An actor enters with a battered copy of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita and begins to read aloud from the opening chapter . . . Written in secret in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940, during Stalin’s regime, Bulgakov’s manuscript wasn’t published as a book until 1967 in Paris. Now regarded as a contemporary masterpiece, the wild story revolves around a visit by Satan to the Soviet Union and combines supernatural elements, Christian philosophy and dark satire. Adapted and directed by Eamon Flack, this new play has been devised by the cast and creative team. Quite how they turn the giddy narrative into theatre, time will tell.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

An actor enters with a battered copy of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, and begins to read aloud from the opening chapter…

We’re in a city run by fools and mediocrities. Elites protect their power, thinkers squabble over trivia, everyone is consumed by greed and materialism. And sitting on a park bench in this city is the Devil himself. Why is he here?

The story that follows is wild, joyful and magnificent. The tale unfurls from ancient Galilee to Stalin’s Moscow, via a giant talking cat, a mad novelist, a ruthless officer of the secret police… At its centre is Margarita, who has to become a witch in order to save a lost manuscript – and us all.

Written in secret in the gloom of repression, passed around under the nose of the state police, The Master and Margarita became a legend long before it was published. Now it is a phenomenon of world literature, celebrated for its insistence that love and imagination* will always triumph over those who want to shut us down.