Eugen Onegin divides east and west

The Russian classics Eugen Onegin has been brought by two Slovak theatres recently; the Jonáš Záborský theatre in eastern Slovak town of Prešov and Bratislava-based SkRAT. The gap between the two pieces is as huge as the distance between the east and the west of Slovakia. While easterners premiered the classical drama in rhymes, westerners have stuck to their tradition of an alternative ensemble with an alternative approach. The Prešov version of Eugen Onegin points out the impossibility to make up for one's mistakes, the Bratislava Project Onegin is about growing alienation. And while the first is completely in Slovak rhymes, the latter piece of physical theatre is placed at an international airport with characters speaking many different languages but not Slovak.