Gogol's tragicomic masterpiece Diary of a Madman centres around the life of Axenty Ivanov, a civil servant who casts himself as a victim of unrequited love. As he records his diary, he foresakes the security of an ordered life and spirals into a world of fantasy and despair. On the way, he tells of his growing obsession with Sophie (the enchanting daughter of his superior), his difficult relationship with his Head of Department, his dependency on his landlady, Mavra and two little dogs who contemplate his hopelessness. As sanity evaporates, he assumes a new role as the rightful king of Spain. When he is finally committed to an asylum, he finds the Spanish court very odd indeed. The Diary of a Madman, chronicles a disenchanted government official's dissent in lunacy, ending in his hilarious belief he is the King of Spain! In Leskov's The Sentry an army Private grapples with his conflicting sense of duty, which leads to a squalid nighttime cover up in the Tsar's Winter Palace in St Petersburg. The last act follows a man overburdened with errands from friends and family giving a frenzied and absurd account of his chores and obligations in An Unwilling Martyr by Anton Chekhov.| 20 Jun 06 to 24 Jun 06 | New Wimbledon Theatre Outer London, Greater London Performance Details => Venue archive |
