About the work
Drama by Maxim Gorky, originally written in 1910. When the Moscow Art Theatre wanted to stage it in 1935, Gorky halted the production and substantially rewrote the play; only this second version premiered, on 5 July 1936 in Leningrad, just weeks before Gorky's death.
Plot
Shipping magnate Vassa Zheleznova successfully runs a shipping business on the Volga while her husband Sergei stands accused of serious crimes. To spare the family disgrace, Vassa pressures him into suicide and afterwards fights for custody of her grandson against his revolutionary mother, Rachel. When Vassa herself dies suddenly, her brother Prokhor seizes the family's assets.
Cultural significance
In the revised 1935–36 version, the power struggle within the Zheleznov household also reflects the upheavals of the October Revolution and its aftermath. Writer Leonid Leonov counted the play among the indispensable works of Russian drama alongside Gogol, Ostrovsky and Chekhov; it remains regularly staged on German-language stages and has been filmed several times.