The show's website describes it as "A story of real, true, eternal love which will guide you through a maze of human passions and uncover the secrets of the great novel." And some faithful fans of the book will imagine on reading that they hear the sound of that writer whirring like a dynamo beneath the ground. Producer Irina Afanasyeva said the show is a thoroughly modern take on Bulgakov's work. But the musical's 3-D animation and dancers mean that the volume and tempo are almost always on "high." Even Jesus' crucifixion gets some Hollywood sparkle: Multicolored clouds play dramatically across the backdrop, and the Messiah's groans of pain escape a bronzed, hairless chest and are punctuated by the flexing of muscles.ĭespite some misgivings from Bulgakov fans, the musical has been a hit. In the book, Bulgakov has Margarita, the mistress of the Master, an author in the book, descend into the devil's debauched world as an escape from the drab Soviet grays and browns. The book was not published in the Soviet Union until the 1960s, decades after the author's death. Bulgakov's book, a satire on the Soviet 1930s, tells of the devil's visit to Moscow, and separately of Pontius Pilate and his trial of a Jesus figure. The novel's darkness is given a rubbed-up, glossy sheen. The show uses 3-D effects, animated scenery and, they claim, somewhat unconvincingly, a satanic 666 costumes including those in PVC, tulle, tweed and polyester. Judging by the roller coaster show, the creator of "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera" would probably approve. Webber eventually abandoned his plans, but Russian production company Makers Lab has succeeded where he failed. It will therefore almost certainly falter and will depend on who my collaborators are," he wrote. "I am very aware that this will be almost certainly the most ambitious undertaking I have ever embarked upon. This was a buddy read with my wonderful magical realism friend, Kimber Silver.In 2006, Andrew Lloyd Webber blogged about turning Mikhail Bulgakov's classic Soviet novel "The Master and Margarita" into a musical. It was years ahead of its time and is like no other novel I’ve ever read.Ĭlearly, this book wouldn’t be for everyone, but if you like your literature dark, magical, intellectual, thought-provoking and absurd, then you should find room for it on your shelves. And it’s incredible to think that The Master and Margarita was fashioned in the 1920s. The underlying parable jumps about all over the place – and sometimes out of windows on a broomstick! Heck, there is even a Magritte-style talking suit! I’d be lying if I said I’d grasped the significance of all of the author’s philosophical analogies, but I certainly had a lot of fun trying. Suffice to say that Bulgakov sets out to satirise the Stalinist regime he was oppressed by (was Orwell’s Animal Farm inspired by this novel?) and the Devil is on hand to mete out an extreme brand of either punishment or reward to whoever displeases or pleases him (human cowardice is what really gets his goat). It would take me all day to discuss the symbolism that underpins this incredible book, so I won’t bore you with every detail. ![]() The author’s juxtaposition of the supernatural and the real is a constant stratagem throughout. These subplot scenes are written in a completely different hist-fic style and are amazingly cinematic. ![]() In tandem with all of this magic and mayhem (please bear with me, dear reader) is a travel back in time to the trial and eventual crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The humour is riotous and the badinage so hilarious that I was holding my ribs, kicking my legs and Cossack dancing around the room! To give you some inkling of what we’re dealing with here, one of Satan’s sidekicks is a talking cat the size of a pig, who is always in the thick of things (Bulgakov was evidently writing magical realism before Gabriel García Márquez was even born). The Devil and his motley crew breeze into 1930s Moscow and begin to reap havoc by reading people’s minds, decapitating citizens and throwing an astonishing stage show that scandalises the local glitterati. In short, this book was made for me! Come down from the heavens, Mikhail Bulgakov, and give me a hug, my brother from another мамочка. The ghosts of Faust and Dante must have sat on the author’s shoulders as he worked tirelessly on this masterpiece. ![]() This extravagant Russian allegory is an adult Alice in Wonderland, bursting at the seams with mischief, darkness and rambunctiousness. ![]() Phew! I needed a margarita after finishing The Master and Margarita! What a magnificent, turbulent read! “The devil went down to Georgia Moscow, he was looking for a soul to steal.”
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