Gorky Plays: 2: The Zykovs; Egor Bulychov; Vassa Zheleznova (The Mother); The Last Ones

Description

Four key new translations of plays (including three previously unpublished works) written at the turn of the 20th century, charting the descent of Russia into revolution Hailed by Chekhov as the voice of his time, Gorky's four plays offer a panoramic view of Russia in the throes of revolution. THE ZYKOVS is set shortly before the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917. Antipa Zykov is a merchant adventurer. His young wife, Pavla is an unworldly convent-bred girl, too weak to realise these ideals in her stormy marriage. EGOR BULYCHOV is set on the eve of revolution as the rich businessman of the title is given power, after the Tsar's abdication. But the songs of the demonstrating crowds outside his window show that his days are numbered. Subtitled 'The Mother' and hugely controversial at the time of its first production VASSA ZHELEZNOVA, is a tragic portrait of a woman with an iron will determined to root out the corruption in her family in order to keep control of the family business. Written during his most religious phase, THE LAST ONES is about a corrupt police chief and his family who face death at the hands of revolutionaries as he tries to fight back by lynching a young man.

Maxim Gorky was born Alexei Maximovich Peshkov in Nizhny Novgorod, 225 miles east of Moscow, in 1868. By 1878 both his parents were dead and he spent his youth as a nomadic labourer. In 1898 his collection of Stories and Sketches was published and proved an immediate success. His plays include The Lower Depths (1902), Summerfolk (1904), Children of the Sun (1905), Barbarians and Enemies (1906) and Yegor Bulichev (1932). His other books include Childhood and My Universities and the novel The Mother. A socialist from his early days, he never joined the Communist Party. He offered qualified support to the Soviet state after 1918, living abroad from 1924 to 1932. In 1934 he became head of the Writers' Union but his work showed an increasing awareness that something had gone wrong with the revolution. He died in 1936.