An Evil Play

This is the third solo performance in a triptych, dubbed Russian Theatrical Extreme, based on plays by Klim performed by Tatyana Marinicheva (Cabaret Buchenwald, 2005, The Little Match Girl, 2006, and An Evil Play, 2009). In An Evil Play the actress, playwright and director explore the topic of betrayal as the basis of evil. The starting point is the eternal image of Judas, which the actress tries on as if it were a mask, interpreting Judas through the metaphysics of Dostoevskian heroes. This production, which is performed rarely, is intended for the thinking viewer, one who does not seek entertainment in the theatre, but rather seeks serious spiritual work. It is intended for the spectator who is not afraid to confront himself, to confront the darkness within himself, and is not afraid to answer the most terrible questions posed by modern society, with its devalued notions of good and evil.

Playing the male role of Judas, Tatyana Marinicheva – recognized, incidentally, as one of the most beautiful and stylish women of Latvia – agrees to take on the same kind of experiment that Meryl Streep did in Angels in America. But Marinicheva not only transforms into a man on stage, and not only “tries on” the image of the bible's most contradictory character. As if discarding her material shell, she becomes a projection of her hero’s subconscious, transmitting from the stage a state of internal chaos, aggression, and self-hatred. The actress projects these emotions to each viewer in the hall, giving each of them to feel that Klim's text is not about key characters in the New Testament, but is about each of us who is forced daily to answer the question: what is betrayal and what is its price?