Last night, the actors from the National Theatre Ohrid delivered an excellent theatrical performance, presenting the play “Sergei Is Very Stupid” by Dmitry Danilov, directed by Dejana Nikolovska.
Dmitry Danilov is one of the most popular contemporary Russian playwrights whose work had not been staged on the Macedonian theater scene until now.
-His play “Sergei Is Very Stupid” is a hit in many theaters in Russia and abroad, and it’s understandable why. If we uncover the subtext of the play, we can easily see its relevance to the times we live in. The choice of the dramatic text promises a new, original theatrical language and an approach that we haven’t had on our theater scene before. The performance unfolds a situation where the boundaries of reality in the life of a contemporary character – a computer programmer – are shattered when absurdity unexpectedly barges into his life. Sergei is expected to quickly and skillfully learn to communicate with it, something for which he doesn’t already have a “code,” says director Nikolovska.
In the performance, a simple life situation suddenly transforms into an existential one. Couriers, contemporary figures in today’s world, unexpectedly arrive at the programmer’s place and announce from the doorstep that they intend to spend precisely one hour with him, after which they will hand him a package with an unknown content, sent by an unfamiliar person. From this point onwards, the surreal show begins, drawing the viewer into a dynamic play where dialogues and characters break down all expected theatrical stereotypes. The ending becomes entirely unpredictable for the audience.
-The fear of encountering the “unknown,” the attempt to view familiar things from a new angle – all of this detaches the character from the ordinary routine and disrupts his world. Nothing makes sense anymore. The ordinary life is turned into absurdity. Instead of just one courier, three of them arrive. Judging by their conversation, we understand that they could, but don’t necessarily have to be “internal organ workers.” Questions are raised like: Is he married, does he have children? (If not, why not?). It turns out that they are well-educated and possess a wide range of skills: they can operate on a child’s appendix, but they can also bury someone if necessary. The author doesn’t lead us to think that this would be a story with a sad ending where Sergei is a victim of higher forces; he has a surprise for us here as well. As a counterpoint, he introduces Masha, Sergei’s wife. Compared to Sergei, Masha is not at all afraid of the couriers. She is polite with them, serves them coffee, and warmly welcomes them. Finally, the couriers leave, leaving the package in the apartment. Masha immediately, without hesitation, deals with the problem: (“Sergei, throw it away right now! In the garbage, I said! “, “Get rid of it immediately, I said, far away from our house!”). Sergei is initially taken aback, but then obediently takes the package outside as if nothing happened, explains Nikolovska.
Sergei isn’t stupid. He’s a typical young man, educated and cultured, a product of a system and an era. He understands life at a certain level but doesn’t comprehend the undercurrents, much like most of us. In other words, he’s afraid of COURIERS. He fears the irrational, which when it enters our lives needs to be handled appropriately. Otherwise, it can leave inconceivable consequences on life.
Sergei is the hero of our time. In other words, we are all “Sergeis” of our time, adds the director of this theatrical presentation, Dejana Nikolovska.
The actors in the performance were Nikola Todorovski, Strezho Stamatovski, Goran Stojanovski, Filip Kiprovski, and Elizabeta Stefanovska.