Fathers and Sons is a novel by Ivan Turgenev that influenced not only world literature, but also global social processes. The main character, Evgeny Bazarov, a young man who denies the foundations of noble society, became a symbol of his time - a "new man" who questions the social values ​​formed over decades. In the mid-19th century, during the reforms of Alexander II, the socio-political situation in the Russian Empire was extremely tense, one of the reasons for this being contradictions within families - between representatives of different generations.

Director Semyon Serzin moved the action of the novel to another period of our history — the perestroika era: “This is the time my generation came from, and it seems to me that it resonates powerfully with the literary source,” says the director. “It’s not about fathers and sons butting heads while solving issues of world order. It’s important that both of them found themselves facing inevitable global changes, but each, depending on their life experience, or lack thereof, sees the future differently. In the center of the story, one way or another, is the family. That’s why it was important for me to talk about relationships between people, to paint a psychological portrait of society through the family.”

In addition to the classic text by Ivan Turgenev, the director was inspired by cult films of the late 1980s - Assa by Sergei Solovyov and Is It Easy to Be Young? by Juris Podnieks, as well as interviews with rock musicians Alexander Bashlachev and Egor Letov.

Semyon Serzin is one of the most prominent directors of his generation, a student of the outstanding teacher and director Veniamin Filshtinsky, the creator of the St. Petersburg-based Invisible Theater, a laureate of prestigious awards, director of the films The Man from Podolsk and A Similar Man. Fathers and Sons will be Serzin's debut on the stage of the Theater of Nations.