Sukhovo-Kobylin's "Trilogy - Krechinshy's Wedding, The Case"and "The Death of Tarelkin" represent the sole literary legacy of their aristocratic author whose involvement in a sensational murder case became one of the great scandals of mid-19th century Russian society. Out of the drama of his own life, Sukhovo-Kobylin fashioned a trilogy of plays remarkable for the acidity of their satire against the tsarist bureaucracy and police. It is not only for their pungent satire that the plays have continued to attract attention ever since. They are, above all, splendidly theatrical and encompass not one but several different traditions of theatre from the "well-made play" of Scribe to the absurd comedy of Gogol. "As for sheer stagecraft," writes Price D.S. Mirsky in his "A History of Russian Literature," "they have no rivals in Russian literary drama." Harold B. Segel is Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, New York. He is the author of ten books and numer

Off Nevsky Prospekt is the first study to be published in English of the exceptionally rich and diverse theatre studio movement which has flourished in St Petersburg during the 1980s and '90s. Professor Markova charts the development of the theatre studios - from their beginnings as a reaction to the repressive atmosphere of the Soviet period and through the "theatre bacchanalia" of the Perestroika years. She then surveys today's vibrant scene, with analyses of key productions and interviews with many of the central figures, and describes how theatre studios have subverted the conventions of the past to create a new dialogue with the changing society from which their audience is drawn.

This is a collection of John Freedman's reviews and articles, most originally written for the Moscow Times, in which he focuses his expert critical eye on the directors, writers and actors who held centre stage during the 1996-97 theatre season in Moscow. The book looks at the debut of promising new artists and directors at the Moscow Art Theatre celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and offers a wealth of insight into the latest developments in Russian theatre. Freedman illuminates all of the season's noteworthy trends and events in clear, informed and unapologetically opinionated reports. More than just an overview of the stars and highlights, Moscow Performances II observes at close range the playhouses and the people who make up the ever-changing face of contemporary Russian theatre today. This volume is generously illustrated with photographs of featured productions and will be a useful reference for students, professors, writers, directors and actors in the fields of Russian studies, theatre studies, theatre history and contemporary culture.

First Published in 2000. The Simpleton, which was written in 1968 and could not be performed for political reasons, saw the light of day only in 1994. Its complex games of power and identity, played out among a group of actors, remain entirely contemporary today. Set in a theatre, The Simpleton, in the age-old tradition of Russian drama, tackles the timeless problems of personal freedom and inner independence. It is anything but a simple play with its complicated chameleon-like nature new levels of reality continually moving in to push their predecessors out of the way. The mystification begins at the outset with the future arsonist, the Fop, prowling through the gall grumbling about the presence of spectators... The Simpleton is unlike anything else that was being written in the Soviet Union at the time and aside from its searing thematic content, it is astonishingly inventive in its theatricality.

This volume traces the modern critical and performance history of this play, one of Shakespeare's most-loved and most-performed comedies. The essay focus on such modern concerns as feminism, deconstruction, textual theory, and queer theory.

First published in 1996. In his native Russia, Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) is one of the writers whose works are most frequently read and whose plays are most frequently staged. Since his publication of his works from 1960s onwards, he has emerged as a major European author. This collection contains twenty-one articles by scholars from eight different countries: Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, France, India, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. In a diverse range of contributions, the authors discuss Bulgakov against the literary and theatrical background of his own time and in the context of today’s polycentric, multicultural world.