SeaWorld, they at least give you a warning that you will get wet if you sit close enough to the belly-flopping antics of Shamu the killer whale. (So warned, some people still choose to sit inside the splash radius.) No such admonition was offered to me on Saturday at the Park Avenue Armory, where the Chekhov International Theater Festival staged its production of Aleksandr Pushkin's Boris Godunov, but I left feeling as if I'd seen a play and visited a water park in the same night.

As faithful drama buffs know, the play, about a pretender to the Russian throne in the late 16th century, includes a pivotal scene between the impostor Grigory (played by Yevgeny Mironov), who claims to be the czarevich Dmitry, and the young aristocrat Marina (Irina Grineva), who believes she's being wooed by the legitimate heir to the czar's crown. In Pushkin's text, this scene is set at a fountain; in the director Declan Donnellan's inventive staging of the play (which was presented as part of the Lincoln Center Festival 2009, and ended on Sunday), it takes place at center stage, where two floorboards open up to reveal a small blue pool.

It's a heated exchange: a smitten Grigory confesses his true identity to Marina; she spurns him; he threatens her; and they both end up in the pool, where Grigory thinks their love will be consummated. But no: the sopping but strident Marina stands up and leaves, telling Grigory she'll marry him as soon as he's the czar.

At Ms. Grineva's stage exit on Saturday, the supportive audience burst into applause. Still in character – and still in the pool – Mr. Mironov punched its surface in frustration, sending a plume of water into the air. And then, mostly, into my lap.

Since this was theater in the round, I'm guessing the audience members directly opposite me had a pretty clear view of my face. If you were seated on the north side of the stage, around row B, seat 30 or so, I hope you got a good show.