This thesis presents a detailed examination of four key Soviet plays on the theme of the Civil War: Shtorm by V. Bills-Belotserkovskii; Dni Turbinykh by M. Bulgakov; Lyubov Yarovaya by K. Trenev and Optimisticheskaya tragediya by
V. Vishnevskii.
The thesis is approximately 80,000 words in length and is divided into four main chapters each containing a separate treatment of each play.
The treatment consists of: a descriptive analysis of the original text; a tracing of the creation of the first production, including a study of the relationship between playwright and theatre company; a presentation of the
political-historical context in which it was both written and produced; an examination of contemporary newspaper and journal reviews; an evaluation in terms of artistic merit and theatrical achievement and, finally, a consideration of its relationship to the other plays selected for this study and its wider dramatic significance.
The primary sources used for this work are hitherto largely neglected Soviet newspapers, journals and memoirs as well as the play texts.
The conclusion finds that in the decade 1924-1934 these plays filled a vital role in serving both political and artistic causes and that today, despite their diminished topicality, their function is still to educate, explain and entertain and, by so doing, to underpin the very fabric of Soviet society.