Moscow-Petushki by Jacek Zawadzki
A long time ago, my father took me to see a strange and intense performance that I didn’t fully understand at the time. I was only 15, but Moscow-Petushki, performed by Jacek Zawadzki, left a lasting impression on me. The raw emotion, the absurdity, the dark humor—it was something that stayed with me for years. Even now I can vividly recall the way Jacek moved through Venya's chaotic journey, making me feel the weight of his despair while still allowing to find moments of strength and laughter.
This adaptation of the novel by a Russian writer Venedikt Yerofeyev enjoyed a successful run at the time of its original production in “Kana” Theater in Szczecin in 1989. In fact, Jacek has continued to perform Moscow-Petushki, and over time we’ve become friends. Watching him bring Venya to life again and again, with intensity and nuance, has been my privilege. Over the years, Jacek’s portrayal of Venya has evolved, his interpretation deepening with age and experience. The role carries now even stronger emotional resonance, reflecting the passage of time and the growth of the actor behind the mask.
Yerofeyev’s Moscow-Petushki is a cult classic of Russian literature, a philosophical and absurdist narrative by the main character Venya (short for Venedikt), who embarks on a drunken journey by train from Moscow to the small town of Petushki, where he hopes to find solace and peace. The journey, however, is steeped in darkness, as Venya confronts his personal demons, succumbing to the overwhelming power of alcohol. The text is a blend of satire, tragedy, and reflections on human existence, oscillating in tone between humor and sorrow.
I’ve been drinking for days, weeks, months. But I do it strategically. People think drinking is just a mindless pursuit of oblivion, but I beg to differ. I drink with a purpose — to connect the dots, you see. The world is full of dots. Tiny, insignificant points that make no sense on their own. But after a bottle or two, things start to fall into place. I look at the stars, and they become a map. I look at the street, and it turns into a journey. I look at my life, and it makes perfect sense. Only through the haze of vodka can you really see the universe as it was meant to be seen. But the tragedy, my dear, is that just when it all starts to make sense — poof! — you pass out. And when you wake up, the dots are gone, and you’re left with nothing but a hangover and a vague recollection that you might have understood something profound.
In his performance, Jacek embodies Venya’s chaotic inner world with an unparalleled intensity, his hopes and delusions, and the horror of ultimate descent into hopelessness. This portrayal renders not only the tragicomic essence of the protagonist but also the existential weight of Yerofeyev’s narrative. Jacek navigates Venya’s alternating states of euphoria, confusion, and despair seamlessly, making the character both absurd and deeply moving.
The monodrama format places the full burden of the performance on the single actor, Jacek meets this challenge with admirable effectiveness. He uses movement and body language to convey Venya’s disintegration, his gestures highlighting the fragmentation of the character’s mental state. The performance is visually dynamic, filled with energetic shifts as Venya interacts within the imagined space of the train with the passengers and his own hallucinations. Commending the audience’s full attention, Jacek takes at times a risk to break the fourth wall. He draws the audience into Venya’s world, transforming spectators into witnesses and participants in his unraveling.
What sets Jacek Zawadzki’s portrayal apart is his deep understanding of the tragicomic balance in Yerofeyev’s text. A key component of the novel is its absurdist humor, and Jacek excels in delivering this through deadpan expressions, ironic commentary, and comedic timing. The humor never feels forced but is naturally woven into the tragic fabric of the story, making Venya’s plight laughable and heart-wrenching, played out in the space between the tragic and the comedic, where humor meets despair, and joy fades into melancholy.
At the same time, Jacek doesn’t shy away from the philosophical depth of the material. He carefully crafts moments of existential reflection where the audience is drawn into Venya’s thoughts on the meaning of life, the futility of his journey, and the role of fate. These moments give the performance gravitas, grounding the absurdity in a more profound sense of human struggle. It becomes a reflection not just of one man’s doomed journey, but of a broader societal and existential disintegration.
Why is it that we are always looking for meaning, always thinking that there is some grand design behind it all? There is no design, no pattern. We live, we suffer, we die, and in between, we grasp at straws, hoping that somewhere there is a purpose. But what if there isn’t? What if everything is just a series of coincidences, accidents, like a train that never quite reaches its destination.
Photos by Tobiasz Papuczys
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Monodrama Moscow-Petushki has been performed not only in Poland but also worldwide, with Jacek praised for his capacity to make the abstract and philosophical aspects of the text accessible through his vibrant performance. He is a bilingual actor, and the play has Polish and English version. It won two prestigious awards at the Edinburgh Festival (1994) and was later successfully presented in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, San Francisco (where it was seen by Czesław Miłosz), San Diego, Nitra, Dubrovnik, Chicago, and other cities.
At present Jacek offers something truly special—a chance to experience Moscow-Petushki in the intimate setting of your home, where the boundaries between actor and audience dissolve, making the experience even more profound. His “theatre of one actor” is available for private performances in Wrocław and New York – New Jersey area.
Moscow – Petushki, adaptation of Venedikt Yerofeyev’s novel, performed by Jacek Zawadzki. Directed by Zygmunt Duczyński.
Duration: 50 minutes
Venue: Any room, must be darkened.
Technical requirements: Two dimmable spotlights, a table, a chair, a small mirror (preferably placed on a simple artist's easel).
If you are interested in a private performance by Jacek Zawadzki in your home, or a venue of your choice please contact Olga Szulc via email at bolagproject@gmail.com.
Jacek Zawadzki (born 1962) is a Polish actor known for his monodramas. He trained in Gdańsk, co-founded Theatre "Kana," and gained acclaim with Moscow-Petushki, winning awards at the 1994 Edinburgh Festival. Zawadzki has worked in London, Edinburgh, and Chicago, and was affiliated with the Grotowski Institute in Wrocław.
Venedikt Yerofeyev (1938–1990) was a Russian writer, best known for his cult novella Moscow-Petushki (also known as Moscow to the End of the Line), an absurdist and philosophical tale about a man’s drunken train journey. Born in the Murmansk region, Yerofeyev led a nomadic life, studied at several universities but never graduated, often working odd jobs and battling alcoholism. His semi-autobiographical work, written in the 1960s, filled with dark humor and critiques of Soviet society, circulated through samizdat (the underground Soviet press) during his lifetime. Though his literary output was limited, Moscow-Petushki remains a key work of late Soviet literature, gaining international recognition after his death.
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