LIGHTNING FROM HEAVEN
an epic biographical romance
6M/3F
Before the classic film and the celebrated novel Doctor Zhivago, there were poet Boris Pasternak, his muse Olga Ivinskaya, and the Soviet government’s attempt to silence their story. After Pasternak’s death in 1960 Olga, his lover of fourteen years, was arrested by the KGB. Lightning From Heaven chronicles Olga's subsequent interrogation and trial, while depicting her and Pasternak's struggle to complete and publish Doctor Zhivago despite determined Soviet efforts to stop them.
2 acts; 2h15m
"torrid... as sizzling as the love affair between Zhivago and Lara. ... The play is full of high drama, deep characterization, and constant tension. It is a scathing look inside the nightmarish world of Soviet oppression. "
~Bruce Chadwick, History News Network
"It is a smart, deeply literate play, driven by the conflict between individual artistic integrity and the collectivist state. Perhaps most touching are the scenes deliberately echoing Zhivago in which Pasternak and Ivinskaya find beauty in the increasingly drab, dehumanized Soviet world about them. ... Highly recommended for fans of historical drama or Zhivago in any of its incarnations."
~ Joe Bendel. J.B. Spins blog