The MarriageThe MarriageGogol- His Life
by Jennifer Phillips
"It is my destiny to be at odds with my compatriots" said Nikolai Gogol. The famous Russian poet and playwright was born on March 20, 1809 in the small town of Sorochincy. As a child, the weak and shy young boy had a tendency towards the morbid and horrible. He was described as "mediocre" by his teachers not because of lack of talent, but due to his laziness. However, his love for the theater revealed itself e
arly, and Gogol enjoyed a respected status at boarding school. Due to his quick mood changes (and large head), his peers nicknamed him, "the mysterious dwarf." He emerged from school with confidence and sensed his true calling was to do something beyond the ordinary. This calling led him to write inspiring pieces of literature with surreal and grotesque touches that changed the consciousness of the Russian people, and created many possibilities for later Russian writers. Chekhov one remarked "(All of Russian literature) emerged from under Gogol's Overcoat" – an allusion to one of his short stories. Gogol took on the task of attacking mediocrity and the injustice of the social structure in Russia in his famous book, "Dead Souls." His other great works include the plays "The Inspector General" and, of course, "The Marriage"
GOGOLS' WORLD
by Aisha Drawo
Nikolai Gogol is assuredly one of the most unfortunate geniuses who ever lived. Gogol was a brooding weak-willed negatively spirited man, 
with a wandering Cosak heart, who never seems to have come to an understanding with his native land and who never found a home anywhere else. This frustrated, ugly, morbid little man is the author of the funniest of Russian comedies, The Inspector General.. He put the bright laughter, that never issued from his throat, into the lines of his plays then threaded into that laughter of a thousand low notes of sorrow and yearning. In Gogol's world the purpose of literary art was to cure ailing souls by producing in them a sense of humor, (cucumbers are metaphysical objects) harmony and peace. He was Russia's most wonderfully original, delightfully, maddeningly idiosyncratic playwright, who knew better than anyone else how to tiptoe through the world upside down.
An Actor's Perspective
by Margo Fiorito
Playing comedy is a difficult task, as any actor will tell you, but playing Gogol, the father of Russian comedy, is an experience to never be forgotten. The Marriage is an extremely demanding play both physically and mentally because the comic timing must be absolutely precise for the play to work. Luckily for all of us actors, Gogol included everything necessary to make this comedy successful: strong comic characters, a humorous plot, and a twist of the unlikely. The precision of director Georgij Paro takes everything that Gogol wrote to the next level, combining physical actions with the text to make the play come to life and thus making this piece complete. Every person working on this show must be 100% present at every moment because this play demands a strength and dedication that can not be avoided. Because of this each character, large or small, and each crew member becomes an integral part of the process and the overall outcome of the presentation. We have been lucky enough to have a director, designers, and cast that work well together and respect each other as well as the genre called comedy. Without concentration, hard work, physical awareness, and insight into the nature of Gogol's comedy this play would not be possible and definitely would not be as much fun!
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