Although less well known in some areas of the world, Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” retains immense popularity in Russia, where musical, opera and film versions have drawn significant attention. But no ballet version of the famous book existed until Zurich choreographer Edward Klug set his version at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2021 — a version that the Bolshoi brought to the Mariinsky for the first time in July 2025.
Consciously approaching the task with symbolism, the libretto is set on a giant empty stage that, upon further observation, is a pool that triples as a hospital and metro station depending on the props. As with all symbolism, it presents both challenges and benefits. No competition (no existing ballet productions) but also a level of abstraction that removes it from Bulgakov’s text.
Klug outlines the basic premise of his staging in his statement: “All was tied into one knot: Stalin vs. the church, Stalin vs. Bulgakov, totalitarian ideology vs. Christianity, Pontius Pilate vs. Jesus, the artist vs. the system and finally, the artist vs. himself.” Yet some of that specific symbolism becomes lost on stage. Thankfully, top ranking Bolshoi stars bring dramatic depth to just about anything they are dancing, and this production is no exception.
A darkly mysterious Vladislav Lantratov slithered, swiveled, vanished and reappeared multiple times as the satanic Voland. With dark hollows for eyes, painfully glossy slicked hair and a suit that fits like Armani, Lantratov lent an aloof, cold-hearted and conniving manner to this life-sucking antagonist. His power –and incredible strength– allows him to balance on two wooden chairs with just his shoulders and shins touching the wood, and to disappear as will, a challenge cleverly met by intricate choreography when Mikhail Kruichkov, playing the role of Ivan Bezdomniy (the “Homeless”),”sees him” repeatedly and is hospitalized for his “awareness”. At one point Lantratov performs a series of pas de chats, a direct allusion to the cat-like prowess of his character. Pale green tiles of the room morph quickly into the sterile walls of a hospital which looks more like an insaneasylum when men in white coats come to restrain the patient (Kruichkov) on a gurney. Dr. Stravinsky, played by the third generation of the Fadeyechev dynasty, Alexander Fadeyechev, proved an imposing Dr. Stravinsky, calmly inspecting the panic-stricken Kruichkov who attempts to strangle Voland, but the motions, as seen by Stravinsky, are empty movements in thin air. Kruichkov’s adaptable, expressive presence and flexible plastique easily shifted between horror, fear, and panic, even while being chased through the “metro train” built from 10 people carrying a horizontal pole overhead and two headlights at the front of the line. Audience favorite Artem Ovcharenko embodied the “Master”, here a sculptor, with impulse-led fluid movements who is first shown “chipping” away with a hammer and pick at a stone that turns into Pontius Pilate, performed by veteran Mikhail Lobukhin whose stone-faced approach to the “statue come to life” balanced with appropriate emotionless delivery. We also witness one of the Bolshoi’s most reliable stars, Ana Turazashvili as Gella, dressed in an unforgiving white unitard and white pointe shoes (on her, the costume is perfect), tip toeing around Voland’s realm like an upper class waitress, and Dmitry Dorokhov as the Fagot dressed as a horse jockey.
The belle of the evening’s ball, literally and figuratively, was Ekaterina Krysanova as Margarita, who first enters with bright yellow flowers in hand, that jump out against the backdrop of pale everything. In her duet work with Voland and others, her polished lines and plush movements were intentional without the emptiness that some dancers tend to emit in abstract movements. Even in soft shoes, her beautiful arches complete every line as if punctuating a sentence properly. Her first duet with Lantratov’s Voland is oddly tender (considering who he is) and fluid, but he manipulates her into poses, he controls her, and she finally lies down. There is a sense of possession without choice, but without protest as well.
The musical score by Alfred Shnitke and Milko Lazar constantly shifts from modern to classical melodic sections and back. This, combined with a lot of onstage commotion in a nonstop series of Broadway-like vignettes, keeps the audience’s eyes moving in an attempt to follow the libretto, which includes the corps de ballet swimming in the “pool”, waiters entering to remove glass bottles, the pool shifting to a 1920s speakeasy, and at least 12 doors surrounding the 3 sides of the stage that imply a Camus-ian”Huis Clos” atmosphere from which newcomers enter but the main characters (such as Kruichkov, who pounds frantically on the doors) can never really exit. An appropriate metaphor for the struggles of life. There are also the repeat religious allusions (when Ovcharenko’s Master is positioned as Jesus on the cross, as just one example), and plenty of death: the first act beheading that repeats later, and the blood-drenched hands of hell’s inhabitants in Act 2 that, however apt, makes the ballet difficult to digest.
The macabre overtones and blood-tainted themes in this production are a hard sell for even the most devoted balletomanes. If you admire Bulgakov, you might love it.
All photos by Mikhail Vilchuk, (c) 2005, the Bolshoi Theatre. From top: Vladislav Lantratov carrying Ekaterina Krysanova, Mikhail Kruichkov (far left) with Lantratov, and (bottom photo) Artem Ovcharenko (at right) with Mikhail Lobukhin (on the left).