“As director and translator, Noah Birksted-Breen makes a profoundly Russian play accessible to a western audience. Kevin McMonagle as the hero suggests both the sadness and the occasional ecstasy of the epistolary life.” The Guardian
“Noah Birksted-Breen’s Sputnik Theatre production bubbles with ideas… Birksted-Breen’s translation nicely balances bitterness and wit, and Kevin McMonagle is an appealing and affecting Ivan.” The Times
“Noah Birksted-Breen, the translator and director, retains this very Russian spirit while at the same time rendering the piece accessible to a British audience with his fresh, unstilted translation.” The Independent
Time Out Critics’ Choice, 2005 and 2006.
In 2005, Sputnik produced the British premiere of Russian National Mail at the Old Red Lion in London.
In 2006, Sputnik’s production was invited to be part of the Time Out Critics’ Choice Festival in London: Russian National Mail transferred to the Battersea Arts Centre for a further three week run.
In 2008, Russian National Mail toured to Ekaterinburg where it ran for two performances at the Kolyada-Plays Festival at the invitation of the Kolyada-Theatre, and it also ran for two evenings at Teatr.doc in Moscow as part of the same international tour.
