Sorokin's "Snowstorm" defied the summer heat in Salzburg

Director Kirill Serebrennikov and author Vladimir Sorokin received particularly warm applause at the end of the performance. The two artists, now living in exile, are considered harsh critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, just a few hours earlier, had made his successful comeback as a warlord on the world stage with his summit meeting in Alaska. The special Russia connection is thanks to the dismissed head of drama Marina Davydova, who is considered one of Serebrennikov's earliest supporters and is also featured in the program booklet with an essay about him.

The novella "The Blizzard," written in 2010 and marketed as a novel when the German translation was published in 2012, is a fantastic blend of old Russian narrative motifs and science fiction. Dr. Garin, a physician, attempts to make his way under the most adverse conditions to a remote village where an epidemic is raging and the cure is eagerly awaited. Time is precious. A single driver is willing to risk the journey through the night on his snowmobile powered by tiny "horses."

Two great actors and a close-knit team

For his Salzburg debut, Serebrennikov not only has two superb actors at his disposal: August Diehl as the fanatically urging doctor and Filipp Avdeev as the stoic coachman Perkhusha, who embody the madness of this adventure with all their might (although Avdeev, who is not German-speaking, learned his lines phonetically – a remarkable achievement!), but also draws on colleagues from the former Gogol Center in Moscow. It's immediately apparent that the members of the KIRILL & FRIENDS Company, co-producers alongside the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus, are a well-rehearsed troupe capable of seamlessly combining dance, acting, and music.

In his stage design, Serebrennikov relies on a carousel-like carriage platform, reminiscent of Ulrich Rasche's "Maria Stuarda" discs, and two astronaut-like glass helmets project live, large-format images of the faces of the coachman and passengers. On a long, catwalk-like table at the ramp, an entire winter landscape can be rolled out, reenacting the sleigh ride through the winter horror land in miniature—also transmitted via live camera.

Three-hour drive to "Langenweiler"

In his version, Serebrennikov retained striking novelistic episodes, such as the encounters with a fiery miller's wife, a drug gang that gives Dr. Garin his first trip on a pyramid-shaped drug, and the corpse of a giant with a carriage runner lodged in his nostril, and expanded them into impressive scenes. Missing from the book are, for example, the "vibrant felt" from which a protective tent can quickly grow, or the holographic image radio with advanced technology and antediluvian programming.

Nevertheless, the carriage ride, accompanied by constant snowfall, drags on quite a bit, as the string of episodes fails to form a coherent whole. In the book, Dr. Garin's destination is Dolgoye; on stage, it becomes "Langenweiler." While many viewers believe they've reached this destination after just an hour, the production takes a full three hours, during which everything ultimately falls apart and falls into the hands of the Chinese.

That sounds surprisingly topical—but the evening isn't overtly political. The metaphor of life, in which the journey is already the destination, and overcoming difficulties for the sake of a better world is a life's work, is, however, immediately conveyed. Both Sorokin and Serebrennikov insist on this: poetry and art must not abandon their role as moral guides, even in times of war, and should not become directly involved in politics. Seen in this light, this "Snowstorm" is certainly a success. However, it's more of a momentary success: With an outside temperature of almost 30 degrees Celsius, even the most imaginative stage snow evaporates in no time.

(By Wolfgang Huber-Lang/APA)

(SERVICE - "The Blizzard" based on Vladimir Sorokin, stage adaptation by Kirill Serebrennikov, German by Andreas Tretner, adapted by Rustam Akhmedshin. Direction, set and costumes: Kirill Serebrennikov, set and costumes: Vlad Ogay, music and composition: Alexander Manotskov, musical direction: Daniil Orlov, choreography: Evgeny Kulagin, Ivan Estegneev, with August Diehl, Filipp Avdeev, Sonja Beißwenger, and others. Co-production of the Salzburg Festival with the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus and KIRILL & FRIENDS Company on Perner Island, Hallein. Premiere: Saturday, August 16, 7 p.m. Further performances: August 18, 20, 22, 23, 24, and 26. Premiere in Düsseldorf: September 12.)