A darkly absurd play from the authors of Terrorism.A young man drops out of university and goes to the police. He's done nothing wrong, he just wants a job. A particular job. Playing the victim in murder reconstructions. Maybe by getting close to death he can manage to cheat his own.The Presnyakov Brothers' play Playing the Victim was first staged, in this English translation by Sasha Dugdale, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2003, co-produced with the Royal Court Theatre and Told by an Idiot. The production was directed by Richard Wilson.'Gripping black farce... the Presnyakov Brothers capture a disturbing sense of Russia and Russians beset by anarchy and alienation'— Evening Standard'Deft and brilliant'— Guardian'Bitter, funny, penetrating'— Observer'Flashes of insanity and brutality detonating to surreal effect'— Daily Telegraph

The Presnyakov Brothers - Oleg, born 1969, and Vladimir, born 1974 - are writers, playwrights, screenwriters, directors, producers and actors.Sasha Dugdale is a translator and poet. She has translated the work of many leading contemporary playwrights writing in Russian, including: Bad Roads (Royal Court Theatre, 2017) and The Grain Store (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2009) by Natal'ya Vorozhbit; Playing the Victim (Royal Court and Told By an Idiot, 2003) and Terrorism (Royal Court, 2003) by the Presnyakov Brothers; and Ladybird (Royal Court, 2004), Black Milk (Royal Court, 2003) and Plasticine (Royal Court, 2002) by Vassily Sigarev.She has published three collections of translations of Russian poetry and five collections of her own poetry, most recently Deformations (Carcanet, 2020). In 2016 she won a Forward Prize for her long poem 'Joy', and in 2017 she received a SOA Cholmondeley Award for poetry.She has published two collections of translations of Russian poetry and three collections of her own poetry, Notebook (2003), The Estate (2007) and Red House (2011). In 2003 she received an Eric Gregory Award.