Review Roundup: DELIRIUM World Premiere at Boston's Calderwood Pavilion

Arlekin has returned to Boston with DELIRIUM, a new adaptation of Eugène Ionesco's Frenzy for Two, adapted and directed by Igor Golyak. Running through July 2, 2026 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA for a strictly limited engagement, Delirium brings together two of the most celebrated international stars Andrey Burkovskiy and Chulpan Khamatova — in a darkly comic, deeply human piece about survival, love, and the fragile architecture of reality.

In Delirium, a couple is locked in an endless argument while the world outside collapses into chaos. As the boundaries between reality and delusion dissolve, Khamatova (“Her”) and Burkovskiy (“Him”) inhabit a space where conflict becomes connection, and contradiction becomes a form of devotion. What begins as absurdist comedy reveals its deeper truth: two people fighting not against each other, but for each other's continued existence. See what the critics are saying...

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Don Aucoin, The Boston Globe: With its elements of slapstick, pathos, and mystery, and its aura of slow-building doom, Delirium, carries echoes of Chaplin, the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and, inevitably, Beckett's Waiting for Godot. 

Julie-Anne Whitney, Theater Mirror: Delirium was a clear reminder (as if we needed one) that Igor Golyak is the most wildly inventive director in Boston. He makes the stage a playground, using it in such surprisingly creative ways you can’t help but be impressed– even if you aren’t sure what everything means (and, maybe, you don’t need to know). His direction is innovative, intentional, and compelling. The stories he tells– and the productions he makes– are unlike anything else you will see in the Greater Boston area.

Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR: The show is thought-provoking, particularly if you’re the existential type, grappling with life’s big questions. The show had an artfully poetic ending (that is open to interpretation – my companion and I had different takes on what occurred) and left me thinking about how small some of the things we carry around are when life is hanging in the balance.

Bill Marx, The Arts Fuse: Delirium not only testifies to the superb skills of Golyak, his production team, and its cast, but also to the resonant power of the theater of the absurd as we (hopefully) move through the age of polycrisis. Ionesco, unlike some of his fellow travelers, Samuel Beckett among them, paired his terror of pointlessness and human savagery with a sustaining sense of wonder.

Michele Markarian, Theater Mirror: Delirium is one of the bravest productions I’ve seen since Dybbuk (also by Arlekin Players).  Burkovskiy and Khamatova are Moscow-trained but living abroad; Burkovskiy in New York and Khamatova in Latvia. Burkovskiy is a very kinetic actor; he uses his entire body to express his intentions and subtext in a way that’s fascinating to watch. Khamatova matches his energy with her own, which is less coiled, more lyrical.

Lynne Weiss, Stage and Cinema: Golyak, widely praised for his inventive approach to theater (Our Class; The Dybbuk), is a Ukrainian refugee familiar with pointless conflict. Burkovskiy (The Dybbuk) and Khamatova (Our Class) are both Russian émigrés who have won international acclaim. The three of them—along with a superb creative team (Jeff Adelberg, lighting; Dennis Zabiyaka, sound; Jan Pappelbaum and Cecelia Xuetong Feng, co-scenic and props)—turn what could be a confusing head-scratcher into a powerful theatrical experience.

The Sleepless Critic:  Delirium is as unpredictable and funny as it is stirring and startling.  I was incredibly moved by the boundless creativity, the complicated emotions, and the timely significance of this entire production.  It’s definitely worth it.  Take time to see the world premiere of Arlekin’s absurdist play, Delirium live and in person for a limited time at the Calderwood Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts through Thursday, July 2. 

Leah Klein, City Living Boston: Arlekin Players’ Delirium is at Calderwood Pavilion through July 2nd.  If you need a way to process what it means to be human (I’d say in this day and age, but it seems that history repeats itself and so in any day and age) then go see Delirium.  If you are not afraid of the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, the relatable, the obscure, and tapping deep down into some lighthearted spaces through it all, then don’t brush this one off.  The acting is worth witnessing as is the statement Igor Golyak’s adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s work makes on every level.  

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