Russian Theatre in HD in DC | Erdman's "The Suicide"

At last Konstantin Stanislavsky sent a letter to Joseph Stalin, in which he compared Erdman to Gogol and cited Maxim Gorky's enthusiasm for the play. Permission to stage the play was finally granted, only to be revoked on the very eve of its premiere.

His career in the theatre effectively stalled, Erdman turned his attention to the cinema, but after actor Vasily Kachalov thoughtlessly recited Erdman's satirical fables to Stalin during a night party in the Kremlin, the writer was arrested and deported to the town of Yeniseysk in Siberia.

Erdman was living in obscurity in 1964 when Yuri Lyubimov invited him to join the newly founded Taganka Theatre. It was not until 1990, 20 years after Erdman's death, that Lyubimov succeeded, at long last, in bringing The Suicide to the stage.

Come see Sergey Zhenovach's staging of The Suicide in HD at the Reston Town Center 11 at 11:30 AM on Saturday November 11th. History in the watching!