Gennady Banshchikov's opera is based on Gogol's story of the same name. The main characters, who are presented at the beginning as good friends, quarrel over the course of the plot and even break off their relationship. In my production, Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich become fishermen, and the rifle that serves as the apple of discord becomes an underwater harpoon.

An atypical directorial decision was the use of smells — at the beginning of the performance one of the characters put the caught fish on the electric grill. And as the atmosphere heated up — in the hall it smelled more and more fried both literally and figuratively. The power of the grill was set up so that at the moment of the characters' final quarrel, the fish would burn through, filling the hall with a pungent aroma.