The play "Flowers for Algernon" won the Audience Award at the recent Onlife IDEA Fest theater festival.
The lead role was played by Alexey Shtyrbul , an actor from the Y. Kharmelin State Youth Drama Theater "From Rose Street."

The festival featured 10 performances by participants from various countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, and Serbia. Many of the participants were honored artists of their countries and had extensive stage experience.

All performances were broadcast online, meaning the actor performed live on camera, and viewers could join from anywhere. After the performance, a discussion of the production began, where anyone could ask the actor questions or express their opinions on what they had seen.

The performance "Flowers for Algernon" generated great interest among the public, became one of the most attended and ultimately received 52% of the votes, almost twice as much as its closest competitor.

"Powerful, piercing, with a long aftertaste and reflection," noted one of the discussion participants.

Experts particularly noted the actor's immersion in the role and utter dedication. "The pinnacle of psychological theater is thinking like a character. The actor's observation and attention to their character are incredibly precise," says Pavel Rudnev, theater critic and assistant artistic director of the A.P. Chekhov Moscow Art Theater.

The performance is available for free viewing in a recording on the festival website.