©  Alyona Besser

To the cold marble halls of Constantinople palace of Emperor Justinian, where the walls have ears, and people keep silent, where careful words fall like the drops of water, resoundingly splashing under the stone arches, while the silence chokes like thick incense smoke, comes the son of the steppes, a warrior and a poet by the name Imr. His heated words bewitch Princess Zoya. His reminiscences deprive Empress Feodora of tranquility… This is a play about love and jealosy, beautiful and deadly, just like the poisoned wedding tunic.

It seemed impossible that the tragic tranquility, full of romantic dreams, which forms the essence of Gumilyov’s poetry, could be presented on stage. [Director Ivan] Popovski truly has a key to the unstageable, but most beautiful theater texts of the Russian Art Nouveau.

Maya Odina, Gazeta.ru

Opening night: June 13, 2002

Running time: 2 hours without intermission