The Suicide

Synopsis

Semyon is unemployed and broke. It is very bad and not a laughing matter. The Government can't help. In fact the Government is part of the problem. He has an idea that the answer to his problems might be to learn the tuba. But to learn the tuba he needs a piano. He can't afford a piano. So he decides to kill himself. And then his problems really begin! Out of this dark situation, one of the 20th century's greatest satirists - Nikolai Erdman - fashioned a comic masterpiece that is one of the jewels of the Russian stage. The Suicide was so near the bone, the Soviet Government banned the play for half a century and sent Erdman to Siberia. But the play survived. Come and see if Semyon does too.

Our Review:

18 March 2013

It all starts with a sausage – a piece of liverwurst that Masha begrudges her husband in the middle of the night. Piqued by her outburst at being woken up, Semyon sneaks out of their apartment to enjoy his sausage in peace. But one overactive imagination leads to another, and soon the whole town is convinced Semyon is about to commit suicide, so they clamour for his attention – and for a place of honour in his suicide note.

Working under the shadow of Dostoyevsky and Chekhov, playwright Nikolai Erdman's The Suicide explores Soviet Russia’s collapsing infrastructure in this black comedy about an unemployed man who is driven to desperate means by a host of stereotypical Slavic characters.

Neil Sheppeck plays a typical member of the Soviet intelligentsia confidently while Luke Stevenson’s Marxist Yegor is entirely believable. The host of female characters vying for the attention of Semyon unfortunately meld into a fairly indiscerni...

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