“All the world’s a stage …” – these words of Shakespeare have long become one of the most famous aphorisms. In his essay-reflection on the peculiarities of such a category as politics and its actors, Alexander Korotko continues the general theme, narrowing and deepening it at the same time:   “Politics is a theater, not a movie, it is necessary not just to play a role, but also to make viewers believe in the image they have suffered. And then everything is according to the laws of the genre: applause, screams bravo and bis, curtain, side scenes, makeup … And when the mask is removed, the politician does not recognize himself, because the game continues. ”   The theater is a multi-valued concept, it’s not for nothing that the key words are heard in the most acute and dramatic periods of life with unbelievable frequency: “theater of military operations”, “political scene”, “political games” … In his new essay Theater, leaving at the same time from conventional stamps, the author writes about the tragedy of personality, the will of various circumstances turned out to be a player in the theater of the absurd, which is the modern world. Let’s turn to Andrei Bitov’s words about Alexander Korotko, told on another occasion, but as precisely as possible appropriate to the context of this work: “Only a poet with his point, sighted vision is able to deal with the lonely souls of participants in this dramatic history, among them journalists, businessmen and … politicians”.