Playing Faust and loose

The Master And Margarita
(Chichester Festival Theatre)
***

The Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov was one of many who fell foul of Stalin's cultural purges in the Thirties. He didn't end up in the gulag, but much of his work was either banned or censored.

And his fate would certainly have been sealed had Stalin caught sight of his surreal novel The Master

And Margarita, written in secret and not published until 1967. For, as Edward Kemp's superb new adaptation shows, it's a work of savage satire that ridicules Soviet censorship and celebrates the endurance of the human spirit.

It's also a modern version of the Faust legend, for here the Devil comes to Thirties Moscow to enter into a diabolical pact with the mistress of a playwright (the Master) whose latest work has

been rubbished by the authorities. It's a complex and overlong black comedy but Steven Pimlott's production pulls out all the theatrical stops and the commitment of a large cast of actors, acrobats, musicians and magicians make this an extraordinary event.

Samuel West and Clare Holman bring power, passion and pathos to the title roles and there is a bravura performance from Michael Feast as a slinky Devil.

And you won't forget the giant talking cat (Noma Dumezweni) who gives gruesome new meaning to the expression 'cat got your tongue?'.