The Healing of the Prophets

A radio play by Boris Krieger. Read by Mikhail Vinogradov (a graduate of the school for voice acting and dubbing of Sergey Vostretsov (Moscow), a graduate of the St. Petersburg television school in the sound engineering course).

A philosophical play in three acts, nine scenes, with the author’s epilogue.
The play takes place in a psychiatric hospital.

Characters:
Chief physician.
First student.
Second student.
Third student.
Nurse aide.
Jesus.
Magomed.
Buddha.
Satan.
Archangel Gabriel.
The Eternal Jew.
Wife of the Eternal Jew.
Orderlies.

From Boris Krieger’s epilogue:
Why was the play “Healing of the Prophets” written? (This explanatory essay can be read as if by the author after the performance, if the audience doesn’t scatter.)

“Healing of the Prophets”… What an impact! Most likely this work will irritate both chief physicians and nurse aides, Christians and Buddhists, and Jews, and not to mention Muslims. My mother, upon learning that I dared to portray the image of the prophet Muhammad in my work, came into an obsessive horror and demanded the text of the play to be shown to her. Before she even read the manuscript, my mother said I’d lost my mind; that terrorists would get me, both in Canada and anywhere. And if even the Pope didn’t get punished, then I certainly wouldn’t…

I told her that there’s nothing bad about the prophet Muhammad in the play! But she insisted on learning as soon as possible what I wrote about him.

Then I said that I wrote nothing about him. He himself said everything he considered necessary. My mother objected that I was pretending to be foolish and that it’s obvious—none other than… No, not Allah, but me… And you thought Allah? You don’t know my mother well… Her didn’t calm down even my evasive answer that, following the prophet’s teaching, I shouldn’t be afraid of his enraged followers, because only by dying in the struggle can you reach paradise!

My strict readers, my faithful friends, my beloved relatives, my kind household—calm down! I’ll explain everything. This play is not about the prophet Muhammad and not about Buddha. And not about Christ either. This play… is about me! ...

The recording is posted with the author’s permission.