Octavia. Trepanation

Boris Yukhananov staged his first production of Seneca’s tragedy as a dialogue with fragments of Leon Trotsky’s essay about Lenin in 1989, unleashing a landmark performance for the late Soviet theatre underground on the stage of the assembly hall of one of Moscow's housing offices.

One might think the 2010s were bound to happen as they did so that Octavia could be reincarnated – this time in the form of an “opera-operation,” as its authors define the composition's genre. It is a 90-minute interdisciplinary project standing on the crossroads of contemporary music, installation and theatre.

I can safely say that mounting the world premiere of Octavia. Trepanation was one of the greatest adventures that the Holland Festival has embarked upon in recent years – in collaboration with the Stanislavsky Electrotheatre. Thanks to the visionary work of director Boris Yukhananov, the brilliant score by Dmitri Kourliandski, a fabulous ensemble of performers (including an immense choir of terracotta soldiers sourced locally), and super dedicated teams at both partner institutions, it became an unforgettable theatrical, musical and philosophical enquiry into the mechanisms of tyranny. At the same time, Octavia beautifully demonstrates that there are no limits to the artistic imagination, and that festivals and theatres are here to turn those dreams into realities.

– Jochem Valkenburg, programming director music & music theatre, Holland Festival

In 2021 “Octavia. Trepanation" was nominee the "Golden Mask" for:
• Opera/Performance – “Octavia. Trepanation"
• Director's work - Boris Yukhananov
• Female role - ensemble Questa Musica, Octavia
• Female role - Arina Zvereva, the ghost of Agrippina
• Male role - Alexey Kokhanov, Seneca
• Composer’s work in musical theater - Dmitry Kurlyandsky
• Artist's work in musical theater - Stepan Lukyanov
• The work of a costume designer in musical theater - Anastasia Nefedova
• Work of a lighting designer in musical theater - Sergey Vasiliev

In 2020, director Boris Yukhananov received the Grand Prix of the First Art Prize for Octavia.