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Reads it and tears it up.
    Vladimir Bulgakov – is there something wrong?
    Bulgakov No.
    Vladimir Are you sure? With your health or something? I wouldn’t want to think I’ve hired a man who isn’t up to the job. I don’t like to be personal, but there’s a kind of tinge in your skin – have you noticed that? Maybe all writers have got it.
    Bulgakov It’s the colour of persecution.
    Vladimir So the problem is just a creative one, right?
    Bulgakov There is no problem. It’s all coming together in my mind.
    Vladimir Good. Then when can I see something on the page?
    Bulgakov A day or two. At the most.
    Vladimir OK. A day or two. At the most, Bulgakov. At the most.
    Exit Vladimir and Stepan.
    Bulgakov sits.
    Enter Yelena. She stands behind Bulgakov.
    Enter the Doctor carrying a large bundle of files.
    Doctor Next! Sit down. Seventy-five patients to see! What is the nature of your problem?
    Bulgakov We’re here for the results. Of the tests.
    Doctor Name.
    Bulgakov Bulgakov. Mikhail.
    Doctor Smackhead groin doc turned smut-scribe?
    Bulgakov That’s me.
    Doctor How could I forget?
    He reaches for a file.
    Well?
    Bulgakov What?
    Doctor Any joy?
    Bulgakov I’m sorry?
    Doctor The actress. The babe. The honey. The hot chick. Mia amorata . Have you found her yet?
    Bulgakov I’m working on it.
    Doctor You’ll let me know. I’ll never forget her . . . smile.
    Bulgakov Do you have my results?
    Doctor All right!
    He snatches a file and reads.
    Let’s see . . . Fifteen letters, eighth letter ‘c’, anagram of ‘censorship loser’.
    Yelena What!
    Doctor Progressive failure of the kidneys, hypertension, declining filtration rate –
    Bulgakov Nephrosclerosis.
    Doctor You were a doctor !
    Yelena Is it bad? Mikhail?
    Doctor Will you tell her or will I?
    Bulgakov Things get worse.
    Doctor That’s one way of describing it.
    Bulgakov The loss of appetite, and weight, continue. And the sickness. Then one starts to retain fluid, and the poisons build up. Ends in a coma.
    Yelena How long does this take?
    Bulgakov A year. Maybe more.
    Doctor Ha! . . . Sorry. And before you ask –
    Bulgakov There’s nothing can be done.
    Doctor Nothing at all. Just to make it clear. I wouldn’t want to engender false hope. False hope is not the business of a physician. Or a playwright, don’t you think?
    He stands.
    Good day – Mrs Bulgakov. I am sorry.
    Exit the Doctor.
    Enter Anna, Grigory, Vasilly and Praskovya. They are emotional, upset. A flurry of comments and proposals.
    Grigory Mikhail, we know.
    Anna Yelena told us. It’s terrible!
    Grigory We think you should give up work. It’s not important now.
    Praskovya Exactly. If you don’t want to work – don’t let them force you. Not now.
    Bulgakov tries in vain to calm them down.
    Yelena I’m sorry, Misha, I had to talk to someone.
    Bulgakov It’s all right.
    Anna And all of us – we think you should leave, with Yelena. If you want to. You should leave the Soviet Union. You’ve always wanted to travel. So go now.
    The cupboard door slides open.
    Sergei He can’t leave without permission!
    Vasilly Sergei – back in the cupboard!
    He slides it shut.
    Anna I have a cousin who lives just outside Leningrad. I will give you a letter. You can trust him. He will lead you across the ice, overnight, to Finland. From Helsinki, you can go anywhere.
    Grigory Breathe free air, Mikhail.
    Vasilly I have one or two trinkets you can sell, salvaged from the ruins.
    Praskovya I know where you can get papers. And foreign currency.
    Vasilly slides open the cupboard door.
    Vasilly Sergei – you hear nothing of this!
    He slides it shut again.
    Yelena You see, Misha, we can go.
    Bulgakov You’re too kind, all of you. And you’re right, all my life I have wanted to travel: to Paris, to Rome. But now – I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to be with my friends and my