ABSTRACT
For the most part, Mariia Savina, Glikeriia Fedotova, Mariia Ermolova, and even Polina Strepetova functioned successfully within the constraints imposed by existing theatrical institutions, legal regulations, and social decorum. The Imperial triumvirate, consisting of Savina, Fedotova, and Ermolova, flourished within the rarefied atmosphere of the Imperial theatres. Strepetova, whose uncompromising pride in class and stubborn support for populist ideals estranged her from the three actresses with whom she might otherwise have enjoyed collegial relations, did not suit the class, ideological, or aesthetic disposition of the Imperial theatres and their audiences. Nonetheless, until the vogue for populist issues and drama diminished, she was wildly popular as a touring star on the provincial and club theatre circuit.
