The Infected Family, 1863, The Fruits of Enlightenment 1890, The Power of Darkness 1895 (plays)

For a very short time Tolstoy is seriously interested in the theatre but he writes very few plays. The satire The Infected Family focuses on feminism and nihilism and is offered to the Moscow Little Theatre but turned down. The dramatist Alexander Ostrovsky described it as “such a piece of filth that my ears blenched during the reading.” The Fruits of Enlightenment is a comedy, an unusual genre for the generally serious Tolstoy. The domestic comedy’s characters include a gullible master and the land-hungry maid who tricks him into selling some land to the commune at very favourable terms. Yasnaya Polyana is the first place it is produced -- by Tolstoy’s daughter Tanya – and Tsar Alexander III decrees that it can only be performed by amateurs. The Power of Darkness is inspired by the true story of a peasant who seduces his step daughter then, with the help of his wife, murders the illegitimate child of the union. A reading is held in 1886 for some of the peasants at Tolstoy’s country estate of Yasnaya Polyana and the author is very disappointed when it is not understood: from the time he is a young adult Tolstoy expresses the view that the highest compliment is being appreciated by the masses rather than the privileged. Soon after the play is written, Tsar Alexander III changes his mind several times over whether it should be produced and it is eventually performed in St Petersburg and Moscow in 1895. Tolstoy is involved in every aspect of the production and it is such a hit that students gather outside his home to express their praise.