‘BOLSHIE GASTROLI’ (or in English ‘GRAND TOUR’) is a Russian state project started by the Russian Ministry of Culture Federal Centre for Support of Touring Activities. It’s mission is to unite cultural space. ‘GRAND TOUR’ includes 85 regions on Russia. It also has an international branch.

In January, 2020 the Vakhtangov Theatre brings two signature productions by Rimas Tuminas – ‘EUGENE ONEGIN’ and ‘UNCLE VANIA’ to Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) with the support of the ‘GRAND TOUR’. The two plays were well received by the public in Azerbaijan, the Baltic countries, Belarus, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.

The world tour, which started in the fall in Paris, is dedicated to the Vakhtangov Theatre’s 100th anniversary.

Rimas Tuminas: “What could be better than Pushkin, Lermontov, Chekhov, Gogol? With age, you get tired of telling the stories of plays in three acts – you want to return to literature, find a theatre in literature. You want to create the play with artists based on our experience, knowledge and culture. Touching the classics today gives us such unexpected revelations in the understanding of our time that there is simply nothing to replace it with”.