This celebrated director's "exquisite cruelty" appears front and center when the death of a stage actor turns a theatrical drama into a real one. Two in One's two parts, "Stagehands" and "Woman of a Lifetime," celebrate the psychological richness that lurks just beneath the surface of banal reality - if murderous stagehands, lascivious fathers and vengeful daughters can be described as banal.

A modest girl, Svetlana, unfortunately got involved with a seasoned speculator, whose husband brought expensive things from different countries, and they sold everything they brought at exorbitant prices. Soon, Svetlana's excessive fascination with clothes led to her spiritual impoverishment...

The plot is based on the fate of Vera Sergeyevna Kolosova, the deputy chairman of the city executive committee.