Tom Stoppard’s three-part epic. Beginning in mid-19th century Russia during the repressive reign of Tsar Nicholas I, this new work spans a period of thirty years as it tells the panoramic story of a group of Russian writers, headed by the radical theorist and editor Alexander Herzen, the novelist Ivan Turgenev, the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, the aristocrat-turned-anarchist Michael Bakunin and the poet Nicholas Ogarev, who lead a band of like-minded countrymen in a revolutionary movement in which they strive to change and fix a political system by using their minds as their only weapon. The action of “The Coast of Utopia” begins in 1833 with “Part One – Voyage,” set in the Russian countryside as well as in Moscow and St. Petersburg. “Part Two - Shipwreck,” picks up thirteen years later outside Moscow and follows the characters’ exile to Paris, Dresden and Nice. “Part Three - Salvage,” takes place over a period of twelve years in London and Geneva.

“The Coast of Utopia” had its World Premiere at London’s National Theatre in 2002. Sidelight: Lincoln Center Theater will mount the three parts of “The Coast of Utopia” individually, rehearsing and performing each part in turn as the next opens.  During the final three and one-half weeks of the run, audiences will have the opportunity to see all three parts in succession.  And on three Saturdays (Feb 24, Mar 3 & Mar 10) theatergoers will be able to see all three parts in  one-day  marathons  beginning  at  11:00  AM.