The St Petersburg Press Culture & Lifestyle Guide

The Bizarre and Extravagant World of Miss Julie

An explosive Russian adaptation of "Miss Julie," which swept the awards at last year's Strindberg Festival in Stockholm, is sure to set the playwright spinning in his grave like a lathe.

In this production, controversial director Boris Poyenesovsky has -- English-speakers will be glad to hear -- ripped out much of Strindberg's text and replaced it with his own brew of nonverbal invention, acrobatics and movement-based spectacle. Read full story

PERFORMING ARTS

The Fairytale World of Hans Christian Andersen. (Photo) The fairytale world of Hans Christian Andersen is the subject of an enchanting new exhibition at the Anna Akhmatova Museum in St Petersburg.

This week's events

FOOD

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Dine in Majestic Surroundings at Cafe Peterhof Eating within the grounds of one of Russia's most beautiful palaces can crown a real day out as we discovered at Cafe Peterhof

ABOUT TOWN: Sweets and Treats at Nektar Cafe

GETTING AROUND

Tortured faces unexpected places. (Photo) Two of St Petersburg's finest avant-garde sculptors have finally made it to Russia's finest art gallery after years in the wilderness of the underground movement.

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

The Spoils of War. (Photos) World War Two ripped apart families, loyalties. The daughters of famous German industrialist Friedrich Siemens understand. The family's collection of 19th-century paintings reappeared in an exhibition of 74 French oils at the Hermitage. Until last week they were hidden in museum depositories.

MUSIC

The Rogues' Gallery. (Photo) Rock stars paint too. Boris Grebenshchikov of Aquarium, the best-known Russian rock band, proves it by presenting 11 of his paintings (made over the past decade) in a downtown art gallery.

The Fish Fabrique Club "A living room with a bar in it" is how one patron described Fish Fabrique, one of the more accessible among the spate of new clubs and bars in St Petersburg -- and, in the best sense, that's exactly what it is.

Music Scene & Club Guide for this week