“Ward No. 6”: the real Chekhov

Chekhov’s “Ward No. 6” is the debut of director Evgeny Zakirov at the Theater. V. Mayakovsky and unconditional luck. A recent graduate of GITIS, the workshop of Sergei Zhenovach, he is already known for his productions of “The Thunderstorm. Apocrypha” at the School of Dramatic Art and “Very, very, very dark matter” at the Moscow Art Theater. A.P. Chekhov. Zakirov, like his teacher Zhenovach, has a keen sense of the word, knows how to get to the bottom of the text and convey it effortlessly – literally with light strokes, avoiding the usual meanings and cliches of perception.

And in “Ward No. 6” the director does not exaggerate, does not emphasize the theme of the lack of freedom of the mentally ill, does not exaggerate or minimize anything. The hospital where the main character Ragin works is not a creepy “psychiatric hospital”, but a completely ordinary (and the more terrible it is perceived as) medical institution, of which there are millions in the country. In this performance there is no attempt at all to squeeze Chekhov’s story into any concept. Before us is Chekhov as he is – with his merciless analysis of Russian reality, deep psychologism, lack of moralizing and categorical conclusions.