Soviet bureaucracy so absurd you'll scream-laugh into your borscht.
A play staged by the Moscow Academic Theater of Satire based on S. Mikhalkov's play of the same name. The hero of the play - the head of one of the scientific institutes Makhonin, surrounding himself with sycophants, becomes on the dishonorable path of "buying" the finished dissertation....
Acting
Menglet's Makhonin: pompous, pathetic, perfect.
Writing
Mikhalkov's dialogue cuts like a rusty sickle.
Director
Maya Markova
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'dissertations for sale' scandal was biting satire in 1977 Brezhnev-era USSR—academic corruption was rampant but rarely mocked so openly.
Maya Markova co-directed despite Pluchek being the Theater of Satire's legendary artistic director—rare shared credit in Soviet theater-to-TV adaptation.
SU
