The Master and Margarita

By Mikhail Bulgakov

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The book is a crime mystery and love story set both in Stalin's Moscow and Jerusalem two thousand years ago − and, in our version, also in Bergen today. We are in Heaven, Hell, and the middle of reality.

Satan, under the name Woland, settles in the city. His mysterious and charismatic character possesses unusual abilities of magic and transformation and has a connection to the Master, an author who has written a controversial novel about Pontius Pilate and Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus Christ) but has been silenced by the System. The Master's lover, Margarita, is offered a pact with Woland to save the Master. The agreement entails, among other things, that she must host a satanic ball.

The plot takes place from Thursday till Sunday morning and shifts between three different eras in time: Jerusalem around the years 26–36, Moscow in 1930 and Bergen in 2024. The Master and Margarita is a story about political oppression, artistic freedom and humankind's eternal struggle between good and evil, in which criticism of the powers that be is intertwined with humour, tragedy, magic and music.

Fredrik Saroea is the vocalist and frontman of the music group Datarock and makes his stage debut at Den Nationale Scene in the role of Woland. Herman Bernhoft and Irene Waage perform as the Master and Margarita.

Language

​Performed in Norwegian without titles

Contributors

• Simon Boberg direction

• Edward Pierce scenography, lighting design

• Fredrik Saroea Woland

• Eirik del Barco Soleglad Fagotto

• Herman Bernhoft Master, Jesus

• Irene Waage Margarita

• Kristian Berg Jåtten Ivan, Levi

• Svein Harry Schöttker-Hauge Pilatus, Stravinsky and others

• Knut Erik Engemoen Styopa and others

• Tormod Løvold Berlioz, Rimsky and others

• Katrine Dale Annuschka, Varenukha and others

• Ida Cecilie Klem Hella and others

Produced by

​Den Nationale Scene in collaboration with Bergen International Festival

Information

​The Master and Margarita premieres during the Bergen International Festival Thursday 23 May at Den Nationale Scene and will be performed at DNS also after the Festival. Tickets outside the Festival period are available from dns.no.

See also Fredrik Saroea at the Festival square Friday 31 May.

Thursday 23 May at 17:45–18:25 at Den Nationale Scene: A talk by Martin Paulsen, expert on Russian and Ukranian culture. The talk will be held in Norwegian. Free tickets and more information at dns.no.

Thursday 30 May at 18:00–18:25 at Den Nationale Scene: An introduction by dramaturg Kjersti Gulliksrud. The introduction will be held in Norwegian. Free tickets and more information at dns.no.