FOURWAYS took on quite a challenge when they decided to stage this very complex and intriguing play.

Set in Moscow between 1938 and 1940 the action centres around the apartment of playwright Mikhail Bulgakov and his wife Yelena and takes the audience into the dark world of censorship and secret police.

Superbly directed by Rhydian Hill making his debut supported Rick Butler as assistant director, this play has only been staged once before at the National Theatre but this did not deter Fourways from offering an evening of excellent entertainment.

With black comedy and some very chilling scenes with the secret police Bulgakov, after the successful premier of his play of Moliere is visited by the police and told unless he writes a play on the life of Joseph Stalin his work will be banned and he will be ruined.

At first he refuses to co-operate but when the life of his wife, and friends is threatened he reluctantly agrees. Working under the Kremlin with Stalin himself, he gets involved with the Great Purge of Stalinist Russia and the strain of being involved leads to the death of his friends and ultimately his own.

With a very strong cast and some authentic costumes and the very clever use of innovative lighting to depict changes of scene and different times of day the basic set worked extremely well.

The play clearly demonstrated the lethal game of cat and mouse by those who held all the power and the gradual decline of Bulgakov gave a chilling sight as to what went on behind the iron curtain. Another triumph for Fourways,.