Boris Godunov (play)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Alexander Pushkin by Orest Kiprensky

Boris Godunov (

closet play by Alexander Pushkin. It was written in 1825, published in 1831, but not approved for performance by the censor until 1866 [citation needed]. Its subject is the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605. It consists of 25 scenes and is written predominantly in blank verse
.

Modest Mussorgsky's opera, Boris Godunov (1874), is based on this play.

History

Composition

Having finished the play, Pushkin famously wrote to his friend Pyotr Vyazemsky: "What a Pushkin, what a son of a bitch!".[1]

Pushkin wrote of the play:

The study of Shakespeare, Karamzin, and our old chronicles gave me the idea of clothing in dramatic forms one of the most dramatic epochs of our history. Not disturbed by any other influence, I imitated Shakespeare in his broad and free depictions of characters, in the simple and careless combination of plots; I followed Karamzin in the clear development of events; I tried to guess the way of thinking and the language of the time from the chronicles. Rich sources! Whether I was able to make the best use of them, I don't know – but at least my labors were zealous and conscientious.[2]

Performance

Saint Petersburg premiere

The first performance took place on 17 September 1870 at the

Vasiliy Samoylov (the False Dmitriy), Pyotr Grigoryev (Pimen), Yelena Struyskaya (Marina), and Pyotr Zubrov (Shuysky).[3]

Moscow premiere

The Moscow premiere took place on 19 November 1880 at the Maliy Theatre. Production personnel included Sergey Chernevsky (regisseur). The cast included Nikolay Vilde (Boris), Aleksandr Lensky (the False Dmitriy), Ivan Samarin (Pimen), Maria Yermolova (Marina), Osip Pravdin (Shuysky), and Mikhail Lentovsky (Basmanov) [citation needed].

Later productions

Vsevolod Meyerhold attempted a staging of the play in the 1930s. Meyerhold commissioned Sergei Prokofiev to write incidental music for his production, but when Meyerhold abandoned it under political pressure, the score was abandoned as well [citation needed].

The original, uncensored play did not receive a première until April 12, 2007, at Princeton University in the United States, and then only in an English translation. This production was based on Meyerhold's design and featured Prokofiev's music, together with supplemental music by Peter Westergaard. Chester Dunning, Caryl Emerson, and Sergei Fomichev's The Uncensored Boris Godunov seeks to rescue Pushkin's play from obscurity.[4]

The

Stratford on Avon in the autumn of 2012. The play had been translated into English by Adrian Mitchell.[5]

Characters

Boris Godunov and his son on a painting by N.Nekrasov, featuring a scene from the play
  • Boris Godunov, boyar, later Tsar
  • Fyodor, his son
  • Kseniya
    , his daughter
  • Kseniya's Nurse
  • Prince Shuyskiy
    , boyar
  • Prince Vorotinskiy, boyar
  • Shchelkalov, Secretary of the Duma
  • Pimen, monk and chronicler
  • Grigoriy Otrepyev
    , monk, later Dmitriy, the Pretender
  • Patriarch, Abbot of the Chudov Monastery.
  • Misail, wandering monk
  • Varlaam, wandering monk
  • Afanasiy Mikhailovich Pushkin, friend of Prince Shuyskiy
  • Gabriel Pushkin, his nephew
  • Semyon Nikitich Godunov, secret agent of Boris Godunov
  • Prince
    Kurbsky
    , disgraced boyar
  • Khrushchov, disgraced boyar
  • Karela, a Cossack
  • Prince Vishnevetskiy
  • Mniszech, Voyevoda of Sambor
  • Marina, his daughter
  • Ruzya, her chambermaid
  • Basmanov, a Russian officer
  • Marzharet, officer of Boris
  • Rozen, officer of Boris
  • Mosalskiy, boyar
  • Hostess of the Inn
  • Boyars, People, Peasants, Inspectors, Officers, Attendants, Guests, a Catholic Priest, a Polish Noble, a Poet, an Idiot, a Beggar, Gentlemen, Guards, Soldiers, Ladies, Gentleman, Boys, Servants

Synopsis

  • Scene 1 – Kremlin Palaces
  • Scene 2 – Red Square
  • Scene 3 – Novodevichiy Monastery
  • Scene 4 – Kremlin Palaces
  • Scene 5 – Night; A Cell in the Chudov Monastery
  • Scene 6 – The Fence of the Monastery (Note: Deleted from the published drama)
  • Scene 7 – Palaces of the Patriarch
  • Scene 8 – The Tsar's Palaces
  • Scene 9 – An Inn on the Lithuanian Border
  • Scene 10 – Moscow; The Home of Shuyskiy
  • Scene 11 – The Tsar's Palaces
  • Scene 12 – Kraków; The Home of Vishnevetskiy
  • Scene 13 – Castle of the Voyevoda Mniszech in Sambor (Note: also deleted from many editions)
  • Scene 14 – A Suite of Lighted Rooms
  • Scene 15 – Night; A Garden; A Fountain
  • Scene 16 – The Lithuanian Frontier
  • Scene 17 – The Tsar's Duma
  • Scene 18 – Plain near Novgorod-Seversk
  • Scene 19 – Square before a Cathedral in Moscow
  • Scene 20 – Sevsk
  • Scene 21 – A Forest
  • Scene 22 – Moscow; The Tsar's Palaces
  • Scene 23 – A Tent
  • Scene 24 – Lobnoye Mesto (Red Square)
  • Scene 25 – The Kremlin; The House of Boris

Historical basis

A familiarity with the historical events surrounding the

Romanov Dynasty
(1613) – may facilitate an understanding of the play. Key events are as follows:

The culpability of Boris in the matter of Dmitriy's death can neither be proven nor disproved. Karamzin, the historian to whom the drama is dedicated, accepted it as fact and Pushkin himself assumed it was true, at least for the purpose of creating a tragedy in the mold of Shakespeare. Modern historians, however, tend to acquit Boris of the crime.

Stage designs

The following gallery depicts the scene designs created by Matvey Shishkov for the first performance of the drama in 1870 at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

  • Scene 3 The Novodevichiy Monastery
    Scene 3
    The Novodevichiy Monastery
  • Scene 9 An Inn on the Lithuanian Border
    Scene 9
    An Inn on the
    Lithuanian Border
  • Scene 11 The Tsar's Palace
    Scene 11
    The Tsar's Palace
  • Scene 13 The Castle of the Governor Mniszech in Sambor
    Scene 13
    The Castle of the Governor Mniszech in Sambor
  • Scene 15 Night. A Garden. A Fountain.
    Scene 15
    Night. A Garden.
    A Fountain.
  • Scene 17 The Tsar's Duma
    Scene 17
    The Tsar's Duma
  • Scene 25 The House of Boris
    Scene 25
    The House of Boris

References

  1. ^ Pushkin, A.S. (1977-1979) Полное собрание сочинений. Leningrad: Nauka. Vol. 10: Letters. Letter 172.
  2. University of Indiana
    Press, 1969. p. 99.
  3. ISBN 0-521-36976-2
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-299-20760-1
    .
  5. ^ Boris Godunov – review. The Guardian, 29 November 2012

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  • Website for Princeton University's production. (Note: this server is very slow.)
  • Online exhibition associated with Princeton University's production.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boris_Godunov_(play)&oldid=1199332029"