The one-man performance An Anxious Box Keeper’s Sketch-Book composed by Igor Volkov, a People’s Artist of Russia, was created within the cycle Monologues At Tsar’s Lobby performed by leading actors of the Alexandrinsky Theatre.
Igor Volkov is an outstanding master of one-man shows; his individual works are honored with theatric awards, acclaimed by critics and loved by the public.
In this one-man genre his vivid performances such as The Pretty Cemetery based on works by A. Chekhov, The Carper’s Confession based on diaries by F. Dostoevsky and Gogol’s Last Dream has been exampled. All they are of kin to each other due to a wide scope of emotional narration, a combination of tender lyricism and hard grotesque, a light vein of humor, and a feeling of compassion for the tragic heroes.
An Anxious Box Keeper’s Sketch-Book is based on Zoshchenko’s satires such as Madonna, The Case History and others. Igor Volkov often acts as an author of his own one-man performances; in An Anxious Box Keeper’s Sketch-Book he is an author of the literary and scenic composition and performs of the role of Vasily Bylinkin, one of the little heroes of Zoshchenko’s stories.
