About the work
The Cabal of Hypocrites (also known as "Molière") is a four-act drama by Mikhail Bulgakov about the playwright's final years at the court of Louis XIV. Bulgakov wrote it in 1929–30, after a police search of his flat and the censorship of his novel "The White Guard" had shown him how exposed an artist could be under an authoritarian state. It premiered on 16 February 1936 at the Moscow Art Theatre.
Plot
Molière, the king's celebrated playwright and actor, is drawn into conflict with a secret brotherhood of pious zealots after writing "Tartuffe". When his marriage to the young Armande becomes a scandal and the king withdraws his protection, Molière loses his stage and standing and finally dies on stage, in the middle of a performance.
Cultural significance
Maxim Gorky praised the still-unperformed play in 1931 as skilfully crafted. After just seven performances, Stalin had it banned on 9 March 1936; cultural official Platon Kerzhentsev saw in it an unwelcome parallel between the despotism of Louis XIV and Soviet dictatorship. The play is now read as Bulgakov's coded reflection on the artist's dependence on power.