Alexander Galin's

Stars in the Morning Sky

Translated by Michael Glenny
Written in collaboration with Cathy Porter

Writer
Alexander Galin
Translated by 
Michael Glenny
Written in collaboration with
Cathy Porter

Director
Nicholai La Barrie

Location
The Carne Studio Theatre

View cast sheet 

Dates
Friday 6 February at 7pm
Monday 9 February at 7pm
Tuesday 10 February at 2pm
Wednesday 11 February at 7pm
Thursday 12 February at 2pm

The running time is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes (no interval). 

About the show

The Olympic torch bearer approaches Moscow, heralding the start of the
1980 Olympics. But not everyone is allowed to celebrate. In a bid to show the world a cleaned-up version of the Soviet Union, the sex workers and other undesirables have been swept out of the city. On one unforgettable night, there is both brutality and unexpected romance, as the characters discover what is precious to them and cling to it for dear life.

Nicholai La Barrie is a theatre and film director and has been a MOBO Fellow. He is Associate Director at The Lyric Hammersmith.

Theatre credits include: Aladdin (Lyric Hammersmith); Two Stangers (Carry a cake across NY); Romeo & Juliet (Royal Exchange Theatre), God of Carnage (Lyric Hammersmith); Associate Director Australia & Resident Director West End on Tina – The Tina Turner MusicalStatements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama); Grey (Oval House); Liar, Heretic, Thief (Lyric Hammersmith); White (Edinburgh Festival ); Gob (London International Festival of Theatre); The Book of Disquiet (Blue Elephant Theatre); I’ll Take You There(Gate); There is Nothing There (Oval House); Chet Baker: Speedball (606 Jazz Club) and Portrait For Posterity (Arcola Theatre).

Film credits include: Hamlet Sort Of (2017); North East South West (Short Film 2016); Aingeal (2012) and Dark Stranger (2009 Official selection Caribbean film festival).

Dramaturge include: Heart of Hammersmith; Feels and The Mob Reformers (Lyric Hammersmith).

Alexander Galin is one of the leading Russian playwrights, screenwriters, film and theatre directors. 

His plays include: The Wall (1971), Flying Birds (1974), Hole (1975), Roof (1976), Hallucination (1977), Retro (1979), East Stand (1981 ), Stars in the Morning Sky (1982), Tamada (1983), The Librarian (1984), Group (1989), «... Sorry» (1990), Title (1991), Czech Picture (1993), Anomaly (1996),The Clown and the Bandit (1997), The Siren and the Victoria (1998), Competition (1998), Accompanist (1998).

Plays by Galin were produced by more than 200 theaters all over the world, including the  Moscow Art Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, "Odeon" in Paris, the Schiller Theater in Berlin.

Michael Glenny was a British lecturer in Russian studies and a noted translator of Russian literature into English. He was the author of several works on Russian literature as well as co-author with Norman Stone of The Other Russia, an oral history of the experiences of Russian emigres for which he also conducted many of the interviews. He died in Moscow in the late summer of 1990.

Cathy Porter, author and translator, educated at London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies and Cambridge University, has published books, articles and essays on Russian history, culture and politics, and translations from Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Czech, including many stage works performed in theatres in the UK, the States and Ireland.

Implications of rape. Discussions of pregnancy. Contains strong language, alcohol abuse, violence and use of blood.

This amateur production of “Stars in the Morning Sky” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of Samuel French Ltd. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk 

LAMDA is a two-minute walk from Barons Court Station or a ten-minute walk from either West Kensington or Hammersmith Station. 

Please note: Our nearest station, Barons Court, is undergoing refurbishment works throughout 2026. Find out more. 

Creative Team

* LAMDA staff member or visiting artist

Director
Nicholai La Barrie*

Designer 
Delyth Evans*

Producer
Rebecca Lyle*

Assistant Producer 
Bobby Harding*

Assistant Director
Josh Stainer

Intimacy Director 
Corina Andrian*

Voice Director 
Gurkiran Kaur*

Lighting Designer
Paige Fernandez

Sound Designer
Chloe Wood

Singing Specialist
Charlie-Jade Jones*

Cast

Klara
Greta Abbey

Alexander
Brian Briggs

Anna
Yasmine Hamady

Maria
Maria Krotiris

Valentina
Patrizia Maio

Nikolai
Ryan Still

Laura
Sophia Tosin-Talabi

Production Team

* LAMDA staff member or visiting artist

Production Manager
Sofia Altamirano

Stage Manager
Tilly Cox

Deputy Stage Manager / Green Captain
Poppy Stewart

Assistant Stage Manager
Jaimie Westwell

Production Lx
Caspar Edwards 

Programmer / Dep Lx
Abigail Quelch 

Production Sound Engineer
Izzy Barton

Dep PSE
Phoebe Bennett

Lighting Technician
Jack Moodie

Sound Technicians 
Erin Mitchell
Elaine Redshaw

Production Carpenter
Nic Usher 

Dep Carpenter
Phoenix Morgan 

Costume Supervisor
Hannah Stevens*