|The Double Bass|

Gleb Cherepanov, the director:"Our production is about the seizure of talent and shallowing of the soul. Self deluding, engaging in business you have no affinity to, being surrounded by people you have nothing in common with, – that is living someone else's life, – is the worst possible crime. Sometimes this may lead to tragic consequences … Of course, our production is dedicated to music, and there is nothing above music as far the character of Konstantin Khabensky is concerned. That said, there will be little to no music in our production. However there will be plenty of sound of most different and unexpected kind.

It is easy to call the stage version of The Double Bass by Patrick Süskind a one-man show, but the creative team is rather you don't, since Konstantin Khabensky will not be alone on stage. The director and the actor were aiming to get away from the monologue, from the bookish take that a performer mastering a huge array of text inevitably would fall into. Although there is not much staged choreography in this production, the idea was to present The Double Bass through physical action in a style of grotesque and tragifarce, clear without words, as if in a silent film. The story is being told in a tightly sealed space, not allowing for direct conversation with the audience. Nikolai Simonov is employing great advantages that the MXAT Main Stage has to offer, utilizing various mechanisms, and much more. The world of the Double Bass Player is secluded, stuffy, and impenetrable. His home is also a sound-proof recording studio, where the outside noise should not penetrate. Here, inside his artificial world, everything he touches can come to life, can make sounds and become an object for him to play with in his solitude. There is a surprise awaiting the audience at the finale when the action takes somewhat a different path than written by Patrick Süskind.