"Don't look for a plot. Mind your way... Don't linger. Let the actors lead you. And don't worry about the characters - you'll recognise them. Don't get lost. The theatre can be quite a terrifying place."
Alexei Salnikov’s novel 'The Petrovs in and Around the Flu' caused a sensation in Russia in 2016, and a year later won the “NOS” Critics' Prize and the National Bestseller Award. The likelihood that the stage version and director Boyan Kracholov's production will cause a sensation is just as high.
For the seasonal influenza virus, which is the "motor" in the action of the performance, not only changes the optics of our everyday life, but also shows that nothing is what we think it is, and we should not jump to conclusions about the people around us, nor about events, nor about life.
It is equally so because the characters in this fantasy adventure between real life, dreaming and visions prove that average people don't exist, that in fact the life and day-to-day existence of a man who considers himself insignificant and whom no one calls by his first name, a man with a dull and ordinary job, is full of wonders, with skeletons in the closet - a life funny, scary, majestic, mysterious, harrowing.
Furthermore, the performance is a promenade theatre in which the audience is not seated in the auditorium but moves around to reach the locations of the individual stages. Such a theatre implies a certain level of interactivity on the part of the spectators since in most cases there are no clearly indicated seats where they can position themselves - they have much more freedom in their transitions, in choosing their point of view, in shortening the distance with the actors, even with their presence in the individual scenes.
This theatrical experience also implies a willingness on the part of the viewer to let themselves be led by the actor as well as to communicate with them.
So, be sure to wear comfortable shoes and have your overcoat close at hand.
Photo: Stefan N. Shterev
