Young ballerinas dancing midair from a scene in Eugene Onegin, a play presented by the Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia that will run in the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing from Thursday to Sunday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Tchaikovsky composed the opera Eugene Onegin in 1879, which has since been widely performed and is familiar to the public. Tuminas, however, doesn't adopt the music from the opera, believing it to be an unfaithful interpretation of Pushkin's work.

Also, "in the Soviet period, Onegin was portrayed as a hero, who gives up high society to live in the country, close to the ordinary people, but that is not true of the character," he says. To his understanding, Onegin is a failure in life. He is selfish and indifferent, unable to relate to the feelings of other people. In contrast to his cruelty and lack of empathy, Tatyana is vulnerably sincere. Pushkin's creation of Tatyana embodies the "soul and character of Russia", Tuminas believes.

So in his production, the director chooses to focus on portraying Tatyana's love for Onegin. Only through this portrayal of the heroine, "can we realize the transformation from literature to theater", Tuminas asserts.

As a theater director, Tuminas is convinced that a well-designed set and strong performances by the actors are all that is required to present a fine play, and high-tech techniques such as video projection are unnecessary. "I believe actors can fill up the space on the stage with their performances," he says. "The stage set has a great impact on the actors, too."