"Fantasy, the flutter, the rapture of fantasy!"
The crumbling decadence of Germany, 1930: one man's desire takes him far beyond the boundaries of human decency; another's longings and regrets force him into a dangerous spiral of addiction; a third's erotic reveries culminate in a thrilling Faustian pact with the Devil herself. A cast of Russian migrs, denizens of streetcar and gas-lit caf, wander alone through the savage Mitteleuropean night. A series of fleeting encounters bring about irreversible decisions, blooming into worlds of deviance and delight.
Belka Productions presents a devilish selection of short stories, originally written in Russian by Vladimir Nabokov. Adapted for the British stage for the first time, the production vividly animates the characters of one of the 20th century's most infamous masters of the imagination.
A Dashing Fellow (1930) is a fable of lust, a discourse on the amorality of fast love, and the darkest of comedies. Promiscuous travelling salesman, Konstantin, practices his well-rehearsed and fraudulent patter to seduce Sonja, a married woman and fellow train passenger. This unwittingly sends him on an altogether different kind of journey, putting his very humanity to the test.
A Matter of Chance (1924) is a story of missed connections and unfortunate twists of fate. Exiled Aleksey works aboard an express train, pining after his long-lost wife Lena. As he descends into drug addiction, he falls prey to dangerously self-destructive visions...
A Nursery Tale (late 1920s) is a fairy tale, Nabokov-style: Erwin, a young voyeur crippled by shyness, makes a deal with the mysterious Frau Monde to have any and all of the women he pleases. He is thrown into a thrilling race against time to turn fantasy into reality, and save himself from an eternity of doomed frustration.
Belka Productions bring Nabokov's sumptuous dreamscape alive, in this darkly romantic vision of interwar Europe.
