“In 1992, Radio Holland organized the All-European Radio Play Competition under the motto: “WHEN THE WALL FELL.” <...>The organizers of the competition turned to playwrights from different countries of the former Warsaw Pact to see through their eyes a changing Europe. Among the Russian authors, the choice fell on me. This is how this play appeared, which, having received a prize at the competition, was then repeated many times on the radio of Scandinavian countries, in Germany, in Italy, and then was performed in Russian in the radio theater of the Svoboda station <...> And yet, despite its success, I thought for a long time: is it worth publishing this play today? And not because it seemed outdated to me, but just the opposite. The super-topical nature of the play could seem like a retelling of current newspaper articles and official debates. I tried to make a modern edition, but the material resisted. Therefore, I left everything as it was written five years ago. Because I realized that over the years we have become more experienced and bolder, but I’m not sure whether we have gained more wisdom.