To evoke and support interest in the event is an art equal to a successful premiere. It seems that the media have been keeping an eye on Kirill Serebrennikov’s production from the very first rehearsal.

Oleg Menshikov: Kirill suggested this story. I couldn’t imagine… We looked for plays, and recollected the most famous titles, but after all, quite unexpectedly, he came one day and said: “The Demon”, Lermontov. I didn’t understand anything and didn’t have a slightest idea how to do it and what to start with, but he explained, and… we started.

Oleg Menshikov’s Theatrical Company 814 turned the preparations into a separate performance. The director offered Menshikov the part of the Demon, and Menshikov didn’t see himself as the Demon, but the director insisted that Menshikov was the last and the only romantic hero of our days. Finally, the actor gave in, though marked that he thinks the notion of theatrical type to be archaic.

Oleg Menshikov: I don’t agree with the notion of theatrical type at all. I generally don’t know what it is. I think that in the Russian theatre this category vanished long ago.

In the end, only the genre of “The Demon” was questionable. Not every work will allow turning itself into a theatrical form. And they dealt with a poem. Moreover, it was very significant in Lermontov’s creative work as he was writing it from the age of 14 till the end of his life.

Oleg Menshikov: What is the Demon, right? It is not quite clear, he is not a human. That’s why, how can I…? This is a kind of idea. And some kind of idea – only don’t ask which exactly, for I won’t answer [laughing] - if we can transmit some kind of idea to the audience, it will be perfect.

Anyway, Menshikov’s Theatrical Company was looking for a classic play. And Kirill Serebrennikov’s offer was just in time. After the first rehearsals everybody saw that the poem can really live on the stage. And the job is done: the public is intrigued, the tickets are impossible to get, and there are lots of talks around the production, which hasn’t been performed yet, about the unusual costumes, exotic ancient musical instruments, very popular ethnic motifs, and if someone is to play the Demon, it should be only Oleg Menshikov.

The source of the photos – the official site of Channel 1