...But I know the Truth…

by Natasha Meerwijk - "SPIBA News #3" Sept, 2001

Thursday July 19th, 18.30. The first people are already waiting for us as we arrive at the theatre which is on Petrogradskaya Storona. By the looks of it, not only the people are preparing themselves in anticipation for their Dostoevsky night, but also the weather; it is hot and humid in the street, clouds are gathering and it looks like a thunderstorm is heading in. Much like a genuine Dostoevsky night.

The setting is perfect, though, the courtyards we pass are in a deplorable state; the walls show a colour vaguely resembling vanilla-yellow (I presume it was indeed once vanilla-yellow) with few decorations on the walls. The woodwork of the windows has seen a better life; it is splintering and is desperate for a paintbrush. Through the, mostly dirty, windows I can see curtains hanging in all sorts of colours; some nice, some rags. We stop, because Ms. Martynova, the Art Director of "the Classical Theatre", who met us in the street wants to guarantees us, luckily before entering, that we will all survive. A knife can carve the tension, because still no one knows what awaits him or her…

We arrive on the fifth floor of an apartment building! A small, full, blond woman with a warm smile urges us to come in and to quickly take our seats. We enter, what appears to be an apartment! It is dark, damp, a bit gloomy and dusty. I follow the voices of the others and enter the "living-room" which is soberly decorated. I squeeze myself in what seems to be the quietest corner. I have just enough time to see that the eighteen of us are all sitting in a circle, backs against the wall waiting for the moment supreme. And then the light dims and it suddenly becomes very quiet and pitch black.

The door opens and the woman who earlier urged us to take our seats comes in holding a candle in her hand. It is Irina Balai who plays the Maid. As soon as she leaves the Ridiculous Man takes over the 'living-study-bedroom-stage' with the words: ,, I am a ridiculous man…'' He was supported by the thunderstorm raging outside the apartment, though.

The Ridiculous Man is Leonid Mozgovoi also know for his roles as Hitler in 'Moloch' and Lenin in 'Telets'. He sketches a man in despair in the midst of night. At some moments one can actually call him disturbed. As a designated maniac the ridiculous man rages in his, half unbuttoned, smudgy, pyjama and robe through the room; sweaty with rolling eyes he tries to make contact with the audience by a touch of the hand or eye contact. He does this successfully so. Though, it seems to be contradicting the story itself, but this could be a matter of interpretation.

Leonid Mozgovoi manages to keep his audience attention for 70 minutes. For not one single moment I wanted to get out off the room despite the heat- it was hot; it must have been + 35 °C in the apartment. Besides showing the audience what acting is all about and how it should be done, Mozgovoi also gives foreigners a good example of what Dostoevsky means to Russians and to world literature. Mozgovoi the actor is a man of many talents. He is not only able to play an extremely big variety of characters without falling into repetition, he is also a master of disguises.

I recommend those who would like to see a Ridiculous Man in its unusual setting to read the short story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (Son Smeshnovogo Cheloveka) by F. Dostoevsky first. It will certainly do you no harm and it might actually provide you with a good comparison.

N. Meerwijk.