The Youth Theatre gives audiences a magical story about the awakening of the soul. The American film director, actor, producer, writer, and playwright Woody Allen in Bullets Over Broadway asserts that magical changes in life are possible and that art has the power to perform miracles.
The fact that the world, sadly, is ruled by the golden calf is no secret. But comfort and prestige — things money can buy — are not everything a person needs. To grasp this idea, one must have education and upbringing, qualities that the characters in Allen’s play often lack. Most of them, regardless of age or gender, belong to criminal circles — either by profession or by family ties. At the center is “Duck Sal,” the rough leader of a large mafia clan.
His wife and children are undeniably well‑provided for, yet they experience a hidden sadness and a deep sense of emptiness. Then, by a twist of Fortune, Sal acquires a stolen Raphael painting from a museum. From that moment on, life for this family in New York during the 1930s begins to resemble a fairy tale…
Ironical and sharp, yet humane and kind, the story — adapted for the stage by Director Semyon Spivak — is set in the early 1960s and shows how genuine art can influence people at any stage of their inner development. “The picture depicting the Madonna and Child changes the life of the entire family,” says Semyon Spivak. “A person begins to see the world differently — becomes braver, kinder, lighter, enriched inside, learning to forgive. I think this is very much needed today…”
Based on materials from the Youth Theatre on the Fontanka, Saint Petersburg.