The Diary Of A Scoundrel By Alexander Ostrovsky

Too Clever by Half, Or, The Diary of a Scoundrel

Gloumov, (the protagonist) has not only become an eduring character on the Russian stage, but the abstract noun derived from his name, gloumovshchina (or gloumovism), has entered the language. As long as ambitious young men with brains and talent can most readily achieve success by selling themselves and betraying their better natures, gloumovism will thrive. Transitional societies have a special need of Gloumov to keep things moving - as well as to maintain equilibrium - since the actor-opportunist will further any cause, switch positions overnight, defend opposite sides of the same issue, and turn his coat with every wind until he almost becomes the coat. from the Afterword by Daniel Gerould

The Diary of a Scoundrel, Adapted by Rodney Ackland from a Comedy by Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky

Translated and Visiting Russian Theatre in Britain, 1945–2015

This book tackles questions about the reception and production of translated and untranslated Russian theatre in post-WW2 Britain: why in British minds is Russia viewed almost as a run-of-the-mill production of a Chekhov play. Is it because Chekhov is so dominant in British theatre culture? What about all those other Russian writers? Many of them are very different from Chekhov. A key question was formulated, thanks to a review by Susannah Clapp of Turgenev’s A Month in the Country: have the British staged a ‘Russia of the theatrical mind’?