Theatre
The Lower Depths
На дне
Maxim Gorky · 1902
Synopsis
In a cellar whose places Kostylev rents out by the night, a dozen or so homeless people scrape by: the thief Vaska Pepel, the locksmith Klechtch and his dying wife Anna, the street girl Nastia, an Actor, a fallen Baron, the gambler Satine. Vassilissa, the landlord's wife, and her sister Natacha share this world. An old pilgrim, Luka, arrives, who consoles everyone and gives the inhabitants back the hope of a better life.
Context
Written during the winter of 1901-1902 in Crimea, then at Arzamas, the play hesitated between several titles, including “The Night Shelter” and “At the Bottom of Life”. It first appeared in Munich, on sale in the last days of 1902, then at Znanie in January 1903. Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko premiered it at the Moscow Art Theatre on 18 December 1902. In French, it was translated by Génia Cannac (L'Arche, 1962), then by Serge Rolet (Folio Théâtre, 2019).
Who it is for
A play in four acts, for those who like ensemble theatre and portraits of the déclassé.
Prizes and reception
Jean Renoir in 1936 and Akira Kurosawa in 1957 each made a film from it.
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