Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood: Oksana Mysina

Oksana Mysina

(A complete listing of Oksana's roles in film, theater and radio follows the biographical text)
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Oksana MYSINA is one of the most accomplished and respected actresses in Russia. The French critic Michel Cournot simply called her a “great Russian actress.“ The American director and producer Melanie Joseph has called her “one of the greatest actresses of our time.“ The actor and director Oleg Menshikov said Oksana is “one of the few dramatic actresses today who commands a true tragic temperament,” adding, „I never believed the [acting] profession could so completely consume a person, but with Oksana I now see it can.” With an obvious sense of veneration, the actor Alexander Kalyagin has said this of her: „With delight and unconcealed envy her contemporaries must note her incomprehensible capacity for work, her penchant for being absolutely unpredictable and her proclivity for taking professional risks that borders on recklessness and lunacy.”

Mysina began her professional career in 1988 at the Spartacus Square Theater. Her performance there of the title role in Lyudmila Razumovskaya's “Dear Yelena Sergeyevna” brought about her first international recognition. An American tour in 1990 (36 shows at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and 6 shows at California State University at Dominguez Hills near Los Angeles) garnered rave reviews in these cities' main newspapers. Hedy Weiss in the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that Mysina delivered an “astonishing performance that is half silk and half indestructible steel.”

Since 1994 Mysina has worked independently and has performed for many of Russia's finest directors. These shows include Kama Ginkas's production of “K. I. from'Crime'” (1994), Roman Kozak's production of Iris Murdoch's “The Black Prince” (Pushkin Theater, 2002) and Nikolai Yevreinov's “The Main Thing” (Moscow Art Theater, 1999); Oleg Menshikov's production of Maxim Kurochkin's “Kitchen” (814 Theatrical Association, 2000), Vladimir Mirzoyev's production of Alexei Kazantsev's “That, This Other World” (Stanislavsky Theater, 1997) and Dmitry Krymov's “Tararabumbia” (School of Dramatic Art, 2010).

Since 2010 Oksana has worked closely with numerous directors at the School of Dramatic Art. In January of that year she began her collaboration with the theater in “Tararabumbia. A Procession,” a difficult-to-describe production by Krymov and Alexander Bakshi. In this production Oksana is one of 83 cast members and she performs a multitude of roles, including Arkadina, Ranevskaya, Olga, a Russian Army officer, a Soviet synchronized swimming champion, Gertrude and others. In December 2010 she opened in Christophe Feutrier's production of Valere Novarina's now-classic absurdist work “The Imaginary Operetta.” Oksana here plays the Author, who, in the course of the performance, transforms into many of his own characters. In March 2011 Oksana opened in Igor Yatsko's production of Polish playwright Joanna Owsianko's “Tiramisu.” In October 2011 she opened in Klim's “The Theater of Medea“ with director Vladimir Berzin, which was named „Best One-Actor Show” at the Christmas Parade festival in St. Petersburg in December 2011.

Mysina's most famous work in Russia and abroad has been in Ginkas's legendary production of “K. I. from'Crime',“ a play written by Daniil Gink and based on the character of Katerina Ivanovna from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel „Crime and Punishment.” Since opening in 1994, this show (which still runs in repertory at Moscow's Young Spectator, or New Generation, Theater) has been performed over 330 times in 15 countries. “K. I. from'Crime'” performed at Bard College's Fisher Center for the Performing Arts in New York in August 2003. In January 2005, it ran for three weeks on Off-Broadway in a production of the Foundry Theater and was a genuine success de scandal. A three-week tour in the fall of 2006 to three cities in Brazil was triumphant, playing to standing-room-only crowds and garnering praise as “sensational,“ “masterful” and „stupendous.” Gink's play, with production photos, is published in English in TheatreForum No. 23 (2003), pp. 89-99.

Mysina's relationship with the director Boris Lvov-Anokhin (1927-2000) holds a special place in her biography. She performed leads in this classic director's last four productions: Michael Redgrave's “The Aspern Papers” based on the novella by Henry James (1993), Ferdinand Bruckner's “A Heroic Comedy” (1995), Eugene Scribe and Ernest Legouve's “The Novellas of Margaret of Navarre” (1996) and Alexander Ostrovsky's “Moscow Stories About Love and Marriage” (1999). She performed on tour with this latter show in Marseilles, France, in 2001.

Mysina debuted as a theater director with her production of Viktor Korkiya's “Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on the Island of Taganrog” on September 19, 2001. This show, whose production title is “Quixote and Sancho“ and in which she performs the role of Sancho Panza, marked the debut of her own theater, the Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood. She followed that production with Korkiya's „Ariston,” a modern rendition of the Oedipus myth, also for the Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood. It premiered April 7, 2004.

Oksana has been a strong supporter of contemporary Russian playwrights. Her performances in plays by Razumovskaya, Kazantsev, Kurochkin, Korkiya, Klim and others have helped define these writers' reputations. During the first New Drama festival in 2002 Oksana performed the first public reading of Lasha Bugadze's “Shocked Tatyana“ and directed the staged reading of Bugadze's „Political Play.” In 2006 Oksana worked with Swedish director Mathias Lafolie on a play-reading project that brought new Swedish writing to Russia. In 2011 she performed in “Gerontophobia,“ a new play by the late Togliatti-based playwright Vadim Levanov, directed by Yevgenia Berkovich.

Mysina has played numerous memorable roles in film and television. For her performance in Vadim Abdrashitov's „Play for a Passenger” (1995) she received a Golden Ram award for best debut. For her performance in Yelena Tsyplakova's “Family Secrets” (2001), a 22-part TV mini-series, she received a Spolokhi award for best actress at the 3rd festival of television movies in Arkhangelsk. Her performance in “The Other Mask“ episode of the original “Kamenskaya” TV mini-series is recognized as a small masterpiece. Her performance as the Empress Marya Fyodorovna Vitaly Melnikov's „Poor, Poor Pavel” (2003), a cinematic biography about Pavel I, has been recognized for excellence on several fronts. It brought her awards at the 14th annual Vera Kholodnaya Women of Film festival in Moscow, the Vivat, Russian Cinema festival in St. Petersburg, and the Artek International Children's Film Festival in the Crimea, all in 2004. For this role, she was nominated for a Nika award (generally considered the Russian Oscar) in the Best Supporting Actress category. In Oleg Babitsky and Yury Goldin's television movie of Mikhail Bulgakov's “Theatrical Novel” (fall 2003), she offered a tartly eccentric interpretation of Polixena. Her performance as Elzbieta in Alexei Zernov's ironic TV mini-series “All or Nothing” was first aired in March/April 2004. Mysina performed the lead in Arkady Sirenko's made-for TV movie “Wilting-Failing,” based on stories by Vasily Shukshin (2004). She performed in Andrei Eshpai's TV version of Anatoly Rybakov's novel “The Children of the Arbat” (2004) and in Yury Kara's “A Star of the Age” (2005) in which she played the legendary Russian actress Serafima Birman. For Eldar Ryazanov she played the tragicomic role Hans Christian Andersen's mother Anna-Maria in Ryazanov's film “Andersen” (2007). Oksana has performed in numerous television serials and movies, including “Kamenskaya,“ “Detectives,“ “Bloody Mary, “ “The Journey” and „Lessons of Seduction.” In Vitaly Melnikov's „Attack the Enemy Agit-Brigade,” she played an exalted youth leader from the period of World War II. In Melnikov's new film „The Admirer” (2012) she plays a decadent poet.

Mysina is the frontwoman and lead singer of her own rock band Oxy Rocks. She plays the violin and writes the lyrics to the band's songs. Her Russian-language cover version of Bob Dylan's Oscar-winning song “Things Have Changed” was played by Michael Tearson on his Sirius Satellite program. It also took second place in 2009 in an international Dylan cover contest hosted by Dylanradio.com. The band's songs “Persona non grata,“ and „The Road” were included in the compilation albums «Rock 4 Life» and “Rise Up!“ The band's song “Blues Rock Mood” took second place in the Russian Frank Zappa Rock Festival. Oxy Rocks regularly performs in various Moscow venues and clubs and performs on tours throughout Russia and other countries of the CIS. Its first album, „Blues Rock Mood,” was released in 2007. A second album is being prepared for release now.
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OKSANA MYSINA IN THEATER, CINEMA AND RADIO
THEATER ROLES:
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THE KRASNAYA-PRESNYA YOUTH THEATER-STUDIO

1980-1981
Phoenix in “Sadko,” directed by Vyacheslav Spesivtsev.
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SHCHEPKIN INSTITUTE OF THE MALY THEATER (Mikhail Tsaryov Workshop, graduated 1986)

1985-1986
Major Grech in “So It Will Be” by Konstantin Simonov, directed by Rimma Solntseva.

1985-1986
Domna Panteleyevna in “Talents and Admirers” by Alexander Ostrovsky, directed by Natalya Petrova.

1985-1986
Lizzie in “The Rainmaker” by Richard Nash, directed by Rimma Solntseva.

1985-1986
Yevdokia the Martyr in “The House” after the novel by Fyodor Abramov, directed by Tatyana Yerokhina.

1985-1986
Nancy in “Oliver!” directed by Natalya Petrova.
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THE SPARTACUS SQUARE THEATER-STUDIO, director Svetlana Vragova:

1987-1994
Yelena Sergeevna in “Dear Yelena Sergeyevna” by Lyudmila Razumovskaya. Tours: Zagreb and Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Feb. 1989), Chicago, USA (May-June 1990), Los Angeles, USA (June-July 1990).

1988-1994
Various roles in “Personals!” a musical revue.

1991-1994
Vera in “Video: Cell: Card Game“ after Yevgeny Kozlovsky's play „Faithhopelove.”

1992-1994
Mavrusha and Brandokhlystova in “The Joyous Days of Rasplyuyev“ after Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin's play „The Death of Tarelkin.”
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NOVY DRAMA THEATER, director Boris Lvov-Anokhin:

1993-1996
Miss Tina in “The Aspern Papers” by Michael Redgrave after the novella by Henry James.

1995-2002
Germaine de Stael in “A Heroic Comedy, or, the Whims of Madame de Stael” by Ferdinand Bruckner.

1996-2002
Margarita of Navarre in “A Queen's Revenge, or, the Novellas of Margarita of Navarre” by Eugene Scribe and Ernest Legouve.

1999-2002
Serafima Karpovna in “Moscow Stories of Love and Marriage” after Alexander Ostrovsky. Smoktunovsky Prize for Best Female Performance (2000). Tour: The Russian Season festival in Marseilles, France (March 2001).
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OKSANA MYSINA THEATRICAL BROTHERHOOD

2001 to 2008.
Sancho in “Quixote and Sancho“ after Viktor Korkiya's play „Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on the Island of Taganrog,” directed by Mysina, Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood. Tours: Open Format festival, Minsk, Belarus (Dec. 2003).

2006 to 2008.
Jocasta in “Ariston” by Viktor Korkiya, directed by Mysina, Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood.
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MOSCOW ART THEATER

1997-1998
Teibele in “Teibele and Her Demon” by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Eve Friedman, directed by Vyacheslav Dolgachyov, Chekhov Moscow Art Theater.

1999-2002
Barefoot Dancer in “The Main Thing“ by Nikolai Yevreinov, directed by Roman Kozak, Chekhov Moscow Art Theater. Nomination for the “Seagull” award in the „Smile” category (1999).
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SCHOOL OF DRAMATIC ART

2010 to present.
Various roles, “Tararabumbia,” directed by Dmitry Krymov.

2010 to present.
Yo Nemoyo, “The Imaginary Operetta” by Valere Novarina, directed by Christophe Feutrier.

2011 to present.
Actress, “The Theater of Medea“ by Klim, directed by Vladimir Berzin. Award: „Best one-actor show”, Christmas Parade Festival, St. Petersburg, Dec. 2011. Tour: Christmas Parade Festival, St. Petersburg, Dec. 2011.

2012 to present.
Various roles, “Auction” after Chekhov, directed by Dmitry Krymov.
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VARIOUS THEATERS:

1994 to present.
Katerina Ivanovna in “K. I. from'Crime'“ by Daniil Gink based on segments of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel „Crime and Punishment,” directed by Kama Ginkas, the Moscow Young Spectator Theater (known in English since 2003 as the New Generation Theater). Awards and nominations: the “Affection Prize” of the newspaper Komsomolskaya pravda (1995); nomination for the Golden Mask award for Best Female Role (1995), nomination for a Stanislavsky Prize (1995). Tours: Helsinki, Finland (August 1995), St. Petersburg, Russia (Sept. 1995 and Dec. 1997), Wroclaw, Poland (Nov. 1995), Kiev, Ukraine (April 1996), Stockholm, Sweden (May 1996), Avignon, France (July 1997), Zurich, Switerland (July 1998), Goteborg, Sweden (Aug. 1998), Plovdiv, Bulgaria (Sept. 1998), Tbilisi, Georgia (Sept. 1998 and Sept. 2002), Stuttgart, Germany (Dec. 1999), Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Sept. 2000), Tallinn, Estonia (Dec. 2000), Amsterdam, Holland (Feb. 2002), The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard College, New York, USA (Aug. 2003), Berlin, Germany (Sept. 2003), The Foundry Theatre, New York City, USA (Jan. 2005), Brasilia, San Paolo and Rio de Janiero, Brazil (Sept.-Oct. 2006).

1997-1998
Maya in “That, This Other World” by Alexei Kazantsev, directed by Vladimir Mirzoyev, Stanislavsky Drama Theater.

2000-2002
Kriemhild in “Kitchen” by Maxim Kurochkin, directed by Oleg Menshikov, the 814 Theatrical Association.

2002-2004
Rachel Buffin in “The Black Prince” by Iris Murdoch, directed by Roman Kozak, Pushkin Theater.

2005-2006.
Queen Margarita in “The King of Sins and the Queen of Fears,“ after „Iwona, Princess of Burgundia” by Witold Gombrowicz, directed by Yury Urnov, Theater of Nations.

2006-2007.
Inna in “Libido” by Alexander Chugunov, directed by Alexander Ogaryov, Oikumene Theater House.

2008.
Jean in “Dead Man's Cell Phone” by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Yury Urnov, Independent production.
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PRODUCTIONS AS DIRECTOR:

2001
“Quixote and Sancho“ after Viktor Korkiya's play „Don Quixote and Sancho Panza on the Island of Taganrog,” Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood. Tours: Open Format festival, Minsk, Belarus (Dec. 2003).

2002
“Political Play” by Lasha Bugadze; staged for the Lyubimovka Festival of Young Drama.

2003
“A Family Evening” by Andrei Kureichik; staged for the Open Format festival of contemporary drama in Minsk, Belarus on the stage of the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theater.

2004
“Ariston,” (a contemporary version of the myth about Oedipus, by Viktor Korkiya, Oksana Mysina Theatrical Brotherhood.
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ROLES IN FILM AND TELEVISION:

1987
Stewardess (episode) in “Time to Fly,“ feature film directed by Alexei Sakharov.

Oksana (episode) in „The Habitat” — film made for TV, directed by Lev Tsutsulkovsky.

1988
Yelena Sergeyevna in “Dear Yelena Sergeyevna” — televised version of the theatrical production, directed by Svetlana Vragova.

Galina (featured) in “Miss Millionairess,” feature film directed by Alexander Rogozhkin.

1991
Angelika (episode) in “The Leg,” feature film directed by Nikita Tyagunov.

Vera Titova (supporting) in «$1000 One-Way Ticket,» feature film directed by Alexander Surin.

1992
Nyuka (supporting) in “Silhouette in the Window Opposite,” feature film directed by Rein Liblik.

1995
Inna (supporting) in “Play for a Passenger,“ feature film directed by Vadim Abdrashitov. Golden Ram prize in the „Promise” category.

1998
Katerina Ivanovna (title role) in “K. I. from'Crime'” — televised version of the theatrical production, directed by Kama Ginkas.

2000
Larisa Isichenko (featured) in “Kamenskaya” — televised serial, film No. 7 “Another's Mask,” directed by Yury Moroz.

2001
Tatyana Yermakova (lead) in “Family Secrets” — TV miniseries, directed by Yelena Tsyplakova. Best Supporting Actress award at the SPOLOKHI Festival for Television Feature Films, Arkhangelsk (2002).

Oksana Nemigailo (supporting) in «Detectives-1» — televised serial, directed by Valery Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolsky.

2003
Empress Maria Fyodorovna in “Poor, Poor Pavel,“ feature film directed by Vitaly Melnikov. Prizes and Nominations: „Best Female Role” at the Vivat, Russian Cinema! Festival (2004); the “I Remember that Wonderful Moment” prize at the Vera Kholodnaya Women in Cinema festival (2004); “Best Actress” at the 12th International Children's Film Festival at ARTEK (2004); nomination for the Nika Best Supporting Role, Actress (2004).

Poliksena Vasilyevna Toropetskaya (featured) in “A Theatrical Novel” — film made for TV, directed by Yury Goldin and Oleg Babitsky.

2004
Elzbeta Kszyzanovska (supporting) in “All or Nothing” — TV miniseries, directed by Alexei Zernov.

Nina (lead) in “The Tales of Shukshin. Wilting-Dying” — film made for TV, directed by Arkady Sirenko.

Lidiya Grigoryevna Zvyaguro (featured) in “Children of the Arbat” — TV miniseries, directed by Andrei Eshpai.

2005
Actress Serafima Birman (featured) in “A Star of the Age” — TV miniseries, directed by Yury Kara.

2006
Voiceover for Mrs Haps-Mills in “The Tulse Luper Suitcases: Part II (Russian Version),“ feature film directed by Peter Greenaway.

Voice of Angelina Stepanov in „Erdman and Stepanova: A Duel Portrait on the Interior of an Age” — documentary film, directed by Galina Yevtushenko.

2007
Anna-Maria Anderson and the Queen (supporting) in “Anderson,“ feature film directed by Eldar Ryazanov.

Albina (lead) in „Bloody Mary” — TV miniseries, directed by Nonna Agadzhanova.

Serafima Ivanovna (featured) in “'Kill the Enemy' Agit-Brigade” — feature film directed by Vitaly Melnikov.

Anya (supporting) in “The Journey” — TV miniseries, directed by Vladimir Kharchenko-Kulikovsky.

2008
Alla (lead) in “Lessons of Seduction,” film made for TV directed by Alexei Lisovets.

2009
Lidia Konstantinova (featured) in “Saviours of the Web,“ film made for TV directed by Dmitry Matov.

Elya (lead) in „Bravo, Laurencia!” — TV film, directed by Nadezhda Ptushkina.

Narration in “Don't Tell Me Who You Are” — documentary film, directed by Olesya Fokina.

2010
Narration in “Model for a Genius” — documentary film, directed by Olesya Fokina.

2012
Decadent Poetess (featured) in “The Admirer” — feature film directed by Vitaly Melnikov.

Narration in “I've Long Walked a Straight Line” — documentary film, directed by Olesya Fokina.

Narration in “Discarded Lives” — documentary film, directed by Navruz Akhmedov.
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IN POST-PRODUCTION:

Lead in “Slepota.doc,“ feature film directed by Yelena Kutlovskaya.

Mother in “Two Brothers,” short film directed by Mikhail Umanets.
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UNFINISHED:
The American in „The Big Waltz,” feature film directed by Vladimir Menshov.
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WORK IN RADIO:

1996
Giselle in “Giselle” by Olga Mikhailova, directed by Alina Salikashvili.

2008
Lady Pleasant in All Respects in “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol, directed by Viktor Trukhan.

2012
The Blonde in “The Blonde“ by Alexander Volodin, directed by Dmitry Nikolayev.

Margarita Ivanovna in “The Suicide” by Nikolai Erdman, directed by Dmitry Nikolayev.

RADIO SHOW HOSTED:
„Where Words End,” a weekly half-hour show devoted to the work of physically-challenged musicians. Orpheus Radio (2010 to present).