''Live Not as You Would Like To'' (russian: Не так живи, как хочется, Romanized as: Ne tak zhivi kak khochetsya) is a play by
Alexander Ostrovsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Остро́вский; ) was a Russian playwright, generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 origina ...
. It premiered on 3 December 1854 at the
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
's
Maly Theatre and was published for the first time in the No. 17, September
1855
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city.
* January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru.
* January 23
** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...
issue of ''
Moskvityanin'' magazine.
History
Initially Ostrovsky had in mind a five-act drama, set in the 17th century, in one of the
Privolzhye's cities. An old Russian proverb, ''God's Thing Is Strong, the Foe's One Just Sticky'' (Bozhye krepko, a vrazhye lepko), gave the play its working title. The rough draft of it appeared in August 1854. The play's second version, a three-act drama now called ''Live Not As You Would Like To'' was set in the 18th century Moscow, in the days of the traditional Russian
Maslenitsa pancake carnival.
In November 1854 the play was completed and on December 3 premiered at the Maly Theatre. It was published in September 1855 (with 600 copies of a separate book edition pressed simultaneously), proving to be Ostrovsky's final publication for ''
Moskvityanin''. This magazine's text had to undergo some changes, though. The new, edited version appeared in the 1859 ''Works by A.N.Ostrovsky'' in two volumes published by Count
Grigory Kushelev-Bezborodko.
Productions
''Live Not As You Would Like To'' premiered at the Maly Theatre on 3 December 1854, as a benefit for
Kornely Poltavtsev
Kornely Nikolayevich Poltavtsev (russian: Корнелий Николаевич Полтавцев, 1823, Kursk, Imperial Russia, – 10 January 1865, Moscow, Imperial Russia) was a Russian stage actor, associated with Moscow's Maly Theatre. who played Pyotr. It featured
Prov Sadovsky as Agafon,
Lyubov Nikulina-Kositskaya
Lyubov Pavlovna Nikulina-Kositskaya (russian: Любо́вь Па́вловна Нику́лина-Коси́цкая, 27 August 1827 – 17 September 1868) was a Russian Empire theatre actress, best known for her work in the Maly Theater, notably ...
as Grusha and
Sergey Vasilyev as Vasya. Its
Alexandrinsky Theatre premier took place on 12 January 1885, featuring
Pyotr Stepanov
Pyotr Petrovich Stepanov (russian: Пётр Петро́вич Степа́нов; born 2 January 1959) is a Transnistrian politician and was the Prime Minister of Transnistria from 18 January 2012 until 10 July 2013.
Stepanov is the first ever P ...
(Pyotr), Alexandra Chitau (Dasha),
Yulia Linskaya
Yulia Nikolayevna Linskaya (russian: Юлия Николаевна Линская, née Korobyina, Коробьина; 28 May 1820, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, — 7 May 1871, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian stage actress, as ...
(Afimya) and
Alexander Martynov Martynov (russian: Марты́нов), or Martynova (feminine; Мартынова) is a common Russian last name. It is derived from the male given name Martyn (given name), Martyn and literally means 'Martyn's'. It may refer to:
*Aleksandr Nikola ...
as Yeremka, among others.
The play was less successful than all of its predecessors. It ran one season (1854–55, four performances) in the Maly, then dropped from the theatre's repertoire to re-emerge in 1861. It was running in numerous provincial theatres, though, and in 1875-1917 was performed throughout Russia more than 1500 times.
''The Power of the Fiend''
The play included fragments of ten folk songs, best loved by the author. The one called "I Sit on a Stone, I Hold an Axe" was picked by Ostrovsky while travelling along the
Volga River
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
banks. Another Yeremka's song, "It's For Me to Help Your Grief", was once popular in the
Kineshma
Kineshma (russian: Кинешма), the second-largest town in Ivanovo Oblast in Russia, sprawls for along the Volga River, 335 kilometers north-east of Moscow. Population:
History
Kineshma was first noticed as a ''posad'' in 1429. In 1504, ...
region.
Alexander Serov thought the play's plot was an ideal material for an opera, and insisted that Ostrovsky should write a libretto, which he did while in Shchelykovo, in the summer of 1857. Serov's attempts to change the final scene (notably, to have Pyotr killing Dasha) have been heartily disapproved by Ostrovsky, for whom the idea of the hero's moral reformation was crucial. The libretto has been changed without Ostrovsky's consent, and Serov called his opera ''
The Power of the Fiend''.
Reception
The first to give the play a positive review was
Aleksey Nekrasov
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian language, Russian and Bulgarian language, Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek language, Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "D ...
who (writing in ''
Sovremennik
''Sovremennik'' ( rus, «Современник», p=səvrʲɪˈmʲenʲːɪk, a=Ru-современник.ogg, "The Contemporary") was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in Saint Petersburg in 1836–1866. It came out f ...
''s No. 2, 1856 issue) argued that "only in the first, best-known Ostrovsky play, the ''
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...
'', such vivid, masterfully depicted characters could be found... Each and every face here exudes the true Russian spirit." Still, the reviewer deplored what he considered the author's binding himself with the
Slavophiles
Slavophilia (russian: Славянофильство) was an intellectual movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavoph ...
' ideas and advised him "not to narrow" himself "down consciously, not even to the doctrines that would look to him indisputable."
Nikolai Dobrolyubov, in his ''Realm of Darkness'' essay mostly used the play as a pretext to criticize the Slavophile critics who, as he saw it, "were attempting to present the author as a purveyor of this ugly morality which prescribes tolerance without borders and total self-denial when it comes to one's individual rights." Once Ostrovsky's friend, now a prominent Slavophile
Terty Filippov
Terty Ivanovich Filippov (Те́ртий Ива́нович Фили́ппов; 5 January 1825 in Rzhev, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire – 12 December 1899 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire) was a Russian folklorist, singer, pedagogue, the Ho ...
in ''
Russkaya Beseda
''Russkaya Beseda'' (russian: Ру′сская бесе′да, en, The Russian Colloquy) was a Russian literary magazine founded in Moscow, Russian Empire, in 1856 by Alexander Koshelev who remained its editor-in-chief until 1858, when Ivan ...
'' (No.1, 1856) admitted that "the idea of this drama was of great importance and its dramatic implementation would be worthy of a critical support if only for an insightful artistic intention." Otherwise he considered it the weakest of all the Ostrovsky's plays. It was "underdeveloped characters", according to the critic, that brought about its failure.
Apollon Grigoriev
Apollon Aleksandrovich Grigoryev (russian: Аполло́н Алекса́ндрович Григо́рьев, p=ɐpɐˈlon ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjɪf, a=Apollon Alyeksandrovich Grigor'yev.ru.vorb.oga; 20 July 1822 – 7 Octob ...
, writing in ''Russky Mir'' (1860) too spotted the chasm between the 'genius idea' and 'poor implementation'. It was Grigoriev who first proposed that ''Live Not as You Would Like To'' should be re-worked into a musical piece and suggested Alexander Serov might do that.
[The Works by A.Grigoriev. Issue 15, Moscow, 1915, pp. 47, 53]
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
enjoyed ''Live Not As You Would Like To'', admitting that his own ''
The Power of Darkness
''The Power of Darkness'' (russian: Власть тьмы, Vlast′ t′my) is a five- act drama by Leo Tolstoy. Written in 1886, the play's production was forbidden in Russia until 1902, mainly through the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev. I ...
'' has been written under the influence of Ostrovsky's play.
References
{{Authority control
1855 plays
Plays by Alexander Ostrovsky