| The Forest | |
|---|---|
 Nikolai Yakovlev as Schastlivtsev Maly Theatre, 1898 | |
| Written by | Aleksander Ostrovsky |
| Date premiered | 1 November 1871 (1871-11-01) |
| Place premiered | Alexandrinsky Theatre inSaint Petersburg |
| Original language | Russian |
| Genre | Social comedy |
The Forest (Russian:Лес,romanized: Les) is a play byAlexander Ostrovsky written in 1870 and first published in the January1871 issue ofOtechestvennye Zapiski magazine. It was premiered atSaint Petersburg'sAlexandrinsky Theatre on 1 November 1871, as a benefit for actorFyodor Burdin. InMoscow'sMaly Theatre it was performed on November 26, 1871.[1]
Ostrovsky started writingThe Forest in the last days of summer 1870 in his Shchelykovo estate. Initially it was supposed to be a family comedy but gradually the satirical line in it strengthened with Nestchastlivtsev, originally a marginal character, becoming the main hero.[1]
The play's first informal public reading took place at the house of Alexander's brother, Mikhail Ostrovsky. Following the latter's advice, soon after the publication of the play, Ostrovsky nominated it for the prestigious Uvarov Prize but hasn't got it.[2] The jury's decision has been criticized byPavel Annenkov who wrote: "Alexander Nikolayevich has been refused the Prize. Such was the decision of those walking suitcases stuffed with quasi-scientific nonsense who sit in the [Academy's] Department of the Russian literature, having... not a drop of taste or poetical feeling; not a trace of understanding what mastery is in literature," he wrote to Mikhail Ostrovsky.[3]
On 14 May 1871 the play received the censors' permission at the Theatre and Literature committee. It was premiered inSaint Petersburg'sAlexandrinsky Theatre as a benefit for Fyodor Burdin who played Neschastlivtsev. It also featured Maria Tchitau (as Gurmyzhskaya), Yelena Struyskaya (Aksyusha) and Platon Pronsky (Milonov). Ostrovsky, who was not in a position to control the artistic process personally, has been trying to do it by means of letters, addressed to Burdin. After the premiere, the latter informed the author that the "play has been received very warmly" but opined that his presence would have done well to improve the quality of the production.[4] What happened in reality was, the play flopped, due, mostly to Burdin's inadequacy who, according to one reviewer, "[had] not a modicum of a tragic actor in him."[5] Tchitau's performance (as Gurmyzhskaya) was found wanting too, while the performances by Zubrov (as Schastlivtsev) and Vasilyev the 2nd (as Vosmibratov) were reviewed positively.
In Moscow,The Forest was performed on 26 November 1871, as a benefit forSofia Akimova, who played Ulita. It also featuredNadezhda Medvedeva (Gurmyzhskaya),Glikeriya Fedotova (Aksyusha),Ivan Samarin (Milonov),Vasily Zhivokini (Bodayev),Prov Sadovsky (Vosmibratov, Neschastlivstev),Sergey Shumsky (Schastivtsev).[1]
Critics of the conservative camp reviewed the play negatively.Viktor Burenin sawThe Forest as having no relevance whatsoever, arguing that it was lacking any serious content and was built upon the accidental sets of events and characters.[6]Nikolai Strakhov, aSlavophile critic, expressed similar reservations, seeing the play as having no social significance and criticizing its humour as "Shchedrinian" and a "low-brow" type.[1]
The Forest was praised byNikolai Nekrasov (who called it 'brilliant') andIvan Turgenev, who told Ostrovsky in a letter that he thought the character of Neschastlivtsev was one of the author's best creations ever.[7]Aleksey Pleshcheev, reviewing the Moscow Artist Club's production ofThe Forest, expressed indignation at the fact that such a masterpiece has been so poorly treated by the Russian Imperial Theatres.[8] One of the play's admirers was the actorProv Sadovsky who's made a personal request for his son Mikhail to appear as Bulanov, as gymnasium student, which the latter did at the Moscow premier, on 26 November 1871.[9]
