Rarities and Priorities: on the 200th Anniversary of Alexander Griboyedov’s Comedy Woe from Wit

The author analyzes contemporary stage interpretations of Aleksandr Griboedov’s comedy Woe from Wit in two provincial Russian theaters, aiming to identify directorial approaches, assess their alignment with the author’s original intent, and evaluate how these interpretations influence the perception of the play’s key conflicts and characters amid the evolution of theatrical practices. The research materials comprise theater critics’ reviews, personal accounts, documentation, modern scholarly works, journalistic articles, and visual records. The study employs a synthesis of systemic-historical and comparative-typological methods, enabling a comparison of the evolution of Woe from Wit’s stage interpretations within the context of sociopolitical and sociocultural transformations (from the Soviet era to the present). Additionally, the iconographic method and techniques of receptive criticism were applied. The author argues that two aesthetic trends have emerged in approaches to staging Griboedov’s play at the turn of the 20th‑21st centuries: zealously conservative and radical. A detailed analysis is conducted of modern adaptations of Griboedov’s text at the Krasnodar Youth Theatre and the Sevastopol Academic Russian Drama Theatre. The examined productions are compared with historical counterparts. The study identifies directorial and scenographic techniques employed by the creators of these performances. It establishes that a moderately classical method dominates the analyzed interpretations, bypassing ideology to uncover new meanings through the directors’ focus on the psychological nuances of the characters. The author concludes that the examined productions lack artistic integrity, with each marked only by isolated discoveries and local innovations. It is determined that the playwright’s intent is conveyed to the audience not through strict adherence to the text but by foregrounding the work’s central antithesis. The author asserts that the evolution of theatrical practice in these productions manifests in a transition from sociopolitical to existential readings. Here, the primary focus of directorial attention centers on the protagonist’s (Chatsky’s) detachment from reality and the consequent alienation of “Famusov’s society” from his suffering. Thus, existential estrangement emerges as the dominant theme, reflected in the subtleties of acting and directorial techniques. The author emphasizes that contemporary theatrical interpretations do not erase but rather highlight the resilience of Griboedov’s text, which remains perennially relevant across diverse historical epochs.