Bury Me Behind the Skirting Board: a solo performance in Edinburgh

Bury Me Behind the Skirting Board is a solo performance based on the autobiographical novella of the same name by Pavel Sanaev — a book that became one of the most talked-about literary events of its time. Widely read in Russia throughout the 2000s, it was one of the defining and most influential books of that decade, causing a genuine sensation upon publication and quickly gaining cult status. Nominated for the Booker Prize, the novella fundamentally reshaped the conversation about growing up, family, and the myth of a “happy childhood”.

At the centre of the narrative is Sasha Saveliev, a young boy living with his grandparents. His childhood unfolds in an atmosphere of suffocating overprotection, fear, and emotional pressure, where love takes the form of tyranny. The home becomes a closed space of adults’ inner warfare, and the child is forced to exist in a world of prohibitions, threats, and constant anticipation of punishment. The story is infused with pain, dark humour, and a surreal tone. The audience laughs and cries at the same time.

In the stage adaptation, a single actor — Roman Boklanov — inhabits the entire story alone, virtuously shifting between voices and emotional registers, moving instantly from shouting to a child’s whisper and back again to harsh, adult speech. These transformations create a dense emotional texture and turn the performance into an honest, piercing conversation about childhood loneliness, fear, and the desperate attempt to break through towards freedom.

Showtimes: 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM

Age restriction: 14+

For more information and tickets click on ‘buy ticket’.