June-July 2019

Saltanat’s mother sends her to the city to marry a man who will pay off her father’s debts. Accompanied by her admirer Kuandyk, she discovers that city men do not keep their word. Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s film navigates us through existential contemplations on the impossibilities of life.

Simon Russell Beal, one of Britain’s finest Shakespearean actors, plays the title role in this bold re-telling of William Shakespeare’s Richard II. The staging is visceral and modern, powerful and intense. This is a stripped-back version which focuses on the essence of the story – a power struggle between two failing leaders, ruling a divided country.