Mikhalkov's play will tell stories about the inhabitants of Germany during the Third Reich

The play "Before Dawn" directed by Nikita Mikhalkov will tell the story of the inhabitants of Germany during the Third Reich and reveal the deep horrors of Nazism, which penetrated into all spheres of life. The wide premiere of the production will take place on June 12.

The plot of the play includes nine different stories from Bertolt Brecht's Fear and Despair in the Third Empire, which was written from 1934 to 1938. Each subsequent act demonstrates how the virus of fascism and Nazism affects more and more people, as well as how they cease to be them.

"The most difficult thing in all the passages is what Nikita Sergeyevich always asks for, there must be a metamorphosis. The hero must change radically from beginning to end. We must not believe that it is possible, such a drastic change in him," said actor Danila Dzigar, who played in the production.

The first premiere took place on the renovated stage of the theater on Povarskaya Street after a large-scale reconstruction. The created decorations, sound and lighting solutions immerse the audience either on the street of a German city or in apartments.

The hero of the last, ninth, story is trying to make friends with the fascist invaders, to become one of them, but they throw a noose around his neck to the march of the Ukrainian nationalists. This leads to the realization that the plot is relevant at the present time.

Actor Vladislav Khitrik, who played the role in the production, was born in Crimea and studied in Kiev. He shared that he saw the Maidan in 2014 and watched "how it originated, how it was ignited."

"We have spoken out here to the end. And this one, we called him, is an enchanted wanderer, this Ukrainian who walks, looks, and who hopes that everything is here. Basically, his epiphany is that of someone who has pulled himself out of the loop, it should be the epiphany of the viewer," Mikhalkov emphasized.

When dawn comes, the Brandenburg gate with a swastika is symbolically replaced by Archangel Michael, who is the defender of the fighters against evil. The first screening, at which the director himself was sitting in the hall, ended with stormy applause from the audience.

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A replica of the Reichstag was erected on the stage, and a giant red flag was unfurled over the hall.

On May 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a theater in Moscow aimed at promoting modern patriotic drama. According to the published decree, the establishment of the institution should be handled by the metropolitan government together with the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the Presidential Council for Culture and Art, as well as the Union of Writers of Russia. The task was assigned to be completed by November 30, 2025.