Black Milk (NHB Modern Plays)

A worm's eye view of post-Communist Russia, from the Siberian-born author of Plasticine.

A remote railway station in the 'Boundless Motherland'. Stranded there are a young spiv, selling overpriced toasters to the local peasantry, and his heavily pregnant wife. They don't like the place, they don't like the people, and they don't much like each other…

Vassily Sigarev's play Black Milk, in this English translation by Sasha Dugdale, was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2003.

'Terrific… Writers like Sigarev are the future – right now' – Independent

'Moves between harsh realism and flights of dramatic poetry, between gentle humour and thuggish violence… The Royal Court has discovered a tremendous new talent in Sigarev' – Daily Telegraph

'A vivid picture of Russia's unending contradictions… What makes the play so exciting is its effortless mix of personal and social detail' – Guardian

'Raw, flawed, but very interesting indeed' – The Times

'Sasha Dugdale's translation is brutally and vividly colloquial, and the acting blazes with pain, anger and fugitive hope' – Sunday Times