The play “Nathan”

“NATAN” is an unconventional stage experience at the intersection of theatre, literature, and live music. On stage are two performers: actor Anatoly Bely and rock musician Mihail Borzykin, the frontman of the legendary band Televizor.

The format of the production defies traditional genre definitions: it is neither a classical play nor a literary reading. Anatoly Bely performs several roles at once, relying on an absurd and grotesque text that reflects the contradictions and madness of contemporary reality. The music and songs by Mihail Borzykin do not merely accompany the action but become an independent artistic statement and an integral part of the dramaturgy.

At the heart of the performance is a novel about the adventures of Natan and the talking raccoon Tugrik. The characters seize power, establish new orders, plunge the world into chaos, declare wars, and make peace, trying on various political and social roles. Written on the eve of a major war, the work proved impossible to publish in modern Russia and was eventually released in Austria by the publishing house Danzig & unfried.
The performance blends the tragic and the farcical, the ironic and the painfully topical. As Anatoly Bely emphasizes, laughter here is not entertainment but a form of therapy—a way to speak about evil and resist it.