Out of all his works, Nikolai Leskov himself singled out A Family in Decline, and asked the publishers to have it printed as soon as possible: “I love this piece more than Cathedral Folk and The Sealed Angel. It is more mature than those ones, and it is painstakingly written. Katkov appreciated it and praised it, but it was not remarked upon by the critics and poorly read by the public. It is my favourite work.” (from a letter to A.S. Suvorin, February 14th 1888)

This performance, based upon the prose of Nikolai Leskov and staged by Sergei Zhenovach, is the continuation of a search for the theatrical expressiveness of words, for a particular language of story-telling.

The premiere was held on 24/05/2006
Performance duration: 3 h. 50 min.

Staged by:
Direction — Sergei Zhenovach
Scene Design — Alexander Borovsky
Composition — Grigory Gobernik.

Performed by:
Maria Shashlova, Andrei Shibarshin, Tatyana Volkova, Marfa Nazarova, Anna Rud, Olga Kalashnikova, Maksim Lyutikov, Alexander Oblasov, Tatyana Vasilkina, Anastasia Imamova, Sergei Pirniak, Alexei Vertkov, Grigory Sluzhitel, Miriam Sekhon, Alexander Lutoshkin, Tikhon Kotrelev, Sergei Abroskin.