The Last of the Tsars
Encyclopedia
"The Last of the Tsars" is a play by Michael Bawtree. The action takes place in Russia
between 1912 and 1919, and follows the fortunes of the Romanov family and of Russia in the tumultuous years leading up to the Revolution of 1917, and beyond, to the assassination of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks
. The story is told through the eyes of Tsar Nicholas
's brother Grand Duke Michael
, who had been exiled from Russia by the Tsar in 1912 when he married a divorcee. Michael was called back to Russia at the outbreak of the First World War, where he served in the Russian Army. When Tsar Nicholas abdicated in March 1917, he did so in favour of Grand Duke Michael, who himself abdicated some 48 hours later. So Michael was in fact 'the last of the Tsars.'
The play was commissioned by the Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in the spring of 1966, after another play on the same subject, "Nicholas Romanov" by William Kinsolving, had been tried out by the Stratford Festival Company at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in February, 1966, and found insufficiently dramatic. In spite of the shared general theme, the two plays are distinctly different works.
"The Last of the Tsars" opened at the Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival on July 12, 1966. It was directed by Stratford's artistic director Michael Langham, and designed by Leslie Hurry, with music by Louis Applebaum, and featured many of the leading actors of the Festival Company. Grand Duke Michael was played by William Hutt
; the Tsar by Joel Kenyon; the Tsarina by Amelia Hall; Rasputin by Powys Thomas; and Samoilov, the revolutionary who fights Grand Duke Michael for control of the play, by Tony van Bridge. Michael's wife Natalie Sergeevna was played by Kim Yaroshevskaya, and his manservant Johnson was played by Barry MacGregor.
The production received generally very favourable notices, and ran for 22 performances.
The script of "The Last of the Tsars" was published by Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, in 1973, with an introduction by the distinguished scholar Clifford Leech
, who described it as "the most sensitively written Canadian play that I have seen."
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
between 1912 and 1919, and follows the fortunes of the Romanov family and of Russia in the tumultuous years leading up to the Revolution of 1917, and beyond, to the assassination of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
. The story is told through the eyes of Tsar Nicholas
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
's brother Grand Duke Michael
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia was the youngest son of Emperor Alexander III of Russia.At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather was still the reigning Emperor of All the Russias. Michael was fourth-in-line to the throne following his father and elder brothers Nicholas and...
, who had been exiled from Russia by the Tsar in 1912 when he married a divorcee. Michael was called back to Russia at the outbreak of the First World War, where he served in the Russian Army. When Tsar Nicholas abdicated in March 1917, he did so in favour of Grand Duke Michael, who himself abdicated some 48 hours later. So Michael was in fact 'the last of the Tsars.'
The play was commissioned by the Stratford Festival, Stratford, Ontario, Canada, in the spring of 1966, after another play on the same subject, "Nicholas Romanov" by William Kinsolving, had been tried out by the Stratford Festival Company at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in February, 1966, and found insufficiently dramatic. In spite of the shared general theme, the two plays are distinctly different works.
"The Last of the Tsars" opened at the Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival on July 12, 1966. It was directed by Stratford's artistic director Michael Langham, and designed by Leslie Hurry, with music by Louis Applebaum, and featured many of the leading actors of the Festival Company. Grand Duke Michael was played by William Hutt
William Hutt (actor)
William Ian DeWitt Hutt, was a Canadian actor of stage, television and film. Hutt's distinguished career spanned more than fifty years and won him many accolades and awards...
; the Tsar by Joel Kenyon; the Tsarina by Amelia Hall; Rasputin by Powys Thomas; and Samoilov, the revolutionary who fights Grand Duke Michael for control of the play, by Tony van Bridge. Michael's wife Natalie Sergeevna was played by Kim Yaroshevskaya, and his manservant Johnson was played by Barry MacGregor.
The production received generally very favourable notices, and ran for 22 performances.
The script of "The Last of the Tsars" was published by Clarke, Irwin, Toronto, in 1973, with an introduction by the distinguished scholar Clifford Leech
Clifford Leech
Clifford Leech was a prolifically published British-born professor of English at University College at the University of Toronto 1963-74...
, who described it as "the most sensitively written Canadian play that I have seen."