The Double

Arif Mirabdolbaghi, Adam Paolozza & Viktor Lukawski. Photo by Lacey Creighton.

Fight Club meets the Marx Brothers in this hilarious modern adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1846 novella The Double. Created and performed by Adam Paolozza, Arif Mirabdolbaghi and Viktor Lukawski, the play premiered in Toronto last year and received a Dora nomination for best new play.

The Double follows the ill-advised exploits of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin (Paolozza), a low-level government bureaucrat, as he struggles with crushing feelings of failure and resignation. Then one day his double appears—a man who looks exactly like him, but possesses all of the attractive qualities Golyadkin fears he lacks. 

Paolozza, Mirabdolbaghi and Lukawski masterfully weave together mime, music and impeccably timed physical comedy to produce a vaudevillian ambiance reminiscent of the silent film era. Loosely set in 1840s Russia, The Double’s exceptionally clever script borrows heavily from Charlie Chaplin’s The Tramp, and features comedic references spanning from Freud to Princess Leia to Will Smith. The play’s temporal schizophrenia serves its central theme well, evoking a sense of timelessness, fate and the surreal that provides a perfect backdrop for this entertaining exploration of identity crisis.

A true tour de force, the play’s mischievous narrator Mirabdolbaghi also provides its jazzy double bass original soundtrack, while director Paolozza doubles as Golyadkin, our paranoid yet somehow endearing hero. Lukawski impresses in every other role—at least nine to my count—including the voice of Golyadkin’s love interest Klara, whose presence is visually indicated by a violin (when she’s at a distance) and double bass (up close and personal). See what they did there? 

The Double is a whimsical, playful account of one man’s rapid descent into madness which will have you laughing out loud, whether you like it or not. And I guarantee these guys will make you like it.

The Double runs until November 24 at the Tarragon Theatre. Visit tarragontheatre.com for more information and to buy tickets. 

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