ABSTRACT
NorrisHoughton, when he revisited Moscow in 1937, said he found a lamentable paucity of new plays and even suggested that a reason was to be found in an element of fear. In December 1940 a number of Stalin Prizes were awarded for outstanding work in Art and Literature during the previous six or seven years. In 1926 the Maly Theatre was no more at home in its new world than the Art Theatre was. In 1936 Trenyev re-wrote this play, which was produced at the Moscow Art Theatre early the following year, in its new form, five Acts instead of four, and with much deeper significance. War-time conditions have now accustomed people to such Shakespearean meetings in daily life. The framework of the scene is a series of interviews, the perspective being focused at the opening with a message received by a sailor-telephonist, that the Red Commander at Tsarskoye-Selo has been seen leaving in a car for the enemy’s lines.
