THE MASTER and MARGARITA

Bringing a great literary work (novel, short story) to the screen or stage is a risky business. Most of the time, the operation is hidden behind the mask of "based on ...", which indicates a silent, faithful and constructive treatment of the textual template, leaving only the name of the author. The Master and Margareta, the famous novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, on the stage of the Slovene National Theatre in Nova Gorica is of a different test. The book's impeccable translation (finally in orthodox Slovene) by Katarina Dovc, the dramaturgical reading by Martina Mrhar, and above all the direction by Nona Ciobanu, the superbly concise performance by the cast, which is based on a unified interpretive line, and the more than well-crafted technical challenge proved that it is possible to preserve, to present, even to enhance with additional potency the novelistic message.

The Master and Margarita appears on the Nova Gorica stage as the same production, with a clear narrative and emphases on all levels of Bulgakov's revolutionary experiment. I would like to point out here, first of all, that it is not so much a question of presenting a realistically transparent fable, but that the fable is expressed primarily on the mental level, in the philosophy of the hunter's being, which becomes the fable itself with all its nuances, leading to a philosophy of space and time, or rather to superspace and superself. What is the hunter in this whirlpool of all kinds of mouths, delusions, doubts and cognitions? What is happening to it? Is his greatest lack? The staging, as conceived by the Romanian guest Ciobanu, leads to only one uncompromising synthesis: the essence of the tentacle's existence, of life itself, is irrevocably freedom.

The Master and Margarita introduces us to many contemporary challenges, the Nova Gorica setting confronts us with the following themes: the good-evil dichotomy, the Christian experience (denial or glorification of the divine, atheism), the tragedy and grandeur of artistic creation, fiction and reality, the diabolical, the perversion of the political power into a unifying machine. There is also a special emphasis on cowardice, the most despicable of all despicies, cowardice that prevents rebellion and the assertion of fundamental humanist values. The multitude of these difficult, not yet exhausted discourses of our present existence are analysed and thus radicalised by the performance with great expressive power. Bulgakov wrote his art during the time of Stalin and had to watch every comma, but he was able to skilfully circumvent the traps and threats of internment, the hidden condemnation of the prisoners, the executions. The Nova Gorica production can also manage a similar disgust and revolt without any rape or declarative slogans, because it carries within it the immanent seed of love, which of course is not united with the prohibition of art, but on the contrary, as already pointed out, in free expression. Love also belongs to this area. Love is not the guilt that weighs on the Master, that he tries to punish himself by renouncing the constitution, the marve is the escape, the understanding, the duality, the love itself, the belonging without any stakes, without barbed wires, which is the mission of Margarita. For love's sake, she leaves everything behind and faces her own despair.

Diabolism, evil as the antagonist of good, is also one of the central drivers of both the novel and the play. It is fed by the narrative of the Christian tradition, the historical episode of Pontius Pilate and the betrayal of Judas, and it is no coincidence that the motto of The Master and Margarita is a quotation from Goethe's Faust. Paradoxically, but not too much, it is a fact that evil begets good, and what is more, the villain is a benefactor who punishes the evildoers with his own peculiar justice. This whole series of narrative-philosophical and psychological themes is translated into a red thread of the divide between power and the rest. The authorities declare the oppressors mad and treat them accordingly, imprisoning them, atoning for them.

The ensemble of fifteen actresses and actors transformed the described ripple (today it could even be christened postmodern) into an artistic colouring and colourfulness with a wide range of creativity and distinct, indigenous, individually sculpted images, united into a whole, a group picture, even though they could also work one by one, independently, as the characterisation of the individual characters could be. Almost an eidetic entity, accentuated by the costumes of Nona Ciobanu and Peter Košir (also the set designer and designer of the enjoyable video). In this ingenious group picture, however, I would like to single out Gorazd Jakomini (Woland) - he embodies evil so naturally, as if he is already our neighbour and we take him for granted - and his companions Andrei Zalesjak (Behemoth), Jure Kopušar (Azazello), Medea Novak (Hella) and Miha Nemec (Korovjev). Figures and characters that stick in the memory, such as Radoš Bolcina, Matija Rupel, Peter Harl and Urška Taufer. Each of them would require a separate study, because it was a question of design excellence. Their conviction that through metaphor and stage language they also and above all tell about today's grey times was palpable, which of course also applies to Ziga, Romeo....The prolonged applause at the end of the performance is perhaps the greatest reward for the creators.

Marij Čuk

Primorski dnevnik, 11. 10. 2022

The novel The Master and Margarita is a masterful work of Mikhail A. Bulgakov (1891, Ukraine -1940, Moscow), which was perfectly translated by Katarina Dovč. Nona Ciobanu's novel work and theatre arrangements weave three stories that in one way or another deal with the never-won struggle between good and evil; However, for one or the other, a person can decide for himself, since he has free will that can be guided by good or evil deeds. Each of these three stories has a second place of happening, one surreal landscape of the Soviet Union, another ancient Judea of Christ's time, and the third is a world of dreams. 

A committed love story, fantastic action and sharp satire, all of which the director has managed to guide and intertwine in a theatrical masterpiece, which is also reflected in the scenic design, the complex technical "machinery" of Peter Košir, who has also created a video full of symbolism. The quite complex story tells how everything changes for the citizens of Moscow after the arrival of the elegant Professor Woland, a magician from an unknown place, with his peculiar companions, despite being used to living under the yoke of a Stalinist system, where strange events follow each other, and even disappearances of individuals are the order of the day. 

People become restless and suspicious. The perpetrator of this turmoil, the magician-devil, also interferes with the love story between Margarita and her beloved, by offering, like Faust, his soul to hell, only to save her dear master, who wrote the novel story about Pilate and Yeshua, and to restore his freedom. 

Since the critics rejected the master's interpretation of the biblical story, he renounced his life of "freedom" and sought refuge in an insane asylum (where, in Stalinist times, many who disliked the regime were put), so that Margarita made the hard decision to save him at the cost of her soul. The whole story, laced with philosophical thoughts, as conceived and realised on stage by the director, clearly shows the realisation that freedom is at the top of the scale of values for a human being. One that Bulgakov must have longed for when he was writing his novel and had to use his writing skills to avoid anything that would have brought him into disfavour with the trinogue of the time. It was easy for intellectuals, as well as individuals who disagreed with Stalinist political ideas, to find themselves among the lunatics in the madhouse, in forced labour, if they had not already "disappeared" without a trace. Sadly, this is also happening today in countries where human rights are trampled upon and where freedom is chained in heavy chains. 

The challenging performance was carved under the versatile skilled directorial guidance of an artistically refined creation by fifteen actors from the local ensemble and guests. Each of them crafted one or more of the roles with precision and great expressiveness, while at the same time uniquely merging with their fellow cast members, who were dressed in timeless costumes by Nona Ciobanu and Peter Košir. Beside the insightful presentation of the story, the audience also learned the idea that, in addition to the narrative from former times, the designers of the show draw attention to today's, often similar events. 

It may be bitterly added again that history is not the teacher of life, as the Latins claimed it to be. The complex narrative of the stage adaptation of The Master and Margarita is given a strong scenic performance by Peter Harl (The Master, Yeshua, The Spectator), Urška Taufer (Margarita, The Spectator), Gorazd Jakomini (the distinctly villainous Woland), Miha Nemec (Koroviev), Andrej Zalesjak (Behemoth), Jure Kopušar (Azazello; Kopušar won the Tantadruj Award for Acting, Trieste 2023, for this role as one of the devil's companions, along with other roles in other productions), Medea Novak (Hella), Radoš Bolčina (Stravinsky, Pilate, Meigel), Matija Rupel (Ivan, Matej Levi, The Spectator, The Marquise), Žiga Saksida (Berlioz, Varenuha, Criminal, Jacques), Blaž Valič (Afranij, A Roman, Abadon), Anusa Kodelja/ Tina Resman (Sister, Spectator, Anna, Tofana), Lara Fortuna (Postmistress, Spectator, Frida), Jakob Sfiligoj (Caiaphas, Spectator, Vasilij, Seamstress), and Romeo Grebenšek (Lihodejev, Judas, Prokhorovglas, Boy).

Iša Pliberšek

Novi glas, 3. 8. 2023

Martina Mrhar: Slovenian readers encounter the novel The Master and Margarita as teenagers, as it has been part of the secondary school curriculum for decades. Is it the same in Romania? What are your memories related to the first time you read the novel?

Nona Ciobanu: I first read the novel as a student. I was most fascinated by the interweaving of the political, mytho-religious spectacle and the love story. I understood the true depths of the novel, its satirical humor, with which Bulgakov reveals the most terrible impulses of human nature and the overwhelming Gogolian laughter, only much later, during re-readings.

MM When did you decide to adapt the novel for a stage show? Is there a connection with Slovenian theatre?

NC Marko Bratuš saw the performance The Karamazovs at Teatrul Mic in Bucharest, whose adaptation and direction I signed, and then proposed a collaboration with SNG Nova Gorica, starting from Bulgakov's text.

MM With the decision to adapt such a complex and multi-faceted novel for a theatrical performance, there must have been a huge challenge in how you went about selecting the material. How much freedom did you allow yourself?

NC I think you have to be very careful about the ideas around which you want to build the dramatization of such a polyphonic and paradoxical text. The novel has many filters, codes and satirical subtexts and the adaptation I made focuses on the question: what do we love more truth or power? I was interested in the burlesque fantasy of the world between love and non-love, truth and lies, freedom and lack of freedom. The love story that transcends the boundaries of time and space is important. Like Faust, Margarita sells her soul to the Devil to save her lover, the Master. The devil comes to Moscow, "called" by the Master's novel, about Jeshua and Pilate. He comes as a preacher of good, as a restorer of truth and morality, revealing the superficial values of the literary and theatrical elite, as well as the weaknesses of ordinary people: greed, lies, hypocrisy. 

Evil, which manifests itself in many ways in this Moscow world, in its adaptability and versatility, today it is similar to fake news and other manipulations of our time, through which the 'cleansing' of the human mind is experimented with and by the way in which economic power subordinates the political one. In today's everyday life, we are very close to replacing love with the need to collect `likes`, `hearts` and other 'emoticons'. Margarita's love for the Master is redemptive. Sacrifice, courage, compassion and forgiveness are the weapons that defeat Woland. They are also weapons with which a person can successfully resist all attempts at manipulation and oppression that come from any controlling system.

MM Along with a strong autobiographical component, the novel opens up a series of universal questions, the central question of which is the relationship between good and evil. You also dealt with this issue during the staging of the dramatization of another magnificent Russian novel, The Brothers Karamazov ...

NC Evil always grows and spreads much faster than good. Between them lies free will. The worlds of both novels are complex, all-encompassing, multi-voiced, twisting and turning the human soul in all directions, until the last consequence. Bulgakov and Dostoyevsky are visionaries, and their texts convey the deepest human themes - love, truth, lies, the need for transcendence. Their characters are paradoxical: addicted to Evil, they sink into the abyss with lust and accept suffering as a redemptive path. The (fall) of the human being, the acceptance of evil and sacrifice offers the characters from The Master and Margarita, as well as those from Karamazov, an opportunity for spiritual transformation.

Stalinist censorship and repression deeply inspired Bulgakov in writing this novel. He burned the first version, then rewrote it and hid it for twelve years, until his last days in 1940, when he was seriously ill and blind. He made the final corrections with the help of his wife Jelena. Another 26 years passed before Yelena published the first, censored version. 'Manuscripts do not burn`. Great literature, art cannot be destroyed, says Bulgakov. It will survive criticism, censorship, it will also outgrow its time.

MM There is no more terrible human vice than cowardice. This idea connects all three levels of the novel - Yershalaim in the time of Emperor Tiberius, Pilate and the crucified Han Nasri (Jesus Christ); Moscow in the time of Stalin and the Unknown Master (Mikhail Bulgakov) and fantasy in the eternity of Woland (Satan) and all of us. The viewer of the performance should question himself about fear and courage in the context of today's socio-political situation.

There is no human vice more terrible than cowardice. This idea connects all three levels of the novel - Yershalaim in the time of Emperor Tiberius, Pilate and Khan Nasri (Jesus Christ); Moscow in the time of Stalin and the Master (Mikhail Bulgakov) and the fantasy of Woland (Satan) and all of us from eternity. The viewer should question fear and courage in the context of today's socio-political situation.

NC Even in the deepest darkness there is light, but at the same time the light often reflects the darkness. Pilate's cowardly sentencing of the innocent to death stems from his need for power and to stay in political position. His desire to correct his own mistake by executing Judas essentially justifies and legitimizes murder as a means of redemption. Pilate is unable to love anyone except his dog, he cannot trust anyone, as he is surrounded by cowards and traitors who crave power and are just waiting for their chance. The Master finally frees him, he is forgiven and he redeems himself through the suffering of guilt endured for two thousand years.The Master himself is also freed, through the suffering of the artist who had the immense courage to speak in his novel about fear and cowardice, about the truth and about the desire for power that disfigures the human being. But this courage also had areas of shadow, fear and mistrust, and that allowed the Master to be ostracized by the political mechanism he opposed. The artist becomes free by forgiving and forgiving himself, freeing his character, and himself, from the captivity of guilt. The Master's fear allowed him to get sick.

Today, when we are subjected to more subtle manipulations and a more perverse way of suppressing our free will through all the media tools, it is much more difficult to get to the truth. But it's not impossible. The characters from Master and Margarita can be models and guides for us in understanding the extraordinary power of human values, which we are slowly losing while facing the temptations and manipulations of our increasingly cybernetic world.

MM You have been involved in theater for over three decades. Has your belief in the power of art changed over the years?

NC I still believe that the theater holds up a mirror for us, it opens up an inward view, our own and also that of fellow human beings. We go to performances with the need to communicate, to understand the human soul in the world we live in. Understanding can be deepened because theater is direct, breathing and happening now. This search and poetry have always been the core of theater for me. But also the word, image, sound and physical expression of the actor.

MM The visual creation you develop together with the Slovenian visual artist Peter Košir, who is also your life partner, is very important in the performances you do together. How did this collaboration begin?

NC Our cooperation began with a video projection, which we called Hopscotch. It was created after our unforgettable trip together through Syria, through Jordan, to the Egyptian Sahara to the Libyan border. We traveled exclusively with local Arab buses for three months. The installation was presented in Ljubljana and Bucharest. Since then, Peter and I have been creating together, in theater, opera, in specific, space-bound projects, in puppet theater. Our scenographic universe is alive, sometimes it is like a character that resonates, pulsates, vibrates, here as an extension, there as a counterweight to the relationships and situations in the performances.

MM Your professor was the famous director Silviu Purcărete. What do you think is the most valuable thing he passed on to you?

NC Visual and verbal concreteness, humor and generosity of in-depth work with actors are the main guidelines that we students got from him. I have great respect for Purcarete, as I also value my other former professor, Dan Micu, one of the greatest directors Romania has ever had.

MM You have directed a lot outside of Romania. How do you see the differences and intersections between such diverse theatrical practices?

NC I searched for the theater for a long time and created projects even outside its stages, so that I would always be happy to return to the stage. It seems completely normal to me to work in the state theater in Romania, sign up for the multimedia direction of an opera show,  do a site-specific project on a Mediterranean island or in the Mayan jungle of Mexico, a performance at a Museum of Contemporary Art in the USA, a video installation in Ljubljana or to direct a show at a prestigious theater in San Diego. I believe in the syncretic composition of artistic practices. New meetings and relationships, experiences that shape and inspire you, always help you to find yourself, grow and transform and give different perspectives to see the world.

MM You are also a mother. Your dear twelve-year-old child speaks perfect Slovenian. In recent years, due to epidemiological restrictions, there have been few opportunities to visit Slovenia. Will you be able to spend more time here this year?

NC Our child thoroughly enjoyed this summer, which she spent in Slovenia with her family and friends. She also spent quite a bit of time at rehearsals in the theater, where the actors and part of the theater team from Nova Gorica helped her take her first step towards Bulgakov.

Primorske Novice, 21st of Sept. 2022, Translated by Rok Hajnšek