Yuri Butusov (1961–2025) ranks among the most outstanding and internationally acclaimed Russian theatre directors. After 2022, he continued his theatrical career in Europe until his tragic death in Sozopol in August 2025. With the screening of his last Moscow production, the многократно awarded interpretation of Nikolai Gogol’s classic comedy The Government Inspector at the Satirikon Theatre, World Theatre in Sofia pays tribute to the memory of this great theatrical visionary.

Featuring the celebrated actor Konstantin Raikin in the iconic role of Khlestakov, the performance is a spectacular and powerful immersion into Gogol’s phantasmagorical artistic world. At the centre of the plot is a small provincial town, shaken by the rumour of the arrival of a secret government inspector. A chain of misunderstandings and panic unfolds, through which Gogol’s satire exposes corruption, fear, and the moral decay of society. In Butusov’s interpretation, this world acquires phantasmagorical dimensions and becomes not only a sharp social diagnosis, but also a reflection on the impossibility of accepting reality and the equally impossible attempt to escape from it.

Golden Mask 2023 for Best Drama Production.

Audience Award at the Baltic House International Theatre Festival (2022)

Theatre Star Award for Supporting Actress (Maryana Spivak)

With Bulgarian and English subtitles.