Ladybird

* Premieres March 2004 at London's Royal Court Theatre

A tough but tender portrait of urban squalor, from the award-winning Siberian-born author of Plasticine.

A tough but tender portrait of urban squalor, from the award-winning Siberian-born author of Plasticine.

Dima, 19, lives with his alcoholic father. The night before he leaves for the war in Chechnya to do his national service, he throws a party. Lera, 20, lives in the same block. She's convinced that she'll win a fortune if only she can borrow enough money for a lottery ticket. Lera's cousin Yulka, 18, is more interested in seeing just how far Dima will go to prove his devotion to her.

Vassily Sigarev's play Ladybird was first performed in this English translation by Sasha Dugdale at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2004.