Evgeny Schwartz wrote fairy tales that were far more realistic than Soviet novels. In "The Shadow" and especially "The Dragon," he prophetically revealed the nature of slavery, what would later be called "the banality of evil"—the everyday habit of living alongside a tyrant. In an era of rupture and loss, he restored people's sense of lostness, friendship, love, and hope, and spoke of them in a way that made breathing easier. In his plays, Schwartz laughed at his terrified contemporaries and at the same time pitied them, mourning their souls.

Who was he really? A mocker or a sage disguised as a jester, who, by twisting everyday words and meanings, saw the world more clearly than anyone else. Schwartz is one of those few artists who managed to bring an inner light through the darkness of their time—and give people hope for healing.