Bunin/Berberova: In Paris/ The Waiter and the Slut

Driven to exile following the revolution, former Russian aristocrats now find themselves isolated as new immigrants in Paris. Their new lives are spent battling sickness, searching for affordable apartments and waiting in pawn shops, Ivan Bunin's In Paris tells the brief and bittersweet encounter of an ex-general of the old imperial army and Olga Alexandrovna, a young woman now working as a waitress in a Russian restaurant. Upon a chance meeting, they momentarily find a sense of home in each other’s arms. In Nina Berberova's raw and searing The Waiter And The Slut, Tania Shabunina longs to find a wealthy man to take care of her, only to attract a former lieutenant now working as a waiter at an upscale restaurant. Living bitterly among ghosts of her past, Tania soon grows to hate her lover as her dream of "Parisian happiness'“ seem farther and farther out of reach.

For tickets, please visit www.russiantheater.org.