''Barbarians'' (russian: Варвары, translit=Varvary) is a 1906 play by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

. It was written in the summer of 1905 in Kuokkala and first published by the 1906

Znaniye Znanie (russian: Зна́ние, ; en, Knowledge) was a publishing company based in St. Petersburg, Russia founded by Konstantin Pyatnitsky and other members of the Committee for Literacy. It operated from 1898 to 1913. History Znanie initially ...

Collection. It came out as a separate edition via the Ditz Publishers.Commentaries to Варвары
. Commentaries. The Works by M. Gorky in 30 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. 1949-1956

Synopsis

The quiet life in Verkhpolye, a small provincial town, is disturbed by the arrival of the team of railroad constructors, among them engineers Cherkun and Tsyganov. The old order, set by the town's mayor Redozubov, had been described as 'patriarchal barbarism', but it soon becomes clear that the cynical, amoral newcomers who claim to be 'heralds of civilization', bring in nothing but barbarism again, even if in its modern version. As a result, Nadezhda Monakhova, seduced and deceived by Cherkun, commits suicide, the local government official Drobyazgin, involved in embezzlement, has to leave the place, Redozubov's son Grisha falls victim to alcohol addiction. Lukin, a student, remains untouched by both kinds of barbarism, for he seems to know ways of resisting and fighting them.

Production history

The play premiered in May 1906 at the provincial theatres, in

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

Ekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

and

Lugansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...

. Later that year it was produced in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. In 1907 it was staged in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, by the Sovremenny and Novy Vasilyeostrovsky theatres. In a 1907 letterLetter to N.D. Krasov
Rome, end of 1907 to Nikolai Krasov, the director of the Petersburgski Theatre (where the play premiered on 4 February, 1908) Gorky recommended ''Enemies'' for production, but added, that should ''Barbarians'' be chosen, "...The Monakhova character demands special attention. She sincerely believes in some kind of grandiose, fiery, pure love and in the hero who'd be worthy of such love." A Soviet film ''

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

'' was made in 1953.

References

1906 plays Russian plays Plays by Maxim Gorky {{1900s-play-stub