The Emerson String Quartet, accompanied by an ensemble of seven actors, weaves the tale of Dmitri Shostakovich's 50-year obsessive quest to create an opera from The Black Monk, Chekhov's theatrical chamber masterpiece about love, art, madness, and freedom. Through music-including a complete performance of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 14-supported by actors and multimedia projections, we see Shostakovich himself trying over decades to retell Chekhov's haunting and heroic story of a writer struggling for his sanity, only to be sidetracked again and again by the composer's own struggle to survive as an artist amid the ever-changing imperatives of Stalin's Soviet state.

"Shostakovich and The Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy" premiered at the Great Lakes Festival and is presented in cooperation with Wayne State University and the Detroit Institute of Arts with support from the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. Support for activities at Wayne State University is provided by the Charles H. Gershenson Trust, Maurice S. Binkow, Trustee and the following Wayne State University programs and departments: Office of International Programs, Honors College , College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts, Office of the Vice President for Research, the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), Global Studies Program and Humanities Center. The appearance of the Emerson String Quartet is supported by Linda and Maurice Binkow.

Created by Philip Setzer and James Glossman
Musical Direction by Philip Setzer
Written and Directed by James Glossman

Cast:
David Strathairn (Shostakovich)
Sean Astin (Stalin)
Ali Breneman
Alex Glossman
Evelyn McGee Colbert
Paul Murphy
Linda Setzer