An exploration of Russian life on the verge of change through music, plays, films, discussion and an endless supply of drinks and snacks and the opportunity to relax in another world.

Join in the dacha, a rural summer idyll with a kitchen stocked full of vodka, hot tea and snacks. Lose yourself in board games and cards, partake in fevered political discussion with special guest speakers and enjoy live music and theatre performances. Explore life in the summer of 1917 through the eyes of the Popov family dacha in Vyritsa, several hours outside Petrograd.

All events are drop-in, on a first come, first served basis.

Programme

Friday 26 May

17.00 – 18.15 Evening games: Join the family as they open the dacha for the weekend

18.15 – 19.00 Live music: Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants

19.00 – 20.00 DJ: Sasha spins some rocking tunes from across the post-Soviet States

20.30 – 21.15 Live music: Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants

Saturday 27 May 

13.00 – 13.30 Live music: Polina and Merlin Shepherd, a nomadic musical duo who journey across Tatarstan, Turkey, Russia and the Pale of Settlement

14.00 – 15.00 Performance: The Forbidden Path: a feast of Russian wondertales from deep in the forest (All ages welcome)

15.00 – 16.00 Afternoon games: Card games around the table, conversation and a sip from the samovar

16.00 – 17.00 Around the kitchen table: Chef and Mamushka author Olia Hercules on food in the dacha

17.00 – 18.00 Live music: Polina and Merlin Shepherd, a nomadic musical duo who journey across Tatarstan, Turkey, Russia and the Pale of Settlement

18.00 – 20.30 Film: Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun (1994) set in a Soviet dacha at the height of Stalin’s purges

Sunday 28 May

11.30 – 13.00 Morning games: Join the family for their ritual of tea, snacks, games and conversation

13.00 – 13.30 Live music: Ukrainian songstress Elena Dana performs classic Russian ballads and love songs

14.00 - 15.00 Performance: Peter and the Wolf with live music drawn from Prokofiev’s score (All ages welcome)

15.30 – 16.00 Around the kitchen table: Theatr Borsht present Anna Karrotina with a cast freshly picked from the Kitchen Garden (All ages welcome)

15.00 – 16.00 Afternoon games: Card games around the table, conversation and a sip from the samovar

17.00 – 17.30 Live music: Ukrainian songstress Elena Dana performs classic Russian ballads and love songs

Monday 29 May

11.30 – 13.00 Morning games: Join the family for their ritual of tea, snacks, games and conversation 

13.00 – 13.30 Live music: Mazaika Duo perform their intoxicating blend of Soviet-era folk songs, jazz, tango and gypsy fiddle

14.00 - 16.00 Play: Maxim Gorky’s Summerfolk

16.15 – 17.00 Around the kitchen table: The Journey Towards Revolution with Professor Geoffrey Hoskings

17.00 - 17.30 Live music: Mazaika Duo perform their intoxicating blend of Soviet-era folk songs, jazz, tango and gypsy fiddle