"Garage" by Emil Braginsky and Eldar Ryazanov, summary Automatic translate

Emil Braginsky and Eldar Ryazanov’s play, written in 1977, is a satirical work set entirely in a closed room among the exhibits of a zoological museum. The cooperative’s shareholders are forced to spend the entire night there to settle their differences. The conflict revolves around the need to remove four people from the approved list of car owners.

The work gained wide recognition thanks to the film of the same name by Eldar Ryazanov, released on Soviet screens in 1979. The film adaptation was a huge success with audiences.

Meeting of shareholders and announcement of the list

The general meeting of the Fauna garage and construction cooperative is taking place in the zoological museum of the Animal Conservation Research Institute. The board chairman, Sidorin, his deputy, Anikeeva, and the secretary are seated at the presidium table. First, the chairman monotonously reads a report on financial expenses. He details the destruction of trees planted by local residents with fuel oil, the burning of a construction fence, and the payment of monetary compensation. The members of the board, as usual, vote to deem the board’s work satisfactory.

Sidorin then moves on to the main point of the agenda. The development area was reduced due to the construction of a highway. The cooperative is forced to reduce the number of garages. The abandonment of the repair shop saves one parking space. Four car owners still need to be expelled. The board has pre-selected candidates. Sidorin reads out the names: lab technician Khvostov, research fellow Guskov, institute employee Fetisov, and veteran Yakubov.

The announcement of the list provokes an immediate protest. Guskov’s wife becomes hysterical. She loudly accuses Anikeeva of misappropriating her husband’s foreign assignment to Paris. Fetisov confesses to his colleagues that he sold the family village house with its fifteen-acre plot to buy a car. Graduate student Natasha intercedes for the mute Khvostov, explaining to those present the reason for his muteness. A lab technician lost his voice after rescuing a sick seal from icy water. Yakubov openly calls the management’s actions arbitrary.

Those expelled demand an explanation for the presence of outsiders on the list. To quickly obtain scarce building materials, the board co-opted certain people. Among them were the son of a prominent official, Miloserdov, and the market director, Kushakova. Kushakova rudely responds to the researchers’ attacks. She graphically explains the difference in the cost of meat cuts at the market stall. Sidorin puts the matter to a vote. The obedient majority raises their hands in favor of expelling the four chosen.

The locked door and the revolt of the excluded

The aggrieved shareholders spring into action. The mute Khvostov lies down on the presidium table, atop official papers. Then a lab assistant eats the list of those expelled approved by the board. The group prepares to go home, but the massive oak door is locked. Junior researcher Malaeva climbs onto a chair. She announces to those present that the door key has been deliberately stolen.

Malaeva calls on those gathered to show conscience. She demands a vote of each cooperative member by name and a fair secret ballot. The board is openly indignant. Karpushin, Trombonist, and Kushakova insist on a personal search of Malaeva. Anikeeva personally conducts a humiliating search of her colleague. She doesn’t find the metal key. A mass brawl ensues. The shareholders toss the key from hand to hand until it is finally lost in the depths of the museum.

The situation quickly escalates. Anikeeva’s husband loudly knocks on the door from outside, trying to free his wife. The groom begs to be allowed to join his new wife after the daytime wedding ceremony at the registry office. The board categorically refuses to reconsider the vote. Sidorin realizes the futility of trying to force open the oak door. The chairman spreads a newspaper on the floor. He places a stuffed Sumatran macaque under his head and calmly goes to bed.

Night at the Museum and a Change of Scenery

Exhausted researchers settle down for the night right among the exhibits. They pull stuffed anteaters and white crows from their wooden pedestals. These objects serve as pillows. In the darkness, frank conversations take place. Professor Marina, the daughter, and Miloserdov, the son of the official, exchange ironic remarks about life. Karpushin shares with his colleagues his absurd plans to relocate Indian macaques to the Siberian taiga to collect cedar cones.

Corresponding Member Smirnovsky admits to the public that he owns two garages. He is afraid to go against his superiors due to a deep-seated fear. This fear was acquired in his youth during the persecution of genetics. Graduate student Natasha publicly declares her love for the professor. She desperately defends Smirnovsky from Karpushin’s rude attacks. Karpushin is forced to apologize.

Toward morning, the museum meeting resumes. Smirnovsky proposes drawing lots to determine the four losers. This idea finds enthusiastic support from the weary crowd. War veteran Yakubov expresses deep shame for his behavior the previous day. He had previously agreed to remain silent in order to be reinstated on the list of shareholders. Fetisov and Khvostov organize a demonstration with a bucket and a homemade poster reading, "I’ll show you."

Anikeeva tries to change people’s minds. She cites the board’s enormous achievements and the urgent need to retain valuable shareholders. Kushakova rudely reminds the deputy director of an old debt of fifteen hundred rubles. Anikeeva threatens the market director with a lawsuit. Guskov’s wife, unable to cope with the stress, temporarily loses her mind. She begins calling Sidorin her husband and Karpushin her school-age son, Tolik. The trombonist plays a heartbreaking melody for the tired woman.

An unexpected ending and a draw

Suddenly, the mute Khvostov regains his voice. The intense emotional stress completely restores the lab technician’s voice. He demands an immediate vote on three points. The shareholders must oust the cronies, re-elect the governing body, and conduct a fair draw. The meeting unanimously supports Khvostov. At that moment, Anikeeva’s husband knocks on the door again. He tells his wife the unpleasant news that their family car has been stolen.

Sidorin quickly navigates the legal situation. According to the state charter, a person without a car cannot be a member of a garage cooperative. Anikeeva loses her right to the brick garage and leaves the premises. Now the shareholders only need to draw one slip of paper with a cross on it. This will eliminate the last remaining candidate. Khvostov carefully places the blank and marked slips of paper into Fetisov’s winter fur hat.

The nervous drawing of lots begins. The shareholders take turns drawing folded slips of paper. The groom pulls out a blank slip and joyfully runs off to his bride. The lucky lots are drawn one by one by Malayeva, Sidorin, Karpushin, Guskov’s wife, Trombonist, and Fetisov. Khvostov is the last to reach into his fur hat. He pulls out a blank white slip of paper. Exactly one slip of paper with a cross remains in his fur hat. The shareholders turn around in unison and see a fat man. This nameless man had peacefully slept through the entire tumultuous meeting next to the stuffed hippopotamus.