The play that changed my life: Eimear McBride on nine hours of Dostoevsky, seen three times
The Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg’s wildly imaginative epic The Devils was so extraordinary it demanded another viewing – or twoThe Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg’s production of The Devils, based on the novel by Dostoevsky, is one of the extraordinary theatrical achievements of the last 40 years and one of the great experiences of my life – theatrical and otherwise. With a running time of around nine hours, it was also one of the longest. And I’ve seen it three times. That’s a lot of hours to give but none of them were wasted.The first two occasions were in 1998 when the Maly played the Barbican in London. There were two options: watch it in three sections across three evenings, or do it all in one go – three hours per act, with an hour’s break between each. Being young, filled with Dostoevskian fervour, and still in possession of a stoic bladder, I did both. Continue reading...
The Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg’s wildly imaginative epic The Devils was so extraordinary it demanded another viewing – or two
The Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg’s production of The Devils, based on the novel by Dostoevsky, is one of the extraordinary theatrical achievements of the last 40 years and one of the great experiences of my life – theatrical and otherwise. With a running time of around nine hours, it was also one of the longest. And I’ve seen it three times. That’s a lot of hours to give but none of them were wasted.
The first two occasions were in 1998 when the Maly played the Barbican in London. There were two options: watch it in three sections across three evenings, or do it all in one go – three hours per act, with an hour’s break between each. Being young, filled with Dostoevskian fervour, and still in possession of a stoic bladder, I did both. Continue reading...
