The Master and Margarita at the 86th Street Theater
Moscow Ambience Is Wonderful
By: Viktor Raykin - Aug 10, 2024
Alexei Burago has directed Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita at Theatre 86 in New York. Jean Claude Van Italie did this stage adaptation, which follows the novel closely.
The small theater, built inside a Presbyterian church, welcomes the devil, Voland. It is filled with artifacts and paintings of "those" places and times. Our eyes run wild in this cozy, yet invigorating imagination of space.
Actors fly close, so sitting in the front row is risky.
The action is very fast, often put together with the speed and excitement of the story. Yes, that's probably the keyword of this production: excitement!
All characters are in a hurry, afraid of being late: some on (or under) the tram, others - to execution, the third - to the ball... Yet. Voland is not in a hurry when eternity is ahead of him.
In the many productions of this play I've seen, I've never seen Voland like this one. Teenage hooligan, a cheerful bully, but in a hurry because he can't stand boredom. Why pull the cat's tail when you can throw it away!
The cat Hippo is the most convincing of all Hippos I've seen. She is cheerful, vulnerable, chock-a-block full of fantasies-- very similar to novelist Bulgakov.
Another find here - Azazello, a bandit with a fang and an unchanging knife. And this carnivorous tongue - once you see it, you won't forget it.
In the scene of Margarita's "seduction" the bandit is reincarnated and complex feelings stir in him. This Azazello invites an inevitable comparison with the image created by Aleksandr Georgievich Filippenko.
There are many gags in the play, and through some of them come important metaphors. And especially the flames. From a jacket pocket, from a chicken bone, from a book. While everyone is busy preparing Satan's ball, he sits on the edge of the stage and reveals a black volume from which flames erupt. Voland reads with a sardonic grin lit by fire. The caption on the cover: "Holy Bible."
Alexei Burago is the multi-purpose director-producer of this play. He deserved a bow and didn't take one.
Go see the Master and Margarita. It's terrific and fun. Tickets here.
Set Paintings by Valery Yershov
Featuring Obid Abdurakhmanov, Albert Baker, Michael Donaldson, Can Deniz Erzaim, Sarah O'Donnell, Ariel Polanco.