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The
Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, adapted by Lucy Catherine. Dir. Sasha Yevtushenko. Perf. Anton Lesser, Paul Ready, Anne-Marie
Duff. BBC Radio 3, 15 Mar. 2015. BBCiPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05202tr
Written
between 1928 and
1940, The Master and Margarita is a
novel alternating between two settings: 1930s Moscow, where Satan (Anton Lesser)
appears in the guise of “Professor” Woland, accompanied by his sidekicks
Koroviev (Carl Prekopp), the black cat Behemoth (Kevin Eldon), and the witch
Hella (Rhiannon Needs). They target the
literary élite and the trade unions. The
second setting is the Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate (Paul Hilton), and his trial
of Yeshua (Edward Hogg).
The Master
and Margarita of
the title are respectively an embittered author (Paul Ready), who has his novel
about Pontius Pilate rejected, and is cast into a pit of despair – so much so
that he burns the manuscript and turns his back on his devoted lover Margarita
(Anne-Marie Duff).
Told
in a variety of styles –
blank verse, colloquial exchange, accompanied by music (from Stephen Warbeck)
that sums up the gestus of each
sequence, Brechtian-style, The Master and Margarita is a hectic satire of just
about every aspect of life under the Soviets – the lack of freedom of
expression, the philistinism of the nouveaux
riches, and the loss of status of the artist, whether they be writers and
composers. It is said that Bulgakov’s
novel caused a stir on its first publication, as it was seen to be an attack on
the atheism of local artists, denying the existence of Jesus Christ as an
historical character. This might be
true, but in Sasha Yevtushenko’s production the religious angle was subordinated
to the social criticism; if the world is ruled by Woland and his retinue, who
continue to try and control individual thoughts, then what price the
future? Why should anyone bother to
cultivate self-expression?
Some
parts of this
production were extremely funny, with Lesser’s Woland coming across as rather a
droll figure, either unwilling or unable to control his charges through direct action.
Yet this capacity rendered him even more
dangerous; anyone was likely to be taken in by his honeyed words. This notion
retains its importance today,
especially at a time when politicians are competing for our votes by making
empty promises at every tick and turn.
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