Published on: 2026-10-06
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
For many, acquaintance with Nikolay Nekrasov is limited to the works included in the school curriculum — several poems and epics that are remembered more from lessons than from personal choice. In Teresa Durova Theatre offer a different perspective on the poet. In the play “Nekrasov” A living person appears before the viewer: a gambler, a publisher, a lover — with their weaknesses, mistakes, and inner demons.
Here he plays cards, talks about women, remembers his wife and muse Zina, his defeats and successes, arguing with himself. Director Theresa Durova does not try once again to explain why Nekrasov is a great Russian poet. Instead, she suggests first becoming interested in the man, and only then returning to his work.
“Nekrasov is a mirror for me. He has always been a mirror of our people, our culture. Sometimes it is unpleasant to look at yourself when you see not the most attractive sides. But it is impossible to become better until you see your own flaws in this mirror,” says Tereza Durova.
Nekrasov, Schwartz and others: six theatrical premieres in October with “Mosbilet”“A performance always depends on everyone.” Teresa Durova — on live theater and art without falseness
Three Ages of One Poet
Nekrasov himself appears in the play at three different ages. The young hero is played by Andrey Batov, the mature one — by his brother Sergey Batov, and Vladimir Sedletsky can be seen in the image of the poet on the threshold of death. The three perspectives are needed not only to show different periods of life: they seem to allow the hero to look at himself from the outside and reassemble his own biography.
The Inner Voice of Nekrasov
A separate character is the Devil portrayed by Vlad Savchuk. He exists on the boundary between reality and imagination: becoming the poet’s inner voice, bringing him back to his deeds, relationships, and mistakes of the past.
“These are his personal sins. Nekrasov goes through them again, relives them again, in order to cleanse himself, in order to love his life as it was,” explains Vlad Savchuk.
From the card table to the “Sovremennik”
Nekrasov in the play is simultaneously a player and a benefactor, a publisher and a poet, a man accustomed to getting his way, and a hero who, in the last weeks of his life, has to reevaluate his own path. The actors do not seek to justify or condemn the character — rather, they give the audience the opportunity to walk through the most difficult pages of the poet’s biography.
The card theme, for example, becomes more than just a fun detail. Nikolay Nekrasov was indeed a gambler and, according to contemporaries, a very lucky player. At the same time, winning could become a way for him to support literary endeavors: the money also went to the magazine “Sovremennik,” to which he dedicated a significant part of his life.
In the play, this episode turns into a separate scene where Nekrasov talks about how to play cards. “I asked the composer Sergey Kondratyev to write music for this monologue, and then I asked the choreographer to come up with a movement — not a dance, but precisely a movement,” says Tereza Durova.
How Nekrasov Sounds
Nekrasov’s poems are not just recited on stage — they are sung. At the same time, the theater abandoned the usual live orchestra for a backing track for the first time. The actors themselves control it, so it exists in sync with their movement and speech.
An important part of Nikolai Nekrasov’s life was his publishing activity. In 1846, together with Ivan Panayev, he took over the editorial leadership of “Sovremennik” and over the years transformed the magazine into one of the main literary platforms of its time. Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Goncharov, Alexander Ostrovsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and other writers were published on its pages. In the play, the protagonist recalls how his contemporaries saw him: their assessments, words, and judgments about him become another way to look at the hero.
The play leaves a desire to delve deeper: to explore Nekrasov’s prose, his poems, letters, the history of “Sovremennik,” and to examine familiar lines in the context of their author’s life.
Tickets for the performance — in the service “Mosbilet”.
Looking for ideas on where to go in Moscow? Follow interesting events on the “Mosbilet” channels in messengers. “Max” and “Telegram”.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of information. It represents an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.