Demons

A complex, multi-layered work about young idealistic nihilists, Dostoevsky’s novel was written under the influence of the revolutionary movement of the 1860s–70s and was based on the real-life murder of student Ivanov by members of the Nechayev circle. Dostoevsky, himself once a young revolutionary, crafted a cautionary tale about the dangers of an ideology of violence and negation. 

“Dostoevsky’s novel, which is both profoundly disturbing and darkly funny in parts, is incredibly challenging to adapt for the stage. Probably the most difficult of my career,” says Andrey Prikotenko. “All the narrative threads converge in the figure of Stavrogin—here, we encounter a situation where people project exaggerated, almost mythic qualities onto someone who doesn’t truly possess them, and he unwittingly becomes the center of attention…” 

The score for the production features music performed by the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor Arseny Tkachenko.