Dostoevsky: Demons discussion

tableau vivant French for 'living picture', a style of artistic presentation, describes a group of suitably costumed actors, carefully posed and often theatrically lit.

I wondered why they concluded that the tableau vivant would be too expensive. They must have been thinking of something fairly involving and elaborate.

"activite devorante":

Devorante can translate to all-consuming, or insatiable, according to Cambridge.org online dictionary.

Other sources suggested devouring, swallowing, or wolfing down something.