The Brandeis Theatre Company opened its spring season Friday night in the Laurie Theater with a sold-out production of The Suicide, a Soviet-era satire by Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman, translated and adapted by Prof. David Powelstock (GRALL), and directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky. The Suicide follows the Podsekalnikovs-Semyon, played by Joshua Davis (GRAD) and Masha, played by Hannah Wilson (GRAD)-as they struggle to provide for themselves and Masha's mother, Serafima (Leslie Harrell Dillen), in the bleak, uncertain future of the Soviet Union. Individuals representing a wide array of ideals and agendas, each advertising their cause to a man they see as a prospective martyr, confront Semyon, sparked by Masha's irrational fear of his intentions. Semyon first meets an intellectual (Robert Serrell, GRAD), who pleads with him to die in the name of the suffering intelligentsia. The alluring Kleopatra (Sara Oliva, GRAD) follows, begging Semyon to die for romantic love. These two are then followed by a priest (Eli Hannuna '08), a writer (Aaron Costa-Ganis '06), a Marxist (Brian Weaver [GRAD]) and others.

Evoking Semyon's ever-present desperation with passion and perfection, Davis astounded the audience as it followed his every thought and suffered with him through every tragic absurdity. As the bewildered and frustrated wife, Wilson shone in both tragic and comedic situations, manipulating the audience's sympathies to phenomenal effect. Gennadiy Ravvin '97, Gwen Tulin '06 and Eli Schneider '06 gave brilliant supporting performances as a passionate neighbor, a feisty woman and a deaf-mute, respectively, and Weaver was hilarious as a goofy, Marxist postal worker.

The profound, witty script and energetic performances were complemented by flawless technical effects. Designer Michael Forrest Kurtz's (GRAD) set, which consisted of a shabby living room, kitchen and bedroom, was realistic to a degree, while a slightly tilting wall reminded the audience of absurdist themes. The dim, sparse lighting, designed by Meaghan Dutton (GRAD), added effectively to the bleak and dreary atmosphere of Soviet Russia.

Perhaps the most inspired artistic decision was having cast members comprise a small band, which gathered periodically at the side of the stage to play lively Russian music composed and arranged by J. Hagenbuckle (GRAD). Rebecca Webber '08 was particularly impressive, maintaining her flawless character of an old, frail woman even as she picked up a violin and played furiously.

The moment we enter the world of the helpless Semyon and his frustrated wife, we are transported back in time and across the world to a place where individual identity was all but non-existent and fear was ubiquitous. Despite the dark, almost despondent tone, the play triumphed as a comedy and, in light of the ingeniously-evoked environment, left the audience almost ashamed to laugh.

Following the show, Powelstock addressed the comedy's dark humor in contrast to the work of the Russian playwright Nikolai Gogol. "Gogol, Russia's genius of the grotesque, described the effect of his own works as 'laughter through tears,' having in mind a purifying, ennobling form of laughter," he said. "In Erdman's [The Suicide], I would say, pain emerges through laughter, and the laughter is often anything but noble.