Diliara Sadykova ’26, a theatre and economics major from Kazan, Russia, is directing a Cap & Bells production of Master and Margarita this semester — a satirical adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Russian novel exploring life under Stalin and the censorship of art.
Sadykova found her passion for theatre as a first-year, while performing in the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance’s 2023 production of Shakuntala (Remix), a contemporary adaptation of a fourth-century Sanskrit folk tale. “I started as [an] economics and environmental studies double major … but then I did my first production with [the] theatre department in the spring semester of my first year,” she said.
After realizing her passion for theatre, Sadykova spent the summer after her junior year at The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain in Leeds, where she helped put together an ensemble piece exploring personal identity titled Tipping Into Our Future Selves. “We worked as an ensemble for the month of August … learning how to devise, how to do lifts, and how to create art in an ensemble,” she said. Sadykova was particularly struck by how the dancers and music came to life during the immersive show. “It was very cool since … everyone was super passionate about theatre … we all devised it and directed it,” she said. “I [also] became a member of the National Youth Theatre, which is a prestigious status for an actor in the U.K.”
During her sophomore year, Sadykova won SPARK!, an annual competition celebrating student innovation hosted by the ’68 Center for Career Exploration. Despite having found a love for theatre, she hadn’t forgotten her long-standing interest in environmental studies, and she took home the top prize for her model of a sustainable theatre festival based in the Berkshires.
While studying abroad at Cambridge University during her junior year, Sadykova continued to pursue theatre. “I went to Cambridge to study abroad, and I did four plays there,” she explained. “I didn’t go to lectures … I went to drama school, which was intense, considering we were [only] training for acting and directing.”
In addition to the Cambridge plays, Sadykova also attended the British American Drama Academy (BADA) during her semester abroad to learn about classical Shakespearean theatre. She applied her BADA training at Theatro Technis — an independent theatre in London — where she played the role of Launce, the jocular servant to Proteus, in Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
For Sadykova, directing Master and Margarita has been a longtime goal. “I mentioned it to Amy [Holzapfel], the chair of the theatre department… ‘If I ever direct something, it will be Master and Margarita,’” she recalled.
The Master and Margarita team is one of the largest in Cap & Bells’ history. Sadykova and her co-director, Jane Su ’26, have employed three stage managers, two choreographers, a music director, a composer, and an orchestra manager. “We [co-directors] have a concept, we do creative direction, but the production team, they kind of come together to contribute [to the play] as an ensemble,” she said.
Sadykova plans to use her experiences at the National Youth Theatre and the British Academy to inform artistic innovation in Master and Margarita. She intends to blend her classical emphasis on dialogue with contemporary use of visual art to create immersive theatrical performances.
Although Sadykova loves theatre, she is wary of the industry’s future. “Art doesn’t pay,” she said. “Especially, [being an] international [student] in art, [it] makes it extremely hard to … get a visa in the U.S. and go [in]to the arts industry,” she said.
For now, Sadykova hopes to spend a few years as an economic consultant before fully pivoting to film and theatre. “I will definitely go see lots of plays as an audience member,” she said.
Editor’s note: Jane Su, the co-director of Master and Margarita and an executive editor at the Record, was not involved with the writing or editing of this article.
