the exhibition-festival Theatrocracy. Catherine II and Opera:

The exhibition Theatrocracy. Catherine II and Opera is a unique project, born at the intersection of theatre and museum collaboration. The Theatrocracy programme for children is also an area of cooperation between the museum and musical theatre.

The educational programme was developed by one of Moscow’s most famous theatres especially for the museum together with the exhibition’s supervisors. To create a unique set of children’s theatrical classes, Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve invited the New Opera Educational Cluster (OKNO), a leading expert and innovator in the field of educational programmes for children and adults.

The programme is supervised by Alisa Spirina, the creator and head of OKNO.