A worm's eye view of post-Communist Russia, from the Siberian-born author of Plasticine.

A remote railway station in the 'Boundless Motherland'. Stranded there are a young spiv, selling overpriced toasters to the local peasantry, and his heavily pregnant wife. They don't like the place, they don't like the people, and they don't much like each other...

Vassily Sigarev's play Black Milk, in this English translation by Sasha Dugdale, was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2003.

About the Author
Vassily Vladimirovich Sigarev is a Russian playwright, screenwriter and film director. His plays Plasticine, Black Milk and Ladybird were first produced in the West by the Royal Court Theatre. Sasha Dugdale is a translator and poet. She has translated the work of many leading contemporary playwrights writing in Russian, including: Bad Roads (Royal Court Theatre, 2017) and The Grain Store (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2009) by Natal'ya Vorozhbit; Playing the Victim (Royal Court and Told By an Idiot, 2003) and Terrorism (Royal Court, 2003) by the Presnyakov Brothers; and Ladybird (Royal Court, 2004), Black Milk (Royal Court, 2003) and Plasticine (Royal Court, 2002) by Vassily Sigarev. She has published three collections of translations of Russian poetry and five collections of her own poetry, most recently Deformations (Carcanet, 2020). In 2016 she won a Forward Prize for her long poem 'Joy', and in 2017 she received a SOA Cholmondeley Award for poetry. She has published two collections of translations of Russian poetry and three collections of her own poetry, Notebook (2003), The Estate (2007) and Red House (2011). In 2003 she received an Eric Gregory Award.

Reviews

'Terrific... Writers like Sigarev are the future - right now'

* Independent *

'Moves between harsh realism and flights of dramatic poetry, between gentle humour and thuggish violence... The Royal Court has discovered a tremendous new talent in Sigarev'

* Daily Telegraph *

'A vivid picture of Russia's unending contradictions... What makes the play so exciting is its effortless mix of personal and social detail'

* Guardian *

'Raw, flawed, but very interesting indeed'

* The Times *

'Sasha Dugdale's translation is brutally and vividly colloquial, and the acting blazes with pain, anger and fugitive hope'

* Sunday Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9781854597304
Author Vassily Sigarev
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Nick Hern Books
Publisher Nick Hern Books
Weight(grams) 97g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 8mm