Moskoviáda

Yurii Andrukhovych is one of the most important contemporary Ukrainian writers. His novel "Moscoviada" (1993) describes the dissolution of the Soviet empire in the form of an absurd spectacle: On a bleak autumn morning in Moscow in 1991, a literature student from the Ukraine Otto von F. wakes up in the dormitory of the Gorky Institute. He has a crazy hangover but is already in search of the next sip of alcohol. And so, a fantastic journey begins through the capital of an empire that is falling apart. On his breathless journey through the Soviet metropolis, he encounters numerous people and figures - and finally ends up in a Moscow shopping center named "Children’s world". There he falls under the control of secret service agents who are breeding a gigantic army of rats right beneath the catacombs of the Kremlin...  
In "Moscoviada", Andrukhovych deals with the collapse of the Soviet Union with biting derision – and touches themes as well of unbroken topicality: the neo-authoritarian Russia, the rise of nationalism and the glorification of the communist era.

The theatre director Dušan David Pařízek, who is well known in Germany and beyond, staged "Moscoviada" in 2022 at "Divadlo X10" in Prague. The Berliner Ensemble will present the play on two evenings as a guest performance.

After the performance on the 29th of Feb, Yurii Andrukhovych will present his latest novel "Radio Night" at 10 pm – as a performative reading together with the Polish band "Karbido". More information and tickets can be found here.