About the work
Nord-Ost is a Russian musical by Alexei Ivashchenko and Georgy Vasilyev, who together wrote the music, lyrics and book based on Veniamin Kaverin's novel "Two Captains" and also directed the premiere. The show opened on October 19, 2001, at a theatre centre built specifically for it at Dubrovka in Moscow.
Plot
Spanning two generations and the upheavals of Russian history – from an Arctic expedition through the revolution to the siege of Leningrad – the story follows young Sasha Grigoryev, who falls in love with Katya, the stepdaughter of his boarding school's director. The production was noted, among other things, for a full-size airplane landing on stage.
Cultural significance
Nord-Ost ran for more than 400 performances before nearly half a million spectators and won Russia's "Golden Mask" theatre award in 2003. The show gained tragic notoriety when Chechen hostage-takers stormed a performance on October 23, 2002; at least 130 hostages died when Russian special forces stormed the building three days later.