Abstract: The Apes Are Coming is an experimental play by Lev Lunts, the youngest and most talented writer among the “Serapion Brothers” during the period of Russian-Soviet transformation in literature and art during the 1920s. The play clearly runs on a double-layered plot with a primary play and a secondary play as well: the secondary play, which is being rehearsed, is interwoven into the primary one, or, rather, the inner play is entwined with the outer play. This indicates Lunts’ significant step in experimenting with theatrical genres, namely, an attempt at “a play within a play” (or “a drama within a drama”) as a brand new way of representing the parodic relationship between life and drama. As the first Russian metadramatic play, the creative idea of The Apes Are Coming! coincides with the theoretical concepts regarding metatheatre presented by Lionel Abel and Richard Hornby, such as “a play within a play”, “self-reference”, and “literary and real-life reference”.

Key words: Lunts, The Apes Are Coming, metadrama, a play within a play, self-reference