page_title: List of productions directed by Konstantin Stanislavski
section_title: Productions at the Moscow Art Theatre
hierarchical_section_title: List of productions directed by Konstantin Stanislavski / Productions at the Moscow Art Theatre
caption_attribution_description: English: Stanislavski
context_page_description: It does not include theatrical productions in which Stanislavski only acted.
  Until he was thirty three, Stanislavski appeared only as an amateur onstage and as a director, as a result of his family's discouragement. When he was twenty five, he helped to establish a Society of Art and Literature, which aimed to unite amateur and professional actors and artists. His professional career began in 1896 when he co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre with Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Later in his life, he created a series of studios whose aims were primarily pedagogical but which also presented public performances. This list of productions directed by Stanislavski includes amateur, professional, and studio productions.
  When the sources disagree about the exact date of a production's première, that given in the most recent biography of Stanislavski—Jean Benedetti's Stanislavski: His Life and Art —is listed here, with the alternative date detailed in the footnotes. Prior to 14 February 1918, the Julian calendar was in use in Russia, after which the Gregorian calendar was introduced. The details of productions staged before that change are given in both Old Style and New Style dates.
context_section_description: 1898: Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich by Alexei Tolstoy. Opened on 26 October [O.S. 14 October]. Directed by Stanislavski and Alexander Sanin. Scenic design by Viktor Simov. Cast included Vsevolod Meyerhold as Prince Vasili Shuysky, Olga Knipper as Princess Irina, Maria Roksanova as Princess Mstislavskaya, Alexander Vishnevsky as Boris Godunov, Vasily Luzhsky as Prince Ivan Shuysky, Mikhail Darski as Prince Andrey Shuysky, Alexander Sanin as Lup-Kleshnin, Georgy Burdzhalov as Mikhaylo Golovin, Maria Samarova as Volokhova and Alexander Artem as Kryukov; Ivan Moskvin initially played Fedor, followed by Vasily Kachalov and then Nikolai Khmelev. The censor insisted on the removal of all religious characters from the production.
  1898: The Sunken Bell by Gerhart Hauptmann. Revival of Stanislavski's Society of Art and Literature production from January the same year. Opened on 31 October [O.S. 19 October]. Scenic design by Viktor Simov. Cast included Stanislavski as Heinrich, Ekaterina Munt as the First Elf, Margarita Savitskaya as Magda and Georgy Burdzhalov as the Wood Demon. Just over one week and 17 performances later, protests from the Russian Orthodox Church led to the production being banned on 8 November [O.S. 27 October], despite the particular translation used having been passed by the censor.
  1898: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. The production was re-titled Shylock. Opened on 2 November [O.S. 21 October]. Scenic design by Viktor Simov. Cast included Mikhail Darski as Shylock, Alexander Vishnevsky as Antonio, Vsevolod Meyerhold as the Prince of Aragon, Georgy Burdzhalov as Launcelot Gobbo. This production was the first in Russia to include the fifth act of the play, after the trial scene and humiliation of Shylock, when the intrigue of Portia's ring and cross-dressing is revealed and resolved. The portrayal of Shylock prompted accusations in the press of anti-Semitism because a Jewish accent was considered inappropriate for a tragic role. Though Stanislavski had planned to alternate the role with Darski, he decided against it for fear of exacerbating the hostility of the press. It was played for only ten performances.
  1898: Men Above the Law by Aleksey Pisemsky. Opened on 16 November [O.S. 4 November]. Scenic design by Viktor Simov. Cast included Stanislavski as Platon Imshin, Alexander Artyom as Devochkin, Ivan Moskvin as podyachy, Vasily Luzhsky as Sergey Imshin, Evgeniya Rayevskaya as Princess Natalya and Georgy Burdzhalov as Kadushkin. It played for only nine performances.
  1898: The Mistress of the Inn by Carlo Goldoni. Opened on 14 December [O.S. 2 December]. Scenic design by Viktor Simov. Cast included Stanislavski as Ripafratta, Vsevolod Meyerhold as the Marquis of Forlipopoli, and Sergey Tarasov as Ripafratta's servant. A special performance for factory workers on 22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1899 provoked a summons by the Chief of Police, Dmitri Trepov, for failing to seek the approval of the censor who oversaw productions for working-class audiences; as a result, the company abandoned its original name as the "Moscow Public-Accessible Theatre" and its aim to provide an "open" theatre, settling instead on Anton Chekhov's suggestion, the "Moscow Art Theatre."
  1898: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov. Opened on 29 December [O.S. 17 December]. Directed by Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. Cast included Stanislavski as Trigorin and Vsevolod Meyerhold as Konstantin, Olga Knipper as Arkadnia, Maria Lilina as Masha, Maria Roksanova as Nina, Yevgeniya Raevskaya as Polina, Ioasaf Tikhomirov as Medvedenko, Vasily Luzhsky as Sorin, Alexander Vishnevsky as Dorn, and Alexander Artem as Shamrayev. The production ran for 57 performances in the 1898—99 season, 13 in the next, and 9 in the 1900—01 season. Chekhov disliked Roksanova's performance so intensely that he demanded that she should never be allowed to act in his plays again. For more information on this production, see the article on the MAT production of The Seagull.
  1899: Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Opened on 3 March [O.S. 19 February]. Scenic desi
caption: Stanislavski as Gaev in the Moscow Art Theatre production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.
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