In the spring of 1937, Mikhail Bulgakov, whose plays were successively banned by the censors, once again vowed never to write for the stage: «My last attempts to write for drama theatres were pure quixotism on my part. And I will not repeat it.» However, by the end of the year, he agreed to the Vakhtangov Theatre’s proposal to stage an adaptation of Cervantes’ novel about Don Quixote. The Vakhtangov troupe received the play enthusiastically; as they discussed potential directors, they thought about Meyerhold. And even the Main Repertory Committee gave its approval! But the agenda of the day made adjustments to the theater’s plans — the story about the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance and his loyal squire Sancho Panza took a back seat in the playbill to productions about the leaders of the revolution. The play saw the light of day only after the playwright’s death, in 1940.
The premiere of Nikolai Roshchin’s production is timed to coincide with Mikhail Bulgakov’s anniversary — in 2026, it will be 135 years since his birth. The director has set the action in the late 1930s, in a stylized theatre where rehearsals for «Don Quixote» are taking place.
Nikolai Roshchin: In the performance, we immerse ourselves not only in the problems faced by the characters in «Don Quixote,» but also in the problems of theatre in the 1930s, and indeed of theatre in general, and we reflect on its nature. Our performance is about an attempt to change something and the failure of that attempt.
