About the work
Comedy in five acts by Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, written in 1868 and first performed on 1 November 1868 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. In German it has also been staged as "Auch der Klügste ist mal dumm," distributed by Verlag der Autoren.
Plot
The ambitious but penniless Glumov flatters his way into wealthy Moscow society, playing distant relatives and influential acquaintances off against one another in order to secure a position and the rich heiress Mashenka. In a private diary he mockingly comments on every one of his schemes — when it falls into the wrong hands, his rise comes to an abrupt end.
Cultural significance
The premiere became one of Ostrovsky's greatest stage successes: at the following guest performance at the Maly Theatre in Moscow, the audience halted the show to give the author, who was present, a standing ovation. The title character Glumov, whose cynical double life is exposed by his own secret diary, is regarded as a forerunner of the biting social satires of Russian and European theatre.