Stage transforms to make musical of Russian novel

Dave Malloy’s lyrics in “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” are so wry and redolent they must’ve been soaked in top-shelf vodka: “I used to be better.” “I can hurt you, but I never ever ever ever would.” “Welcome to Moscow, where faded and fading princesses live.”

Now the hit musical, which adapts one segment of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” makes its Bay Area premiere at Shotgun Players. The theater company is reconfiguring its Ashby Stage for the occasion, knocking out seats so the stage can extend into the audience, catwalk-style, and adding cabaret tables and onstage seating.

Malloy approaches his Russian characters, all bundles of yearnings and rue, with a wink and a bit of distance: One character’s family is “totally messed up.” Another is “just for fun.”

— Lily Janiak

Robbie Sweeny/Shotgun Players