Description
This highly relevant satirical play about venality and careerism portrays the lives of officials for whom bribery and deceit are taken for granted. The characters face a choice: to uphold their ideals molding those around them into fellow idealists while living an honest, impoverished, and rather uncomfortable life or to unscrupulously curry favor with the powers that be in order to snatch a share of the spoils.
Following the author’s vision, the director employs two parallel storylines: the contrasting marriages of two sisters to men who differ vastly in their intentions and social standing, and the fates of the two suitors as they carve out their paths in life. Everything is for sale brides, employees, and even thoughts.
Zhadov, a young civil servant striving to serve honestly, finds himself under such immense pressure from circumstances and societal norms that he abandons his ideals; unable to resist the temptation to commit a crime, he sells his soul yet vows to "await the time when the bribe-taker fears God’s judgment more than the criminal law."
The running time of the performance is 3 hours and 10 minutes, with intermissions.