Strider

Strider is a play by Russian theatre director and dramatist Mark Rozovsky (1937- ).

An acting edition published by Samuel French (date?)

The original text

Adapted from the 1886 story Kholstomer [1] by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy's (1828–1910) [2] of life seen through the eyes of Strider, a piebald horse. The story has been brilliantly and magically adapted to the stage and it makes Strider seem both equine and thoughtfully human. Despite his maverick coat, Strider is a thoroughbred and a champion. He tells his story to the other horses in the stable; it is one of unexpected triumph and undeserved despair, running much the same as his master's, a dissolute prince. Strider is also an allegory about the indomitability of the pure in spirit- and while inspirational, it is also a valid commentary on the injustices of the world.

Translations and adaptations

The English stage version of Rozovsky's play was created by Robert Kalfin (1933- ) [3] and Steve Brown, based on a translation by Tamara Bering Sunguroff.

Performance history in South Africa

1987: Staged by PACT in the Alexander and at the Grahamstown Festival, directed by Terrence Shank, with Marius Weyers (Strider), Michael Richard (Prince Serpuhovsky), Aletta Bezuidenhout (Viazapurikha),

Sources

http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/6749/strider

PACT theatre programme, 1987.

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