whose biography of Bakunin deserves to be. I received valuable help from Helen Rappaport on Russian matters in general. I am particularly indebted to her for Russian translation, including lines of dialogue. Krista Jussenhoven kindly made up for my deficiency in German, Rose Cobbe corrected my French, and Sonja Nerdrum supplied me with the lines in Italian. My thanks to all of them, and to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf for access to its library.
Voyage was first performed in the Olivier Auditorium of the National Theatre, London, as the first part of The Coast of Utopia trilogy, on June 27, 2002. The cast was as follows:
ALEXANDER BAKUNIN John Carlisle
VARVARA Felicity Dean
LIUBOV Eve Best
VARENKA Charlotte Emmerson
TATIANA Lucy Whybrow
ALEXANDRA Anna Maxwell Martin
MISS CHAMBERLAIN Jennifer Scott Maiden
BARON RENNE Jack James
SEMYON John Nolan
MICHAEL BAKUNIN Douglas Henshall
NICHOLAS STANKEVICH Raymond Coulthard
MASHA Janet Spencer-Turner
VISSARION BELINSKY Will Keen
IVAN TURGENEV Guy Henry
ALEXANDER HERZEN Stephen Dillane
MRS BEYER Janine Duvitski
NICHOLAS SAZONOV Jonathan Slinger
NICHOLAS OGAREV Simon Day
NICHOLAS KETSCHER Paul Ritter
NICHOLAS POLEVOY Nick Sampson
NATALIE BEYER Rachel Ferjani
PETER CHAADAEV Iain Mitchell
STEPAN SHEVYREV Sam Troughton
DYAKOV David Verrey
KATYA Jasmine Hyde
PUSHKIN Jack James
A GINGER CAT Richard Hollis
Other parts played by Thomas Arnold, Martin Chamberlain, Sarah Manton, Kemal Sylvester
Director Trevor Nunn
Set, Costume and Video Designer William Dudley
Lighting Designer David Hersey
Associate Director Stephen Rayne
Music Steven Edis
Movement Director David Bolger
Sound Designer Paul Groothuis
Company Voice Work Patsy Rodenburg
CHARACTERS
ALEXANDER BAKUNIN
VARVARA, his wife
MISS CHAMBERLAIN, an English governess
BARON RENNE, a cavalry officer
SEMYON, senior household servant
MASHA, the maid
NICHOLAS STANKEVICH, a young philosopher
MICHAEL BAKUNIN, the Bakunins’ son
VISSARION BELINSKY, a literary critic
IVAN TURGENEV, a would-be writer
ALEXANDER HERZEN, a would-be revolutionary
NICHOLAS POLEVOY, editor of the Telegraph
MRS BEYER
NATALIE BEYER, Mrs Beyer's daughter
PETER CHAADAEV, a philosopher
STEPAN SHEVYREV, editor of the Moscow Observer
KATYA, Belinsky's mistress
ALEXANDER PUSHKIN, the poet
DYAKOV, a cavalry officer
A GINGER CAT
SERVANT, PARTY GUESTS, MUSICIANS, ETC.
ACT ONE
SUMMER 1833
Premukhino, the Bakunin estate, a hundred and fifty miles north-west of Moscow.
Interior, verandah, garden. There are places to sit in the garden, and a hammock. One setting is intended to serve for Act One.
Family supper is coming to an end. At the table—ALEXANDER BAKUNIN (sixty-five) and his wife, VARVARA (forty-two); their daughters, LIUBOV (twenty-two), VARENKA (twenty-one), TATIANA (eighteen) and ALEXANDRA (seventeen); MISS CHAMBERLAIN, a young English governess; and BARON RENNE (thirty-six), a cavalry officer in uniform. Household servants (serfs), notably SEMYON, who is senior, attend the table as may be. ‘English’ dialogue is spoken with a Russian accent, except in the case of Miss Chamberlain. The tempo is lively. Alexander Bakunin's rule is benign despotism, but the family atmosphere is prevailingly democratic.
ALEXANDER Speaking of which—Liubov, say something in English for the Baron.
LIUBOV What do you want me to say, Papa?
ALEXANDER All my daughters have been educated in five languages—call me a liberal if you like, I read Rousseau as a young man, I was there at the
