With Charles Bukowski at the bar stand

A one-on-one performance experienced through headphones

Old Bukowski reminisces about how it all began: poverty and rented rooms, odd jobs and wild women, love and sex, loneliness, and madness on the brink of suicide. He reflects on his craft, on writing, which always came first, on his unique journey through American literature, and the lifelong battle he fought.
Old Bukowski reminisces about how it all began: poverty and rented rooms, odd jobs and wild women, love and sex, loneliness, and madness on the brink of suicide. He reflects on his craft, on writing, which always came first, on his unique journey through American literature, and the lifelong battle he fought.
You turn onto Rubinstein Street. Step into Fiddler's Green. Take a seat at the bar. The bartender hands you headphones and a pint of chilled Belhaven beer. Ahead lies an hour of one-on-one time with the life story and poetry of Charles Bukowski.
Спектакль «С Чарльзом Буковски за барной стойкой» Pop-up театр. Режиссер Семен Александровский. В Баре Fiddler’s Green на улице Рубинштейна 5.

About Fiddler's Green

Legend has it that those who dedicated more than 50 years to the sea find neither heaven nor hell but a special place called Fiddler's Green. According to the tale, it lies "nine miles away from the Devil's dwelling." There, rum and tobacco flow in abundance, port women offer their company for free, the seas remain forever calm, and the wind is always at your back
About Fiddler's Green
Legend has it that those who dedicated more than 50 years to the sea find neither heaven nor hell but a special place called Fiddler's Green. According to the tale, it lies "nine miles away from the Devil's dwelling." There, rum and tobacco flow in abundance, port women offer their company for free, the seas remain forever calm, and the wind is always at your back

The ticket includes a pint of Belhaven beer.
Your choice: dark stout, bitter ale, or dry cider.
Belhaven is Scotland's oldest independent brewery, and their beer is simply outstanding!
Бокал пива Belhaven на спектакль «С Чарльзом Буковски за барной стойкой» Pop-up театр. Режиссер Семен Александровский. В Баре Fiddler’s Green на улице Рубинштейна 5.
reviews
  • **Reviews**

    — I think I need a drink.
    — Almost everyone needs a drink, they just don’t know it yet. (Ch. Bukowski)

    I decided to have a drink too... And why not have one with Bukowski himself, even if only through headphones? You sit there in the bar, sipping cider, and he talks to you—piercingly, about life, about death, about the struggles of creativity, about people, about relationships with women... At times, it's touching, at times cynical. And somehow, it feels very much in the spirit of St. Petersburg.
    Yulia Melikhova
    viewer
  • *"When you’re drunk, the world is still out there, but at least it doesn’t have you by the throat,"* says one of his quotes.

    And now, sitting in one of St. Petersburg’s iconic bars, you follow this quote to the letter. With every new sip, you get a little drunker. With every new sentence whispered into your ears, the world feels a little closer.
    inner emigrant
    blogger
  • *"Oh, man, to have a drink with you, to drink and talk,"* you think, reading Bukowski.

    Thanks to the Pop-up theater, now you can spend an hour in a bar, one-on-one with the writer who knows better than anyone how bad things can get—and who, better than anyone, will inspire you and remind you why it all matters in the first place.
    Arina Svetlitsa
    viewer
  • Petersburg never ceases to amaze. Only here could they come up with such a brilliant theatrical non-format—academicism gets tiresome, you know... An hour alone with Bukowski is absolutely worth it.
    Olga Bogomolova
    blogger
  • Spent my Monday evening *"With Charles Bukowski at the Bar."* An unusual theater format: you walk into a bar, get handed headphones and a pint of beer. You sit, listen, and drink. A perfect option for introverts and chronic latecomers 😉 By the way, grabbing an extra whiskey to go with Bukowski 🥃 is absolutely the right choice. Perfect!
    Anja Votinova
    viewer
  • *"With Charles Bukowski at the Bar"* by Pop-up Theater is practically an audiobook with a pint. But add to that the bar atmosphere, the sense of having a conversation with the writer, detachment from everything, and savor that gritty realism. It’s as bitter and satisfying as the beer they offer here — thick like tar with a creamy foam. The genre grips you with its raw honesty, fueled by a blatant disregard for the opinions of readers, critics, wives, or anyone, really. And for money, too. In short, I’m impressed.
    Pavel Plakhin
    viewer
The performance takes place at Fiddler’s Green bar.
Address: St. Petersburg, Rubinstein St., 5
Duration: 50 minutes

Semyon Alexandrovsky
Director and Author of the Performance
Partners of the Performance: