Tickets for the World Premiere of How Volcanoes Die at the IV Pacific International Theatre Festival now on sale

2026

On 20 June, tickets for the world premiere of the co-production "How Volcanoes Die" presented as part of the 4th Pacific Festival – went on public sale.

Tickets are available for purchase on the website of the Primorsky Regional Drama Youth Theatre.

The first international co‑production of the Pacific International Theatre Festival. The play is being created jointly by the Youth Theatre (Vladivostok) and director Ada Luana (Brazil). The premiere performances will take place on September 24, 25, and October 9.

The project stands as vivid testament to the continuing international cultural exchange. For Ada Luana, who already brought her Chekhov-inspired production "To Moscow! Palimpsest" to the Pacific Festival in 2023, working on a production inspired by Uncle Vanya is a natural continuation of her immersion in Russian dramaturgy.

"I asked myself: am I sure I want to stage Chekhov in Russia with Russian actors?" says the director. "But I believe it is possible to modernise, to refresh the play for a younger audience. Exchange between cultures is the most productive dialogue – that is precisely how interesting works are born."

One hundred and thirty-six years ago, Chekhov travelled across Russia to Sakhalin Island – to change his view of the world. Today, to understand Chekhov anew, Brazilian director Ada Luana has come to Vladivostok. Her interpretation of Uncle Vanya continues that merciless self‑reflection: how much is a person willing to tolerate, just to be "left in peace"?

For Ada Luana, a connoisseur of the Stanislavski system and a researcher of dramaturgy, Chekhov proved to be a prophet.

"We have found ourselves in the future Chekhov envisioned. We are still here. And perhaps we are not so different from his contemporaries: cold, desensitized, numb, incapable of action, lonely – we drift with the current while forests disappear and violence becomes the norm," reflects the director.

Together with the company of the Primorsky Regional Drama Youth Theatre, the director has worked through the method of etudes, selected two casts of actors, and is creating a production in which the classical is transmuted into the contemporary. It is a story about people who have lost the ability to feel and to resist, and about a world where nature is vanishing and human connections are breaking down. But it is also a story of hope – that within each of us, a warmth still remains, capable of awakening us from slumber.

The production, inspired by Uncle Vanya as seen through the eyes of Brazilian theatre, is an unexpected and poignant conversation about whether one should truly desire peace – and what happens if a volcano does not die, but awakens.