Day of the Oprichnik
In a single day over the course of which the action takes place, Sorokin carefully constructs, in a terrifyingly utopian form, a Russian empire of the not-too-distant future. The country is totally isolated from the outside world, its only supplier is China, and the economy is kept afloat through the export of oil and gas. In the shops, Russians can choose from two kinds of each product, since, as Sorokin writes, “when people have two to choose from, and not three or thirty three, they feel internal contentment. And when people are internally contented, you can do great things with them.” In the novel’s stage adaptation, the audience witnesses a bizarre show full of grotesque scenes, opera, ballet and comedy numbers, narrations of bloodcurdling stories, performances of religious rituals and drug-induced ecstasies. Gradually, it turns into a march-past of cruelties and a demonstration of absolute power that cannot be challenged. What began with a morning wash and steam bath ends with the water grown cold and a lifeless body floating in it, with a dog’s head…
