大象传媒

Act 1
A Siberian prison camp on a winter morning

The prisoners get up, two get into a dispute, as the rumour is spread that a nobleman will be the new arrival ("P艡ivednou dnes p谩na"). He is Alexandr Petrovitch Goryantchikov, a political prisoner. The prison governor interrogates him and orders him to be flogged ("Jak t臎 naz媒vaj铆"). The prisoners have found a wounded eagle and tease the bird until the guards order them to their work ("Zv铆艡e! Ned谩 se!"). The prisoners lament their fate ("Neuvid铆 oko ji啪"); one of them, Skuratov, recalls his previous life in Moscow ("J谩 mlada na hodech byla"). Another, Luka Kuzmitch, tells how he incited a rebellion and killed an officer in his first prison camp ("Aljeja, pod谩vej nitku"). Just as he describes his own flogging, Goryantchikov is dragged in, half dead ("Aljeja! Niti!").

Act 2
Six months later, at the Irtysh river

Goryantchikov has befriended the young tartar Alyeya, asks him about his family and offers to teach him to read and write ("Mil媒, mil媒 Aljeja"). The prisoners finish work as a holiday begins and a priest blesses the food and the river ("Alexandr Petrovi膷, bude prazdnik"). Skuratov tells his story: He loved a German girl, Luisa, but when she was to be married to an old relative, Skuratov shot the groom ("Jaj, j谩 pust媒 zbyte膷n媒 膷lov臎k" 鈥� "P艡e拧el den, druh媒, t艡et铆"). For the holiday, the prisoners stage a play about Don Juan and Kedril ("Dnes bude m暖j posledn铆 den") and the pantomime about a beautiful, but unfaithful miller's wife ("Pantomima o p臎kn茅 mlyn谩艡ce"). After the play, a prisoner tries to provoke Goryantchikov, as the nobleman has the means to drink tea even in prison ("P臎kn臎 hr谩li, co?"). Alyeya gets injured.

Act 3
The prison hospital

Scene 1
Goryantchikov looks after Alyeya, who is happy that he now knows how to read and write ("Isak, prorok bo啪铆"). Luka lies dying of tuberculosis and insults Tchekunov for his servile mannerism towards Goryantchikov. Shapkin tells the story of his arrest as a vagrant and how an officer pulled his ear ("脫, brat艡i! Ta bolest, to nic!"). Skuratov has gone mad. During the night, Shishkov tells his story, interrupted by the impatient questions of Tcherevin ("M谩 d臎t'谩tka mil谩"). A rich merchant had a daughter, Akulka, whom a friend of Shishkov's, one Filka Morozov, claimed to have dishonoured ("Ty, pravil Filka" 鈥� "A Filka k艡i膷铆"). She was married to Shishkov who found out that she was a virgin ("A j谩 byl, brat艡铆膷ku, a啪 do do svatby zpit"). When he discovered that she still loved Filka, Shishkov killed her ("Na druh媒 den"). Just then, Luka dies and Shishkov recognises him as Filka. A guard fetches Goryantchikov.

Scene 2
A drunk prison governor apologises to Goryantchikov for the whipping and tells him that he has been pardoned and is free ("Petrovi膷铆, j谩 jsem t臎 urazil"). The prisoners release the healed eagle before the guard order them back to work.