Masquerade

(Photo: Victor Bazhenov )

As usual, there were a lot of expectations. A banner hung over Tverskaya for a long time: “Masquerade! Starring Sergei Shakurov.” Theatergoers recalled what hopes Shamirov once showed with his first performance “Don Juan” at the Army Theater. They were interested in how Irina Grineva would play Nina - one of Mirzoev’s favorite actresses, who also recently became famous in the role of Marina Mnishek from Declan Donnellan’s “Boris Godunov”.

Absolutely nothing came true. On stage there is despondency, in the hall there is sleep. The fatal man of our cinema in the role of the fatal Arbenin alternately screams and whimpers. Half of his passionate reasoning is given to the sluggish, swollen Kazarin. The ending has been shortened. (That is, he poisoned, but to find out that it was in vain, and to go crazy, that’s not it.) Only once did the audience wake up for a minute, when the angel Nina, all in white, serenely singing a romance at the ball (Shamirov decided to use obscene poems by Pushkin), uttered a short swear word a couple of times. However, then the audience calmly fell asleep again, deciding that the music had inspired him with an unprintable word.