The preparation for this play took almost five years. So much historical and literary material, Tolstoy's specific perspective, and colossal volumes of narrative required the full attention and talent of the famous director Peter Fomenko. But such meticulous work on the production paid off, and a couple of years later this play was recognized as one of the peaks of modern theatrical art. This production in 2002 collected a heap of awards in its genre at the prestigious theater award "Golden Mask": best small form play, best direction, and best female role for Galina Tyunina. Critics could not help but appreciate the scale of Peter Fomenko's work, who was the first to dare to stage the greatest novel of Leo Tolstoy, indeed the greatest in every sense. The play includes events from the first part of the first volume up to Prince Andrei's departure for the army. The multilayered narrative of the novel is repeated on stage both visually and ideologically. Several layers of action, several roles for each actor. For example, Galina Tyunina easily transforms from the salon hostess Anna Pavlovna Scherer to Natasha Rostova's mother, and then even to Princess Maria Bolkonskaya. Each character is depicted according to their bright color, characteristic trait. About "War and Peace. The Beginning of the Novel" one cannot say dryly: "they staged a classic." The "Fomenkos" do not just play roles, do not just stage the text, they read it in their own way, sometimes in the literal sense, discussing phrases straight from the open book. The lightness and at the same time reverence towards the original source, which is manifested even in the title, is the foundation of the play "War and Peace. The Beginning of the Novel." The performance lasts 3 hours and 40 minutes with two intermissions. See even more performances on our website in the theater section.