{"id":1422,"date":"2017-01-02T23:48:44","date_gmt":"2017-01-02T23:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/?p=1422"},"modified":"2017-01-03T12:13:03","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T12:13:03","slug":"12-plays-of-xmas-7-egor-bulychev-by-gorky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/2017\/01\/12-plays-of-xmas-7-egor-bulychev-by-gorky.html","title":{"rendered":"12 Plays of Xmas: 7 Egor Bulychev by Gorky"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"12plays-gorky\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen a lot of Chekhov. I mean, a lot. Last year, I marvelled at Uncle<\/em> Vanya<\/em><\/a> at the Almeida and spent a day with the National Theatre\u2019s Young Chekhov<\/em> trilogy. I can almost sing along with the Three Sisters<\/em> and Cherry Orchard<\/em><\/a>, even bits of Ivanov.<\/em> The characters\u2019 disconsolate eccentricity is a wardrobe I recognise; their world on the shift feels familiar.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s good to remember that Chekhov isn\u2019t the only Russian on the bookshelf. I\u2019ve enjoyed Ostrovsky\u2019s sly comedies and bittersweet Turgenev. But Maxim Gorky, just six years younger than Chekhov, is a fascinating complementary figure. It\u2019s exciting that London\u2019s Arcola Theatre<\/a> will pair The Lower Depths<\/em> with The Cherry Orchard<\/em>: two panoramic views of changing times.<\/p>\n

The Lower Depths<\/em> (1902) was Gorky\u2019s first stage hit, but I\u2019ve gone to the end of his career for the brawling family drama Egor Bulychev<\/em> from 1932 (smartly translated by Cathy Porter<\/a>), part of a projected trilogy following turbulent Russian history from the revolution into the 1930s. Gorky\u2019s later plays were ensemble plays clustered around a tyrannical lynchpin \u2013 Vassa,<\/em> with its remorseless matriarch, is the best known, but others have bombastic fathers at their centre. These domestic tyrants symbolise a stultifying bourgeoisie, but we also see how they have cowed or alienated their children, bred conniving, spineless heirs, attracted a swarm of shysters around their business empires. Egor Bulychev<\/em> is set during 1917, with revolution around the corner \u2013 Gorky shows why it might have been necessary.<\/p>\n

\"Egor<\/a>

Egor Bulychev at Rose Bruford College 2015. Photo: Robert Workman<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a messy play \u2013 oodles of characters, shouting and sparring and scrapping for Bulychev\u2019s inheritance before he\u2019s even in his grave. His lawyer son-in-law has the smarts, his illegitimate daughter has the spark; there are also an abbess auntie, priests and business rivals, a trio of implausible faith healers who seek to heal Bulychev with dervish chanting and wind instruments. You imagine an overstuffed drawing room, and an overstuffed stage, as everyone piles on for a good bellow. The play ends with revolutionary songs bursting through the window and filling the room \u2013 the future is coming.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason these plays don\u2019t get as much airing as the Chekhovs. They seem noisier, messier, more closely mired in Soviet politics (Gorky went in and out of favour: his death in 1936 has often been regarded as suspicious). You can\u2019t but read for hidden messages \u2013 are the bullying patriarchs, with toadies scurrying in their shadows, icons of an old regime or images of iron-fisted Stalin himself? Michael Walling’s<\/a> 2015 student production sounds as up for an argument as the characters themselves. We need to see more of the\u00a0plays in the west to catch the nuances, to gauge the full range of interpretation.<\/p>\n

Sample stage direction<\/strong> \u2018Propotei sits on the floor, droning and shrieking.\u2019<\/em>
\nSample quote<\/strong> Bulychev: \u2018Roubles are breeding like lice on soldiers and I\u2019m not ready to die yet.\u2019<\/p>\n

12 Plays of Xmas<\/strong>
\nI have, surprise, a lot of books. And I have, surprise, not read them all. So, 12 unfamiliar plays, 12 posts: welcome to 12 Plays of Xmas.
\nOwners by Caryl Churchill<\/a>
\nBirth by TW Robertson<\/a>
\nRuined by Lynn Nottage<\/a>
\nThe Roaring Girl by Middleton & Dekker<\/a>
\nAlkestis by Euripides\/Anne Carson<\/a>
\nPal Joey by O\u2019Hara, Rodgers & Hart<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow David on Twitter @mrdavidjays<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve seen a lot of Chekhov. I mean, a lot. Last year, I marvelled at Uncle Vanya at the Almeida and spent a day with the National Theatre\u2019s Young Chekhov trilogy. I can almost sing along with the Three Sisters and Cherry Orchard, even bits of Ivanov. The characters\u2019 disconsolate eccentricity is a wardrobe I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[402,34],"class_list":{"0":"post-1422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-12-plays-of-xmas","9":"tag-theatre","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1428,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions\/1428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/performancemonkey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}