Valeriya Ryova’s inventive one-woman show, Margarita’s Crown of Shadows, playing at the Etcetera Theatre, runs the risk of being inaccessible to those who don’t know its inspiration, the second half of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita.
The plot of the Russian novel, first published in 1967, concerns the Devil and his followers (an assistant, a hitman, and an unctuous, talking cat) who visit the atheist Soviet Union. The Master is an author writing a novel about the last days of Yeshua (Jesus) from the perspective of Pontius Pilate.
Margarita is the Master’s lover and champion, and it is her story that has inspired Ryova to create this 70 minute play. She is the only actor on stage, yet she peoples it with numerous characters from the novel.
The Master and Margarita has always been one of my favourite books. It is a very unusual text, not just exploring religious motifs but also the supernatural and politics, all wrapped in a darkly satirical form.
In Margarita’s Crown of Shadows, we see a succession of small scenes, starting with physical movement. The Master writes his novel, then goes missing. The Devil, in the person of a silky-voiced gent, meets Margarita in the park.
Invited to a ball with, as she says, “hangmen and murderers”, Margarita loses inhibition and makes a pact with her new acquaintance. But will she get the ending her heart desires?
The more disturbing aspects of Bulgakov’s work, often depicted as torture or violent death, are absent – so is the wild and vivid imagery that makes it such a unique book.
It is clear that Margarita’s Crown of Shadows comes from a place of admiration. Ryova’s play captures some of the themes of love and eroticism, but Satan’s entourage aren’t bizarre or witty enough.
Making the decision to stay static when creating a conversation between three or more characters, Margarita’s Crown of Shadows could be confusing, despite slight changes in costume (a glove, walking stick, monocle(.
The Master himself is depicted by a shirt and a voice over. Video is used, but very sparingly – the material has a lot of apportunity for a sense of magic, but this aspect is missing.
I did like some of Ryova’s ideas, and admire the attempt to capture even a small part of the surreal and complex range of the original novel.
In her press release, she states her aim to “stage a physical theatre enthronement of feminine sovereignty … a raw, transformative energy drawn from the earth … It’s about the visceral, often un-pretty truth of our existence and the untamed power we are so often asked to quiet.”
Part of the Women Writers Festival, Margarita’s Crown of Shadows is best approached as the story of a woman taking control of her destiny, her body, and her fate.
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Margarita’s Crown of Shadows continues at Etcetera Theatre until 25 Jan – tickets here.