One-act ballet in six scenes

Libretto by Sergei Prokofiev, based on tales from Perm Province

Set design and production by Mikhail Larionov, with Sergei Prokofiev and Thadée Slavinsky 

The ballet was written in 1921. This version was first performed in Perm in 2011. Running time: 1 hour

The Perm version of The Buffoon is a bold experiment combining the choreography of Alexey Miroshnichenko with set design and costumes based on the original sketches by futurist artist Mikhail Larionov for the first production. 

Impresario Sergei Diaghilev commissioned Sergei Prokofiev to write the score for The Tale of the Buffoon who Outwits Seven Other Buffoons in 1914 on the crest of the success of Le Sacre du printemps, taking a collection of tales from Perm Province as inspiration. After selecting several stories about the resourceful Buffoon who cheats stupid rich men, Prokofiev wrote the libretto and quickly finished the piano reduction score of the ballet. The completion of the work was interrupted by World War I; the première of The Buffoon did not take place until 1921. Until recently, the ballet had completely disappeared from choreographers’ field of vision. 

PROJECT SPONSORS: THE PROGNOZ COMPANY AND MR. TOSHIHIKO TAKAHASHI
THE PRODUCTION IS STAGED WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE PEARL OF THE URALS FOUNDATION 

SYNOPSIS

Characters:

The Buffoon
The Buffooness, the Buffoon’s wife
Seven buffoons
Their wives
Their seven daughters
The merchant
A nanny goat
Matchmakers
Seven soldiers

Scene 1

Once upon a time there lived a Buffoon. The Buffoon had a Buffooness for a wife. One day, the Buffoon was sitting on his big Russian oven and thinking about what kind of joke to play. The Buffooness was washing the floor. The Buffoon had an idea, jumped off the oven, and said, «Look here, my girl. There are seven buffoons coming over. I’ll tell you to cook us a meal, you refuse, and then I’ll pretend to kill you. When you fall over, I’ll pick up that whip. When I hit you the first time, you move a little. The second time, you turn over. And then the third time, you get up and make like you’re going to cook for us. Then we’ll sell the whip for lots of money.» No sooner said than done. Seven buffoons appeared, saw the miracle, and paid three hundred roubles for the whip.

Scene 2

The seven buffoons returned home and decided to try out the whip. They killed their seven wives and began to whip them. But not one of the wives came back to life.

Scene 3

The enraged widowers ran to the Buffoon’s house to get even with him for doing such a thing. The Buffoon hid the Buffooness and dressed himself as a woman, pretending to be his own sister. He sat down at the spinning-wheel and began to spin. The buffoons searched the whole house, but could not find the culprit. Then they saw his sister sitting there spinning. They grabbed the young woman and took her home with them, deciding that she could serve them as a drudge until the Buffoon was found.

Scene 4

The seven buffoons had seven daughters, and the time came for them to be married. An unbelievably rich merchant came to them with two matchmakers. What joy there was to be had! But the merchant didn’t spare a glance for the buffoons’ daughters; he chose the drudge for his wife.

Scene 5

The merchant brought the young woman to his bedroom, but the little woman didn’t know what to do. She said to her husband, «Oh, my dear, I’m not well. Lower me out the window on a sheet so I can get some air. When I tug on the sheet, pull me back in.» The merchant obeyed, tying her in a sheet and lowering her out of the window. But when he pulled it back in, there was a nanny goat on the sheet instead. The merchant was terrified, and began to call to his menials and servants: «Help, good people! My wife has turned into a nanny goat!» His cronies ran in and started jabbering; they began to torment and toss the nanny goat around, getting so worked up that they finally killed her.

Scene 6

The inconsolable merchant went to bury his wife. And the buffoons were there, jumping back and forth over the fence and monkeying around, saying, «Serves you right for choosing the drudge.» Suddenly the Buffoon arrived with seven soldiers. «What have you done, dogs? Where’s my sister?» The merchant showed him a nanny goat. The Buffoon took the merchant by the beard: «Why you little…! You took my sister, and now you’re giving me back a dead nanny goat. I’ll see you behind bars!» The merchant, terrified, paid three hundred roubles to stop them from taking him away. And the Buffoon and his Buffooness had a great time with the money, while the soldiers had a similarly great time with the buffoons’ daughters.