Cultural basis in the image of the topos of Moscow
in the play “The Pilot” by N. N. Sadur

The paper examines the image of Moscow in the play “The Pilot” (2009) by the modern
playwright N. Sadur. The study reveals how the author represents the image of Moscow in the
late period of her creativity. The space of Moscow is found to have different levels in the
play. First, Moscow, a direct place of action, is both an actual city and its artistic
representation. Second, Moscow serves as the space of the characters’ consciousness. Third,
Moscow represents the space of the author’s consciousness and symbolization. Sadur is seen
to deconstruct traditional cultural ideas about Moscow. Moscow is transformed from a
holistic space of life in close connection with the cultural and historical memory into an
atomic space of unsupported existence, a total substitution and simulation. “The Pilot”
recreates the game reality generated by the dream of a living city. The specifics of spatial
images allow drawing a conclusion about the image of the world and the author’s worldview.
According to Sadur, the modern reality is “flawed:” the ties between people existing outside
the home are broken. However, the idea is put forward that the main thing for the author is not
to declare the inferiority of the modern world but to long for an ideal past and refer to the
individual myth created on its basis. Therefore, for Sadur, it is not postmodern deconstruction
that comes to the fore but the modernist construction of a new myth about the world.