Jan Ewing’s IVAN VI to be Presented Virtually

Historical dramas are in-fashion on stage and on Netflix these days. Playwright/author Jan Ewing offers his own entry: the story of IVAN VI: The Baby Tsar of Russia.

This little-known tragedy of power corrupting even the most innocent is the tale of IVAN VI – the grandson of Ivan V, Peter the Great’s older brother, crowned, anointed and deified at the age of two-months, he was then forcibly removed by his cousin, Elizabeth, at fifteen months, and thrown into prison. The play opens in 1764 and – at that time – Tsar Ivan VI is 24 years old. Alone in a cell for 20 years, his only companions are two guards – one a sadistic commander and the other who has deep and conflicting feelings toward the young innocent boy. He is also haunted by two spirits acting as his conscience. Are they just figments of his imagination or are they two creatures trapped between earth and hell forced to watch the painful proceedings. Outside his cloister, as one might imagine, there are increased rumblings among the people that Ivan should be placed back on the throne and revolution is in the air.

The cast includes:

Patrick Hamilton, an actor and writer, will also be premiering his newest play The Box this August, and Gabriele Angieri, a stage and film actor critically acclaimed for his starring role as an FBI profiler in the psychological thriller Profile of a Killer, as the two sadistic tormentors; Kristyn Koczur, a stage veteran, with credits including Tennessee Williams’ I can’t Imagine Tomorrow, Jan Ewing’s Nursery Rhymes, and a one-woman film adaptation of Kay Adshead’s Entering Incomplete Map Data Area and Steven Mark Singer, who achieved critical acclaim as John Wilkes Booth in the new musical, Common Ground, as the spectres.

Celebrated stage actor, Matthew Tiemstra, as the title character, Ivan. Matt’s credentials include Marino Faliero, The Clockwork Boy, Hamlet, Julius Caesar; and on film in Agda Turning to Stone and Bloody Donny’s Fingers.

Jan Ewing, hailing from Southern California, has achieved great success as a playwright and author with a series of memoirs and stories on Amazon.com as well as the award-winning play, Nursery Rhymes; and the archival book series on indie theatre, Ewing Reviewing.

This engrossing virtual showing with special video and audio effects looks more like a film version than your command presentation. Available only June 4 – June 7, this engrossing stage/film hybrid takes us to a rare piece of history and a deeply moving drama.

Contact jmcommnet@gmail.com for screeners.