The Suicide
By Nikolai Erdman
Directed by Gerry Mulgrew
A version of this 1930 satire on Stalin’s Soviet Union .
Reviews
Our sense of THE SUICIDE as an astonishing and extremely interesting play is greatly enhanced by what is a superb Communicado production. The acting, like the sets and the music, is of the excellent standard people have come to expect from one of Scotland’s best touring companies
THE SOCIALIST REVIEW September 1997
I doubt if anything in Edinburgh this year will match Erdman and his current director, Gerry Mulgrew, for quirky inventiveness
THE TIMES August 1997
"combines desperation and outrageous humour....a Stalinist Fawlty Towers" THE DAILY TELEGRAPH August 1997
"a Communicado production of the utmost exhilaration...they bring all the well established Communicado virtues: comic chutzpah, careering and choreographed ensemble work, and easy joyous and musical physicality" THE SCOTSMAN AUGUST 1997
Gerry Mulgrew directs with a keen eye for clarity and pace, which ensures that the mayhem is rooted in truth. This allows Erdman’s ideas to emerge with a wonderfully light touch. The good news is that after Edinburgh this excellent production will tour the country. For sheer unabashed entertainment look no further. This is less of a farce, more a theatrical feast.
THE INDEPENDENT August 1997
Tour
7-9 Aug- The Maltings, Berwick Upon Tweed
19-30 Aug- Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
9 Sep-Howden Park Centre, Livingston
10 Sep-Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy
12-13 Sep-Cumbernauld Theatre, Cumbernauld
17-18 Sep-The Corn Exchange, Newbury
19 Sep-Phoenix Arts Centre, Leicester
23-24 Sep-Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmonds
25-26 Sep-Harlequin Theatre, Redhill
30 Sep-4 Oct-Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
7-12 Oct-Tron Theatre, Glasgow
14 Oct-Motherwell Theatre, Motherwell
17-18 Oct-Aberdeen Arts Centre, Aberdeen
Cast
Assistant Director: Richard Baron Composer: Iain Johnstone Designer: Karen Tennent Lighting Designer: Jeanine Davies Translation by: Eileen Thalenberg and Alan Richardson Costumes: Miriam Duffield
ALEXANDER PETROVICH KALABUSHKIN,
A NEIGHBOUR- ERIC BARLOW
VICTOR VICTOROVICH,
A WRITER- PAUL BLAIR
CLEOPATRA MAXIMOVNA,
A ROMANTIC MICHELLE BUTT
A SEAMSTRESS MICHELLE BUTT
MARGARITA IVANOVNA, ALEXANDER'S MISTRESS- CAROL ANN CRAWFORD
YEGOR TIMOFEEVICH, A MARXIST- PETER GRIMES
SEMYON SEMYONOVICH PODSEKALNIKOV, UNEMPLOYED- CONLETH HILL
NIKIFOR PUGACHEV, A BUTCHER- IAIN JOHNSTONE
MARIA LUKIANOVNA (MASHA),
SEMYON'S WIFE- VICKI LIDDELLE
RAISA FILIPOVNA, CLEOPATRA'S RIVAL,
A MODISTE-IRENE MACDOUGALL
OLD WOMAN IRENE MACDOUGALL
ARISTARKH DOMINIKOVICH GRAND-SKUBNIK,
AN INTELLECTUAL-GERRY MULGREW
DEAF MUTE/WAITER- JESSICA RICHARDS
SERAFIMA ILYINICHNA, MASHA'S MOTHER- GERDA STEVENSON