Literature / A Theatrical Novel

A Theatrical Novel is an unfinished novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Its existing version was written in 1936-37 then abandoned. The work is a renowned specimen of the roman à clef. In this book the author settles scores with the famous MAT (Moscow Art Theatre), including its acclaimed chief Konstantin Stanislavski and Method acting system.

The book's protagonist is Sergey Maksudov a reportedly talented but impractical and beleagured author(a novelist and playwright). At first he pens a novel "Black Snow" which is published by a private publishing house in 20's Soviet Russia. The book makes a minor sensation and lets him enter the literary world which he satirises.

Later Maksudov, driven by inspiration, makes a play (similarly tittled "Black Snow") out of his novel. He gets in touch with the Independent Theatre which accept the play. Soon the unexpected problem arises. The Independent Theatre is entirely dominated by its founders, the agely actors, while Black Snow mostly features young characters. Many powerful members of the company, implied to be over 50 or 60 are exztremely eager to act in the new play. Thus Maksudov is bullied into changing the plot, making existing characters older and introducing additional old characters. Of course Maksudov does not take it lightly.

The production is put on halt but later suddenly resumed. It is rehearsed accoring to the Method of Ivan Vasilievich, the leader of the MAT. Maksudov is dismayed by the method, considers it a charlatanry and in general thinks that his play is butchered by the theatre.

The novel remained unfinished as Bulgakov simply quit it half-sentence. Later he did not have time to return to finish it.

The book was published in 1965, three decade after its creation

Tropes

• Accidental Misnaming // Malicious Misnaming: It is never clear which trope describes the failure of Ivan Vasilievich to call Sergei Leontievich Maksudov correctly. He adresses him several times as Leonty Sergeevich, later still names him Sergei Sergeevich and Leonty Leontievich. Is he a massive ditz or a huge jerkass?
• The Ace:
  • Philip Philippovich Tulumbasov. He is a MAT employess who distributes theatre passes and always gives everyone the seat he "deserves" (or refuses the supplicant a pass if he does not "deserve it at all")
  • Also Polixena Toropetskaya is a perfect typist who can type without errors.
• Author Appeal: Bulgakov always adored the opera Faust by Gounod and attended it dozens of times in the theatre. No wonder that when Maksudov, driven to suicide, lies on the floor with a gun to his head, he suddenly hears the music of that opera (it is implied that it is played from another room in his communal apartment). He delayes his suicide for a bit, just to wait for an entrance of Mephistopheles. Instead Rudolfi enters his own room, sees him in his position and tells him that he is eager to piublish his novel Black Snow.
• Author Avatar: Sergei Maksudov is obviously this for Mikhail Bulgakov. Among other reasons, he authors a novel Black Snow (then a play based on this novel) which is reminiscent of The White Guard novel by Bulgakov and the successful play The Day of the Turbins staged on MAT. Besides, Elena Bulgakova states that Bombardov also had something from Bulgakov.
• Central Theme: The Stanislavski's system cannot be applied to the play by Maksudov and it is most probably usuless in general. Also the hubris of an aged and highly acclaimed and authoritative theatre chief is highly detrimental for the establishment in general and its art especially.
• Composite Character: Bombardov, who provides Maksudov with information about the proceedings in the Independent theatre is per Word of Saint Paul based on Bulgakov himself as well as several younger MAT actors.
• Creator Cameo: Bulgakov's wife and stepson make a very brief appearance in the scene relating about Tulumbasov's knowledge of people. They are on friendly terms. Bulgakov's wife is only referred to as "a very pretty lady". To learn that the author put his wife in his novel one should make some further reading.
• Cryptic Conversation: Many conversations between the actors and staff of the Independent theatre are this for both Maksudov and a reader. Which is especially hard when the matter is his play and its prospects. E.g. when one character mentions that it is hard to say how "India" will take it (the play Black Snow), Maksudov is desperate. Later it becomes clear that India stands for Aristarch Platonovich who then stayed in that country.
• Cut Short: This is how the novel ends. It was just interrupted by Bulgakov in the middle of the sentence.
• Defiant to the End: That's the attitude Maksudov assumes when pressed by the Independent Theatre functionaries
• Drama Queen: Lyudmila Silvestrovna Pryakhina is obviously the one:
  • In her first scene she is asked questions for a routine form including when she was born. She is not at all willing to tell her actual age so she turns all hysterical.
  • In her second scene she throws a tantrum in front of Ivan Vasilievich (as well as Maksudov whom she did not expect to find there) to press her chief to cave in to her request. However her dramatics are so false that a cat also present in the room goes mad and climbs up the curtain. Maksudov later remarks that the cat is a true art connaisseur and he just could not stand the false acting by Pryakhina.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • First in the beginning Maksudov decides to off himself. He steals a revolver from his friend (who, as it seems works in NKVD), lies on the floor and prepares to kill himself but is stopped by a literary magazine editor who enters his (unlocked) room and offers him a contract.
  • Literary Agent Hypothesis told in the preface has it that actual Maksudov sent the manuscript of A Teatrical Novel to the author of the preface. Then Maksudov jumped off the bridge in Kiev and died, thus completing his suicide.
• Dull Surprise: That's how Rudolfi the editor reacts to the protagonist lying on the floor with a gun to his head. He makes some snark remarks but does not make big fuss out of the situation. Anyway he arrived with a good news so the suicide is cancelled.
• Epigraph: The author of the preface reports that he has made only minor alterations in the novel sent by Maksudov. One of them was to delete the epigraph which was every man according as his work shall be. It is a fragment of Revelation 22:12 (And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be). He considered the epigraph pretentious, unnecessary and unpleasant
• Evil Old Folks: That's what the veteran actors of the Independent Theatre are implied to be. They are not visibly vicious though, they just want roles in a play by the upcoming playwright.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Tulumbasov who distributes theatre passes. He always knows which supplicant deserves which seat if at all.
• Famous, Famous, Fictional:
  • The theatre poster lists the Independent Theatre's repertoire for the following season. All playwrights other than the fictional Maksudov are dead classical authors with secure place in canon. Lampshaded by several of his literary acquaintances who happen to see the poster at the same time as Maksudov. Of course all writers are jealous that it is Maksudov not them who is juxtaposed to Aeschylus and Sophocles.
    The repertoire of the MAT
    Aeschylus - Agamemnon
    Sophocles - Philoctetes
    Lope de Vega - Fenisa's Hook
    William Shakespeare - King Lear
    Friedrich Schiller - The Maid of Orleans
    Alexander Ostrovsky - Not of this World
    Sergei Maksudov - Black Snow
  • Later Bulgakov revels in playing with this trope where it is transformed into FamousFictionalFamousFictionalFamousFictional. The portrait gallery in the foyer of the Independent Theatre includes alternating pictures of the actual(and huge)classic figures like Molière, Sarah Bernhardt, Griboedov plus Nero (placed here on the order of Ivan Vasilievich as a "great singer") as well as actors and empoyees of the Independent Theatre. Including Sevastianov, the Independent theatre's lighting designer and Plisov, the revolving stage manager of 40 years.
• Flashback: Chapters 2-7 of the novel are this. In the chapter one Maksudov receives a letter from Ilchin of the Independent Theatre inviting him for an appointment regarding his movel. Then narration goes back and chapters 2-7 relate how Maksudov wrote a novel and entered the literary world. Then in the chapter eight the narration returns to Ilchin of the chapter one.
• Genre Savvy: Bombardov, the young actor of MAT, is this in the novel. He enlightens Maksudov in regard of the inner dealings in the Independent Theatre and reveals him the real motives behind the actors' reactions to his play.
• The Ghost: Aristarch Platonovich who at the time travels in India. Actually Nemirovich-Danchenko worked in Hollywood no less.
• Gratuitous French: Tulumbasov abuses this trope in his conversation with the unamed lady, implied to be modeled on the wife of Bulgakov. He addresses all his lines to her in this language although in the text they are all transcribed in cyrillic letters.
• Halfway Plot Switch: Not exactly halfway however several chapters (2-7) are depicting the literary world (all writers are thinly veiled caricatures of the real authors) then Maksudov decides to make a play out of his novel and the remaining part of the book (which is much longer than the section about writers) is a no holds-barred beatdown of a certain Mocow theatre, its management and actors. The writers are never mentioned anymore (bar for one occasion early after the switch).
• He Really Can Act: Maksudov rejects the system of Ivan Vasilievich, an acclaimed director and actor and tells that to Bombardov. However when Bombardov asks Maksudov whether Ivan Vasilievich also cannot act, the latter denies it. Maksudov reports that when the director played a dying person, his eyes indeed turned dead.
• Insane Troll Logic: That's what Maksudov thinks about the comments of his play by Ivan Vasilievich. The acclaimed director still might have quite rational reasons for his remarks which is lampshaded by Bombardov.
• Interrupted Suicide: Rudolfi thwarts Maksudov's attempt at his life. He enters before Maksudov pulls the trigger and makes him an offer to publish his novel.
• Jerkass: Likospatov is the one, which is stated by Maksudov himself. He appears to be on firendly terms with the protagonist then writes for a paper a vicious article satirising Maksudov's appearance and literary work.
• Kneel Before Zod: One of the employees of the Independent Theatre says that some people should kneel before Ivan Vasilievich for his valuable advices.
• Leonine Contract: That's what the contract between Maksudov and the Independent Theatre considering the staging of his play turns out to be. Maksudov is desperate and the theatre manager Gavriil Stepanovich preys on him.
• Long List: The list of the numerous occupations of the people who would face Philipp Tulumbasov to receive a pass to a MAT performance. Obviously he has seen people from all trades including girls without specific activities and career criminals.
• Mathematician's Answer: Lyudmila Pryakhina would not for love nor money tell her exact age. So as she is asked when she was born she first turns hysterical and then shouts that she was born in May.
• Meaningful Name: Quite a few of these:
  • Ivan Vasilievich (based on Konstantin Stanislavski) is an obvious allusion to Ivan the Terrible. Bulgakov also wrote a comedy featuring this cruel and despotic tsar.
  • Philipp Philippovich Tulumbasov shares his given name and patronymic with the main character of HeartOfADog. No wonder he is an ace at what he does.
  • Aloisy Rvatzky, the manager of the Rudolfi's magazine, has the same name as Aloisy Mogarych, a petty villain in The Master And Margarita.
• Literary Agent Hypothesis: The preface is written by the friend of Maksudov who reports that the author himself sent him A Theatrical Novel then committed suicide. The friend specifies that no such theatres as depicted in the novel actually exist in Moscow.
• Most Writers Are Writers: Maksudov at first is a journalist. Then he writes a novel, later still reworks it into a play.
• Mr. Exposition: Bombardov is this for the protagonist. He enlightens Maksodov about the inner dealings in the theatre and the real motives behind the actors behavios.
• Nearly Normal Animal: Appears to be the case of Ivan Vasilievich's cat who goes berserk when he sees and hears the poor performance by the drama queen Lyudmila Pryakhina (who tries to influence Ivan Vasilievich with her hystrionics but fails to be convincing). Maksudov insists that the cat is a true connaisseur of art, that's why he became so upset seeing lousy, insincere acting.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Most characters here are based on real people.
  • All writers presented in the first several chapters have their prototypes. Izmail Bondarevsky is modeled on Alexey Tolstoy. Likospatov is based on a minor writer Slyozkin.
  • Similarly the whole of the staff of the Independent Theatre is based on the actors and employees of MAT (Moscow Art Theatre), starting with Ivan Vasilievich whose prototype was Stanislavsky. The ghost of Aristarch Platonovich is Nemirovich-Danchenko. Modern Russian reader will definitely recognise no-one in the theatrical world apart from these two due to the properties of the particular media as they never watched any performances by the 20's MAT. Still back in the day many of the prototypes were famous actors.
• No Listening Skills: Maksudov also has this problem. Bombardov gives hims several good advices about how to deal with Ivan Vasilievich but the playwright never follows them. As a result, an acclaimed director does not like him. At all.
• No Social Skills: On of the main characteristics of Maksudov. Each time he is advised to charm someone, to make a good impression, he ostensibly fails. His facial expression is always an unpleasant grimace, his voice coarse and evil. However he still manages to have his play staged in an acclaimed theatre. Probably because it is excellent indeed.
• Only One Name: A version of this for Ivan Vasilievich and Aristarch Platonovich (as well as some other Independent Theatre personalities though it is not so significant in their cases). Those acclaimed theatre directors based on Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko do not have any surnames in the book. Of course name and patronymic is more honourable than a sole name. Still the surnames are lacking.
• Put on a Bus:
  • All fellow writers appearing in the several chapters in the beginning of the novel, disappear once the book shifts into the theatre setting.
  • Lampshaded for Rudolfi the editor. He managed to publish a part of the novel Black Snow in his magazine but then the magazine was mysteriously shut down and Rudolfi himself disappeared without a trace. There is obvious reality subtext here as the actual editor published a part of Bulgakov's novel The White Guard and then the magazine abruptly shut down and the editor emigrated from the Soviet Russia.
• Read the Fine Print: Maksudov is very eager to see his play Black Snow put on stage thus he sigs a contrack with MAT anyway even though many clauses of the document start with the words "the author is not allowed" (among other things the playwright is definitely not allowed to transfer his play to any other theatre in the Soviet Union). Later, when the Independent Theatre temporary refuses to proceed with the production of Black Snow, Maksudov suggests that he'd bring his play to another theatre. Obviously he is reminded of the binding contractual provisions.
• Stylistic Suck: Bulgakov is ruthless.
  • Maksudov, determined to get in touch with the contemporary literature, acquires the books of several authors depicted in the novel (all of them with obvious prototypes). Those works are unreadable, Maksudov cannot make it to the end. One exception is a book by Izmail Bondarevsky about Paris which, as the protagonist admits, is brilliantly written. Still it fills him with disgust for Paris.
  • Also Lyudmila Pryakhina is a terrible, atrocious actress. And she was based on a certain MAT troupe member.
• Take That!:
  • Bulgakov once delivers a weighty jab to Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy, a famous Russian Soviet writer. When Maksudov is said that he imitates the manner of Tolstoy in his novel Black Snow, he asks. which Tolstoy (as there were at least three famous Russian authors bearing this surname). He then mentions Leo Tolstoy, Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy and two other Tolstoys, including a numismatist. But not Alexey Nikolaevich even though he was a big name then. Aggravated by the fact that A N Tolstoy is also ridiculed on the same pages as Izmail Aleksandrovich Bondarevsky.
• A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Gavriil Stepanovich, the manager of the material funds in the Independent Theatre is this. He convinces Maksudov to sign a highly unjust contract regarding the play Black Snow. He also bargains the soul out of Maksudov regarding the sum of money payed to the playwright for his play. During the negotiations Gavriil always appeals to high moral values, condemns the humanity only thinking about money, not about spiritual matters. All this only to pay Maksudov 500 rubles (in several installments) instead of two thousand. Later Bombardov informs Maksudov that Gavriil is actually a crook, a vulture, always willing to rip his victim off using all pretty speeches as a mere technique to coerce him into obedience.

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