Cheek By Jowl’s annual seasons at the Barbican have settled into the format of one English offering and one Russian, the latter usually first begotten by the Chekhov International Theatre Festival. This year’s stint opens with the return of a Russian production, first seen in Britain in 2001 as part of LIFT, of Pushkin’s Boris Godunov.

On my last few encounters I felt jaded at director Declan Donnellan’s technique of illustrating the relationships between characters spatially, through physical proximity or distance – even putting figures onstage when they are not “really” present. On this occasion, however, I found myself responding more positively, especially in the opening scenes of exposition in which Boris, the late Tsar’s favourite and likely to attain the throne himself, prowls around and even wrestles other courtiers as a physical illustration of his dominance.