The whole world is a theater. Or perhaps the whole world is a madhouse, and the people in it are patients?
The action of the play «Walpurgis Night, or the Steps of the Commander,» written by Venedikt Erofeev in 1985, takes place in a psychiatric hospital. The inhabitants of her third ward are, on the surface, ordinary outcasts and marginal figures; in reality, they are charming eccentrics and wise men, captivating with their spontaneity and directness. What caused their withdrawal from society? Was it rejection by a society that did not accept difference, or was it a conscious choice — a rejection of accepted norms in favor of holy foolishness, which grants inner freedom? The third ward of the asylum resembles an ancient Greek polis, a state within a state — here, disputes are fought to the death, and the most complex global issues are resolved.
In this strange, somewhat frightening, yet very vibrant world, Lev Gurevich, a wandering poet and philosopher, acts as Vergil; he measures time by the distance from the summer solstice, and distance by the width of the Bosphorus. In this character, who exists on the margins of the world, one can certainly discern both Venichka from «Moscow‑Petushkov» and Venedikt Yerofeev himself.
«Walpurgis Night, or The Steps of the Commander» is a multi‑layered and complex play; it is full of intellectual paradoxes, literary allusions, and reminiscences (it contains references to Goethe, Shakespeare, and Pushkin). The serious in it is constantly intertwined with the comic; from tragedy to comedy, from laughter to tears — there’s just one step. Director Ulanbek Bayaliev skillfully plays with the contrasts inherent in Erofeev’s work, sometimes taming the play’s excessive literary quality, and ingeniously infuses the action with theatricality and vibrant life. «Walpurgis Night, or The Steps of the Commander» is a performance that is both funny and bitter, daring and lyrical.
«Even as outcasts, we need love — it is the main necessity of life. Perhaps our story is about this, about the lack of love,» the director defines the meaning of the performance.
