Vassa (NHB Modern Plays)

By Maxim Gorky

'There are no miracles in this world. Only those we make for ourselves.'
It's 8 a.m. and a revolt is underway.
The father is dying. The son is spying. The wife is cheating. The uncle is stealing. The mother is scheming. The dynasty is crumbling.
One house. One fortune. One victor.
Maxim Gorky's savagely funny play Vassa Zheleznova was first published in 1910. Mike Bartlett's adaptation, Vassa, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in October 2019.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Nov 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781788502740

Book preview

ACT ONE

Early morning, a winter’s day. A large room – VASSA ZHELEZNOVA’s bedroom and study. It is crowded with things. In the corner behind screens is a bed, to the left is a table, covered in papers, with tiles used instead of paperweights. By the table is a tall writing desk, behind that, under the window, is a couch. There are lamps with green lampshades. In the right-hand corner there is a tiled stove-bench, and by that is a safe and a door leading into the chapel. Papers are pinned to the screens with safety pins, they rustle when anyone walks past them.

In the upstage wall there are wide doors leading into the dining room; a table can be seen, and above it a chandelier. A candle is burning on the table. DUNYA is getting the breakfast things ready. LIPA carries in a boiling samovar.