The Dragon at Spooky Action Theater

An exciting new adaptation of The Dragon, a banned 1940s Russian political fairytale by Evgeny Shvarts newly translated and adapted by Jesse Rasmussen (Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show) and Yura Kordonsky (Yale School of Drama directing chair), directed by Spooky Action Artistic Director Elizabeth Dinkova, featuring Gabriel Alejandro, Surasree Das, Raghad Makhlouf, Ryan Sellers, and Fran Tapia. 

Terrorized by a wicked dragon, a town gets a chance for freedom with the arrival of a confident and cocky Sir Lancelot (yes, distantly related). Sounds simple enough, right? On the surface a supernatural fairytale, this subversive play written (and banned) in Stalinist Russia offers a scorching satire of authoritarian regimes and the mechanisms they use to control people. In a sharp new adaptation centering immigrant actors, The Dragon is a witty allegory that exposes the dangers of tyranny - and would be even more fun if it were not so disturbingly relevant.

"AN IMPORTANT PLAY that can still speak to us today” – British Theatre Guide
“The Dragon has a great deal to say about propaganda and its construction of alternate reality” - CATO Institute

FROM DIRECTOR ELIZABETH DINKOVA
“What makes this play by a children’s author so dangerous that two different authoritarian regimes (Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia) had to ban it? It ignites vital conversations about what it means to wield power and abuse it, and what power does to the individuals living under it. But it does so in surprising, enthralling, charming, whimsical ways that make its politics irresistible. 

As only Spooky Action can do, we’re bringing together wildly imaginative theatricality and powerful messages. To draw strength and insight from other cultures of resistance, this new adaptation is written by immigrant artists and cast with majority immigrant actors. We are extremely lucky that Washington DC is a crossroads where artists from all over the world working at the height of their craft meet to inspire each other.”