Kostiantyn Mishchenko Interview by Jen Bush

The esteemed American Theatre of Actors has been putting on classics as well as diverse and cutting-edge theatre for nearly 50 years.  Their support of new artists is unprecedented.  From September 21^st-30^th they will present the riveting world premiere of An Artist in Purgatory:Baudelaire’s Passion.  This piece brings an international cast including artists from Ukraine to this landmarked theatre.  This exciting new work has choreography, an original score and even original artwork.  Though this play is an international extravaganza about a French poet that will be performed in Russian, there’s no need to bring a Russian-English dictionary to the theatre.  The performance will be presented with supertitles.

An Artist in Purgatory: Baudelaire’s Passion is a heavenly and devilishly good piece about 19^th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire.  The poor wordsmith is stuck in purgatory while Saint Peter and Satan duke it out for his soul.  Will he be floating on a cloud or fanning the flames of Hades?   You’ll have to see the show to find out!  Till then, check out our interview with cast member Kostiantyn Mishchenko.

Mr. Mishchenko has had to good fortune to work in Ukraine and in the U.S.  This award-winning actor and director had enjoyed a 23-year tenure at the Wheel Theater in Kiev, Ukraine before moving to the U.S.

“I was Born in Ukraine. Since 2016 I have been living in New York. I make movies as a director. I perform in Off-Broadway theatres. I Worked as a general TV producer for 25 years. My films have received 987 awards at various film festivals.”

This is a fascinating and surreal piece.  For Mr. Mishchenko, creating a character is all in a day’s work.

“I treat it like a normal routine job.”

This is a “fantasy” about a real person and the message is a powerful one AND the production scheme (a fantasy about a French a poet performed in Russian with English subtitles) is certainly a challenge. We thought for sure this presented a stronger challenge or required added responsibility on the part of the cast.  “For me, this is not a challenge. I don’t feel any additional responsibility… As a professional actor, I have the same attitude towards any creativity… Respectfully…”

People are fascinated with Heaven and Hell.  Mr. Mishchenko is happy to act out a part and leave the fascination to the audience.  “Maybe someone is fascinated… I’m not…”

We don’t know what’s next for Mr. Mishchenko but given his longevity in the industry, it won’t be long before an interesting artistic opportunity comes along.  Till then, please see this compelling international production at an institution that allows artists to thrive.

An Artist in Purgatory:Baudelaire’s Passion

The John Cullum Theatre at The American Theatre of Actors

314 W. 54^th Street