Lisa and the Genius from the Closet

A deceptive story, a playful tale, a playful game. Or – a serious experiment in bridging distant eras? Evgenia Rusinova opens a portal for time travel right inside the closet of a modern schoolgirl. And immediately – closes it, trapping in time someone who would otherwise never be heard of or seen in person by this schoolgirl or by us. The genius of the Renaissance cannot manage without Lisa's help, who has her own problems. Not fantastic ones, but ordinary teenage issues: with parents, with a friend, with self-esteem. The story crackles with comic mismatches: the genius – and the mundane, the olden days – and progress. But in the end, it shows us not differences, but a field of common values and ideas. For despite the differences in eras, there is a time that unites a world-renowned genius and an ordinary contemporary schoolgirl. That is – the time of early youth. A personal era of bold hopes, sudden discoveries, a keen desire to understand oneself, and the first determination to insist on what seems important. Coming out of the closet – this chance is granted in the story not only to the young man from the past but also to the girl from our days. To go beyond the familiar time – and the child's perspective. The genius from the closet and the girl Lisa will tackle their problems together. Both fantastic and everyday ones. Because they will find what is common that unites teenagers across the ages: the desire to reinvent this world. Even if it sometimes looks amusing, like in the heat of a chase with a contraption invented by the young genius. One can argue whether Evgenia Rusinova truly managed to unravel the great mystery of the Mona Lisa. But she certainly succeeded in seating Leonardo da Vinci at a laptop. And what came out of it – read for yourself.