It’s me, Edith Piaf by Nina Mazur

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The Play
It’s me, Edith Piaf is a monodrama performance in German or Russian (both are possible) with songs of Edith Piaf’s repertoire in original language. When alive, she was called ‘The Soul of the French Nation’. After she died she became an icon of French music. The songs of her repertoire are still popular in the whole world. The legendary singer, who began her career on the Parisian pavements, answered the question about the meaning of her life with “Love. What else?” This production on the play written by Nina Mazur has been created by the alumnae of St. Petersburg Theatre Academy.

The Director
Evgenia Boginskaya, theatre director and actress, born in 1984, lives in St. Petersburg. She graduated as an actress from the Theatre Academy of Vadivostok. While being an actress she felt that the boundaries of her activity could be wider. She moved to St. Petersburg, where she studied at the Academy of Theatre Arts under the Russian legendary theatre teacher, V. Filshtinsky. In 2016 she graduated and got the diploma for being a theatre director. She has been working as a theatre director and a teacher of acting, with professional actors since 2008. Her directorial works include A Wife written by A. Chekhov, Antony and Cleopatra by W. Shakespeare, A holiday long sleep by N.
Ostrovsky, The choir is dying by A. Volodin, Three Stories based on A. Skivko-Korovkina’s play Bugs, It’s me, Edith Piaf by N. Mazur, and Rainbows over Hiroshima by Inoue Hisasi. Evgenia has worked as an acting teacher at Teatr Nowy im. T. Łomnickiego, Poznan, Poland; Teatr Zagłębia, Sosnowiec, Poland; and Teatr Współczesny im. Edmunda Wiercińskiego, Wroclaw, Poland.

The Playwright
Nina Mazur (Germany, Hanover) was born in Bishkek, Kirgizstan. She graduated from Moscow State Theatre Academy (GITIS), Faculty of History and Theory of Theatre, and post-graduated at St. Petersburg Academy of Theatre, Music and Cinema. Before leaving for Hanover, she worked at the theatre department of Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Arts (Kiev), and was a professor of History of Art in the University. Nina Mazur is the creator, coordinator and consultant of many international theatre festivals all around the world. Her activity in ITI, UNESCO is well-known. She is the Vice- President of Monodrama Forum, International Theatre Institute, UNESCO, and a member of German Centre of ITI. Nina Mazur is also a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC) and a member of the International Dance Council by UNESCO. She is a theatre critic and author of
many articles on theatre in professional magazines. She is also the author of the book The Stage Interpretations of the Ballets of Ukrainian Composers. Nina Mazur is a member of literature society Die Faehre (Hanover, Germany) and a member of literature association APIA (London, UK). She is a playwright and her plays have been translated into many languages and staged in many countries.

The Group
Internationales Berliner Drama Theater (International Berlin Theatre of Drama) was founded in 2014 by the German actress, Anastasia Weinmar and her stage partner and an honorary actor of Russia, A. Ivanov, as an international company of professional theatre artists. It aims to exchange scenic experiences between West and East European theatre traditions and to promote the culture of each other. In three years of its existence, the IBDT has created 3 plays. The 4 th production is being rehearsed. The last production of the company, a monodrama after Nina Mazur’s play, It’s me, Edith Piaf has been performed all-over Europe and was/is invited to numerous monodrama festivals, such as Saint Muse in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), Impulse in Bishkek (Kirgizstan), Maria in Kiev (Ukraine),
Small Theatre Festival in Lublin (Poland), and Albamono in Albania.

Cast & Credits
Edith Piaf : Anastasia Weinmar
Set & Costume : Ilshat Vildanov
Musical Arrangement : Natalia Smotritskaya
Playwright : Nina Mazur
Direction : E. Boginskaya

Manohar Khushalani

Manohar Khushalani

Prof. Manohar Khushalani is a former Visiting Faculty at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. The courses he taught were: Animation & Graphics, Non-Linear Editing for Film and Radio and Theatre Appreciation.  He has won a total of nine Excellence in Teaching awards for all the courses he has taught at IIITD Earlier he retired from Government of India as Director Environment Management, Central Water Commission and held many senior positions in the Government Based on a Belief that Culture and Environment are the two keys to global sustainability , Manohar Khushalani has launched two portals: A Portal on Environment and Water called One Vorld at url: www.onevorld.org and two Ezines on Culture called Stage Buzz at url: www.stagebuzz.in He has taught extensively in varied subjects such as Dam Safety, Instrumentation, CAD, IT, Animation, Theatre, Newspaper Editing. He has conducted Courses on Environment Management, Water Shed Development, Team Building and Personality Development. He was an Expert Member of Prasar Bharti’s Committee for Grading & Short listing Films for Telecast on all channels of Doordarshan.  He is a Radio Anchor for All India Radio and has moderated several programs for the Rajdhani Channel He is a well-known Theatre Actor/Director and Critic, has been involved in theatre since 1977. He has worked as an actor in over 50 plays with almost every leading director/Actor in the Country including Badal Sircar, Feisal Alkazi, Amal Allana, M.K. Raina, Anuradha Kapoor, Maya Rao, Manohar Singh, Prasanna, Rati Bartholomew and Sushmita Mukherji. He has been active in the social sector as a street theatre activist. As a member of Workshop Theatre, Theatre Union and Prayog, Khushalani has participated in street plays taking up major social issues such as dowry, bride burning, Sati, banned medicinal drugs and communalism. Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Can’t Pay Won’t Pay, both directed by him, received rave notices from critics and audiences alike. Other plays directed by him include Badal Sircar’s, Sagina Mahato and Boris Vian’s Empire Builders for Ruchika Theatre Group. Khushalani has also acted in a few films such as Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi , Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café and Pradeep Krishan's Annie Gives Those Ones. He is an Animator & Graphics Designer and has directed a number of documentaries. He also held a number of Honorary positions and was President of North India Films Association, He was the Chairman of  Jury for UGC CEC Educational Films Competition and has been on their Preview Committee since last many years. He was on the preview committee of Door Darshan Channel 3, was a visiting Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi, and Film & Television Institute of India, Pune, AJKMCRR, Jamia Milia Islamia and Professor in Media at FICT, Delhi  He has judged a large number of Drama Competitions and conducted a number of Theatre / Management Games Workshops with Institutions such as AIIMS, NTPC, CWPRS, NWA, Karve Nari Prakshishan Sansthan, FICT, IIT, MAMC, Gargi College, KNC, Tagore International School and Vivekananda School. He is a Theatre Critic for IIC Diary, has also been a Columnist with Midday and Pioneer Daily and wrote Column's Called Culture Cocktail and Footlights Respectively. He was also the Guest Editor for an issue on Folk Theatre of ICCR Journal Horizons. He has written for Times of Indian, Hindustan Times, Blitz, Hard News, Hindu Business Line, Theatre India & Art Times. He has designed dams and hydraulic structures for the Government. He is a programmer and has developed Engineering design software in Fortran. He is a co-author of Irrigation Practice & Design (Vol 1 to5 - 1500 pages) published by Oxford & IBH and sponsored by National Book Trust. He has been a Director, Environment and Sociology, at the National Water Academy, Khadakwasla and Director, Environment Management Directorate, Central Water Commission and Member Secretary, National Environmental Monitoring Committee for River Valley Projects. He was also Director of Instrumentation Directorate in the Dam Safety Organisation. He was Chief General Manager and Head of Water Resources at Scott Wilson and is an accredited consultant with numerous other organizations He is a Delhi Public School, BITS Pilani, IIT Delhi and FTI Pune Alumini. He was also the President of BITS Pilani Alumni Association, Pune.

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