Abstract
The research focuses on the problem of ethical choices in Russian “new drama” at the turn of the XX–XXI century. Nowadays «new drama» is perceived as an axiological experiment. It has adopted the main principle of the “Theatre of Cruelty” by Antonin Artaud; it is shocking and traumatizing the reader/viewer. A hero of the “new drama” is an inadequate marginal. He is suffering, aggressive, and being “on the edge”. He seems to be tested for human viability. Thus, the ethical values are the central problem
in modern drama. The playwrights’ texts are performative. It means, that they do not reflect a reality, which exists, but they model a new one, in which the characters would choose between cruelty and mercy, love and hatred, truth and falsehood, slavery and freedom.