''Ivan Vasilievich'' is a play by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union from 1934 until 1936. Performance of the play was forbidden upon its completion, and it was not published until 1965, after Bulgakov's death. The action takes place in

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 ...

, where a malfunctioning time machine sends apartment building superintendent Ivan Vasilievich Bunsha-Koretskiy to the 15th century and brings Ivan the Terrible into the 20th century. The title is a reference to the fact that Ivan the Terrible shares the patronymic Vasilievich with the superintendent. In comparing the tsar's authority with that of a Soviet official, the play satirizes similarities between the Soviet Union and Tsarist Russia, as well as Joseph Stalin's rehabilitation of Ivan the Terrible. The play was adapted into the 1973 film '' Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future'' by Soviet director

Leonid Gaidai Leonid Iovich Gaidai (russian: Леонид Иович Гайдай; 30 January 1923 – 19 November 1993) was a Soviet and Russian comedy film director, screenwriter and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the fo ...

, starring

Yury Yakovlev Yury Vasilyevich Yakovlev (russian: Ю́рий Васи́льевич Я́ковлев; 25 April 1928 – 30 November 2013) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was awarded the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1976. Main works ...

as both the superintendent and the tsar.

Aleksandr Demyanenko Aleksandr Sergeyevich Demyanenko (russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Демья́ненко; May 30, 1937 – August 22, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was given the honorary distinction of People's Artist of the RSFSR. H ...

played the scientist responsible for the time machine, linking the adaptation to Gaidai's other movies starring Demyanenko as the character Shurik.

References

{{Mikhail Bulgakov 1936 plays Plays by Mikhail Bulgakov