For the last year, The Revenants has been running in a mansion off a side-street in central Moscow. Billed as Moscow’s first immersive play, a loose adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghosts, the production holds closely to the model of Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More. The audience wanders through a five-story home and drift from one room to the next as the story unfolds.
Like Sleep No More, The Revenants starts in a throwback New Orleans bar, where the patrons sip Sazeracs and listen to vintage jazz until their group is called. When our number was up, we were led into a room that was, surprisingly, a replica of the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks. (A newspaper article from earlier that day suggested that Moscovites have a particular affinity for the show.) A statuesque woman in a black dress told us the rules of the play. Our Russian being quite bad, we couldn’t understand her, but we got the gist of it. “Don’t talk. Don’t touch anything. Be good.” And then, she handed us masks to wear for the duration of the show. Even more surprising: they were the exact masks used in Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More. Maybe they bought a load of them on eBay? Who knows.
We entered the mansion and madness ensued. I discovered quickly that the ground floor of the mansion had a more traditional presentation of the play. Early in the night, I stood in a parlor and watched a straight, well-acted scene from Ghosts — in Russian, of course. But as I moved up the floors, the action became more abstract, violent, and sexual. On the top floor, no words were spoken, but I watched a naked man shower behind a fogged glass window, witnessed a topless orgy between siblings, and dodged so I wouldn’t be caught in the melee of a particularly brutal fight between a priest and an angry man of the house. The Russians have a rich tradition of experimental theater, and this fight was a gorgeous example of it. The man picked the priest up and hung him, suspended by the arms between two wall-sconces. I witnessed a seduction scene between a stable-hand and a maid that turned violent, which stood out for its nuanced and beautiful acting.
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The set design was spectacular as well. One room featured a claw-foot tub full of sludgy water, almost daring you to stick your hand in it. in another room, nursery furniture was stacked on top of itself in a precarious sort of Jenga tower. A bathroom had been transformed into a bloody dentist’s office. Another room was filled with twisted, German-expressionist portraits of the family. And the room where the brutal climax of the show took place was filled with mountains of mulch and featured a tiny model of the mansion on one hill, as if you were in the woods, peering at the house from a mile away.
I saw several audience members dragged away for one-on-ones. The closest I came was in a bedroom, when a nobleman walked in, chugged some wine, and then angrily threw his coat at me. He extended his arms and, confused, I started to unbutton his sleeves before I realized I was supposed to dress him. He was very cool about it.
After the family’s secrets came out in a final, wordless scene in the attic, the lights came on and the crowd wandered back downstairs. I spotted a maid sprinting back upstairs, followed by a few brave audience members who were ready to see some more of the play. Sadly, my companion and I were spent, so we headed home.
All in all, I thought the experience of The Revenants was thrilling. After seeing Sleep No More several times and talking through it with friends for years, I was surprised at the absolute delight I felt walking into a room and having absolutely no idea what, or who, would be in there. And even with the language barrier, Russian actors are fucking amazing. There wasn’t a weak link in the enormous cast. The website claims that the production will be moving to New York in the next year, but after seeing it, I’m not sure if it should. I mean, they stole the Sleep No More masks. Somebody will notice.
But more importantly, The Revenants has a brilliant cast, a once-in-a-lifetime location, and is currently running in a city that’s thirsty for this kind of theatre. The show we saw was completely packed. If it didn’t move to New York, where it might be unfairly compared against its predecessor, it could have a long, rich life in Russia. If you’re in Moscow, you should definitely check it out. And follow that maid. She looked like she had somewhere to be.
Tickets for The Revenants, in Moscow, are currently on sale through August of 2017.
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