Marius Ivaškevičius with Barzu Abdurazzakov
Author Readings
Language: Russian
Marius Ivaškevičius - playwright, reader
Barzu Abdurazzakov - reader
In cooperation with HAU Hebbel am Ufer
Every author — whoever they are — has a unique relationship with their own text. They understand it differently from how it might be heard or interpreted by an actor, a director, or any outside reader. In 2025, the Voices Berlin Festival has chosen a new format for its play readings: every piece will be performed by its author.
Marius Ivaškevičius "Totalitarian Novel"
Several years ago, Lithuanian playwright Marius Ivaškevičius interviewed renowned Tajik theater director Barzu Abdurazzakov. That conversation became the foundation for "Totalitarian Novel" — a play that brings Tajikistan’s tragic post-Soviet history into sharp focus. For Voices Berlin 2025, Ivaškevičius and Abdurazzakov will reenact their original dialogue themselves in the tradition of witness theater.
Contributors
marius ivaškevičius
playwright
Marius Ivaškevičius is an author, playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is considered one of the leading contemporary Lithuanian playwrights and rose to fame with his plays "Madagascar" and "Expulsion". Early in his career, he became known as a remaker of myths and a deconstructor of history. Ivaškevičius received the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore Prize in 2004, the Order for Merits to Lithuania in 2014, and the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts in 2018.
barzu abdurazzakov
theater director
Barzu Abdurazzakov is a renowned Tajik playwright and theater director. He has staged more than 50 productions in theaters across Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. He is considered one of the most innovative theater directors of his generation, deeply attuned to the realities of contemporary society. In 2001, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Tajikistan.