Boris Yukhananov has staged another theatre serial at his Stanislavsky Electrotheatre. Pinocchio consists of two parts: Pinocchio. Forest and Pinocchio. Theatre — with a total duration of eight hours designed for two evenings. A real theatre blockbuster. The play is of the mysterial genre. According to the director himself, in a sense, Pinocchio continues the “fairy-tale line” important for the Electrotheatre, which began with The Blue Bird. An inventor and hoaxer, Boris Yukhananov, judging by his productions, considers it his main task to plumb the spiritual essence of the world. In this sense, Pinocchio is no exception. It is based on The Mad Angel Pinocchio, a play by the director's long-time friend, playwright Andrei Vishnevsky. In it Carlo Collodi's popular hero goes through many trials in an enchanted forest on the way to accepting himself, and, in the end, recognizing himself as a theatrical character, and finding his place in the theatre.

Watching this performance, especially the first part, Pinocchio. Forest, is pure pleasure: incredible costumes, sets, music, acting performances, modern technologies — it's all here. The imagination of set designer Yuri Kharikov is amazing. On the forestage stands the pediment of a real theatre decorated with a mask of a long-nosed man. Standing atop this pediment is a platform on which eight storytellers in wigs and embroidered camisoles anticipate the action. Later they will move onto the stage and comment on events throughout the performance. The first part is an act of creation, the appearance in this world of a small individual. A structure at center stage is a Tree pregnant with a living being. Nearby is Dr. Geppetto, whom Pinocchio will consider his father, wearing a helmet, glasses, a leather suit and his arms in blood up to his elbows. Together with an assistant named Cherry, they oversee the Tree giving birth.

The little man who is born is Pinocchio. Moreover, he is not alone, for there are two of them at once. It is not without difficulty that we manage to figure out that one is actually Pinocchio, and the other is his vital reflection. This duality of many heroes will be used by the authors throughout the performance, forcing us to ask why? Both Pinocchios (for simplicity we will call them Pinocchios2) have the movements and voices of puppets. One can imagine the tension that actresses Maria Belyaeva and Svetlana Naidyonova will have to withstand in the role of these same Pinocchios2!

As we might expect, these Pinocchios2 poke their noses everywhere, experience many trials, seek to know the world and their place in it, burn to a crisp — and are reborn from the ashes through the efforts of their father Dr. Geppetto. As a result, one begins to understand that the first part, in fact, tells the tale of the hero seeking an answer to the simple and most important question for every living creature — who am I? All these adventures and metamorphoses occur in the space of the stage using the most modern technologies. The Stanislavsky Electrotheatre today is one of the most technologically advanced venues in Moscow. As such, the entertainments of this part will especially delight children. At least that would be true on one condition: if the creators would agree to sacrifice a few small things, that is, to remove “non-standard speech expressions” from the first part of Pinocchio.

Understanding the intricacies of the plot and the mission of the many heroes of the second part, Pinocchio. Theatre, will put anyone's mind to test. The director filled this part with his own thoughts and doubts about the direction in which contemporary theatre is moving. On the whole, this part is a panegyric to Theatre with a capital T, an institute that Yukhananov serves wholeheartedly. At the same time, the director postulates his method as a synthesis of attraction and mystery, which he embodied in his new project in collaboration with designer Yuri Kharikov, costume designer Anastasia Nefyodova and composer Dmitri Kourliandski. They are joined by choreographer Andrei Kuznetsov-Vecheslov and the Venetian Alessio Nardin, the instructor for work with commedia dell'arte masks. Under his leadership, all the actors — almost the entire Electrotheatre company is involved in the performance - studied the intricacies of comedy masks for a year.

After undergoing many trials in the first part, Pinocchios2 arrive at the Theatre of Mangiafuoco (he also has two guises, the personifications of some great directors). Having seen the theatre in all its diversity, our hero understands what his mission is: to live in the theatre, and to die in the theatre. Who only will he not meet here: bandits and the Heavenly Choir, Harlequin and Pierrot, a Dancer and a Nun, the King and the Goat, the Queen of Fairies and Angels, and even Nijinsky. Most surprising of all is the appearance among them of Leonid Brezhnev (an excellent parody of the General Secretary performed by Vladimir Korenev). Despite such an abundance of characters, the second part of the entertainment project is significantly inferior to the first. Moreover, it lacks the integrity of the first, Pinocchio. Forest. The performance here seems to break up before our eyes. Watching this action for almost five hours is rather tedious. Sometimes there is a feeling that this part is woven from unrelated episodes. Although the director's main idea is still clear — here you might involuntarily remember Belinsky’s famous monologue about the theatre: “Oh, go, go to the theatre, live and die in it, if you can....”