From Surkov's own review of Near Zero:

Empty Space is the title of book on theater art by the great Peter Brook. It is a book about performance, play-acting. And then, “Enter two clowns” — the master key. These are the first words of the fifth act of Hamlet. These clowns are “coarse people, country lads”; they are comics, buffoons. In our Russian tradition, we are accustomed to thinking of them as the first and second grave diggers. That is, we have before us a slapstick comedy with a lethal ending.

The spirit of Hamlet steps forth even earlier, from the epigraph, “Give me some light.” Thus speaks King Claudius, having watched a play about his own crime, been stunned by it, turning to flee with shame and a tortured conscience. Does this mean the clowns will play out a farce of unmasking and repentance? Maybe so. It will at least become clear that although there are many and various retellings in the book, the most important of them is the staging of the tragic history of the Danish prince in the Tarantino-esque scenery of gangsta fiction.