Soviet-era playwright Lyudmila Razumovskaya’s work is little known here. Her Dear Elena Sergeevna dates from the early 1980s and – albeit cautiously, as it was a Ministry of Culture commission – captures the disenchantment of young people with a corrupt and nepotistic system of government.

During the Perestroika period, it was staged several times in Europe. As far as I can recall, this production (in the late-nite slot at the Old Fitz) is the play’s first in Sydney.

Dear Elena Sergeevna. Photo © Noah David Perry

The scene opens with four high school seniors, fresh from their final exams, paying a visit to the flat of their beloved teacher, Elena Sergeevna. They arrive with fizzy wine, a bunch of flowers, and a proposal. They know she holds the keys to the safe where their exam papers are stored, and they want to swap out their bungled test papers for perfect ones – ensuring their admission to university. The stakes are high. Exam failure all but guarantees a stint in the army and a miserable life.

But Sergeevna (played...