ABSURDLY EVER AFTER

A turtle and a snail
walk into a war…

Igor Golyak, director of Arlekin Players Theatre‘s Delirium, has never seen a production of Eugène Ionesco’s Frenzy for Two (Délire à deux), one of his many challenging plays exploring the meaninglessness left in the wake of World War II—and, he says, few others have, either. Golyak’s new adaptation, currently on stage at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, makes a compelling case for changing that.

Chulpan Khamatova and Andrey Burkovskiy

Ionesco’s original Frenzy for Two includes five characters; Golyak has stripped it down to its essence to make it a two-hander, in which a man (Him, played by Andrey Burkovskiy) and a woman (Her, played by Chulpan Khamatova) engage in a series of absurd arguments and pointless regrets. It’s a tightly directed series of seemingly preposterous interactions punctuated by sight gags and physical comedy that somehow add up to something profound.

Chulpan Khamatova and Andrey Burkovskiy

As Him and Her mock and snipe at one another, explosions, sirens, and alarms pierce the air outside their apartment; debris and slabs of corrugated metal crash down around them while they, seemingly oblivious to these threats, concern themselves with trivia and endless efforts to outdo one another, even as they are dependent on each other for survival.

Chulpan Khamatova and Andrey Burkovskiy

Are a turtle and a snail the same animal? That’s the argument that opens the play. Her insists they are the same, citing evidence such as shells and slow movement. Him dismisses Her’s claims, as would most people. But she doesn’t give up, and neither does he. Both are determined to be right, displaying emotions that vacillate from rage to stubbornness before giving way to eroticism and acrobatic displays. They crawl under and over one another beneath a table, climb scaffolding (a signature of an Arlekin set), toss a grenade back and forth, wring out a wig that has fallen into a fish tank, and occasionally obey the demands of a radio to dance. Meanwhile, heavy boots march up and down the stairwell outside their apartment, insistent pounding shakes their neighbors’ doors, and muffled screams assure them that the threats and suffering belong to others, not them.

Chulpan Khamatova and Andrey Burkovskiy

Under Golyak’s direction, Burkovskiy and Khamatova make these seemingly meaningless interactions fascinating. Equal parts Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, Sartre, and Camus, Delirium is hilarious and deeply disturbing. Beyond this Arlekin production, we appear to be living in absurd times here in greater Boston. Earlier this year, Hub Theatre Company gave us productions of Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and The Lesson; later this summer American Repertory Theater will present his Rhinoceros, with Diane Paulus directing Paul Giamatti, Tatiana Maslany, and John Turturro.

Andrey Burkovskiy and Chulpan Khamatova

Golyak, widely praised for his inventive approach to theater (Our Class; The Dybbuk), is a Ukrainian refugee familiar with pointless conflict. Burkovskiy (The Dybbuk) and Khamatova (Our Class) are both Russian émigrés who have won international acclaim. The three of them—along with a superb creative team (Jeff Adelberg, lighting; Dennis Zabiyaka, sound; Jan Pappelbaum and Cecelia Xuetong Feng, co-scenic and props)—turn what could be a confusing head-scratcher into a powerful theatrical experience.

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photos by Olga Maturana

Delirium
Arlekin Players Theatre
Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. in Boston
90 minutes, no intermission
Thurs–Sat at 7:30; Sat & Sun at 2; check for exceptions
ends July 2, 2026
for tickets (starting at $39), visit Arlekin Players Theatre

for more shows, visit Theatre in Boston

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