"The past in the present - that is my task."

Modest Musorgsky

This great, sprawling opera is about a country facing an existential crisis. At its heart is the power struggle between the forces of modern European values and the religious far-right. Graham Vick's production required a new English translation that communicated these conflicting ideologies clearly to an audience with no prior knowledge of the piece's historical context. The language drew heavily on contemporary electoral politics while also preserving the more poetic Russian used by the disturbed Old Believer, Marfa. Given what's happened to British and American democracy since the 2014 premiere of this production, the piece feels more resonant than ever.