John Fasile

He had a special mark on his passport.

So he understood that while the state promised equality, I felt on my skin and my body resistance.

oppression and secrecy were its currency.

Oh, that's Marcel Marceau on the beach.

Back in his apartment, Gregory shows me some photos of him and Marcel Marceau by the Caspian Sea.

You look so young and handsome in this, Gregory.

After his hospital performance, Gregory put together a small troupe of mimes from Leningrad, who he trained and choreographed himself, and they joined a traveling theater that performed on stages and in farmer's fields across the southern Soviet republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan, where they happened to play the same city as Marcel Marceau.

And that's you two together in the surf.

Yes.

Lounging.

What were you guys talking about?

By this point, Gregory had started to perform original material.

Stuff he wrote himself, provocative, political.

And Marcel Marceau liked his work so much that he encouraged Gregory to audition for the theater of Arkady Rykin, a famous Soviet comedian.

Reichen was known for his imitations of bumbling bureaucrats and other Soviet characters.

He was subversive, but entertaining.

Subtle, but pointed.

And he wanted to add a mime troupe to his show that also pushed buttons.

Slyly.

The audition happened on a bare stage, with a big-time comedian and two others in the audience.