Translations of the titles are sometimes borrowed, in whole or in part, sometimes wholly my own. The first date is that of initial publication. The second is the date of the initial stage production as it has usually been given in Soviet sources. However, in some cases, some earlier performaces of a rather unsubstantial nature were given; for the details see the end commentaries in A. N. Ostrovskii: Polnoe sobranie sochinenii, Moscow, 1973-1980.
1. Kartina semeinogo schast’ia (Picture of Family Happiness). 1847, 1857.
2. Svoi liudi-sochtemsia (It’s All in the Family). 1850, 1861. Originally entitled Bankrot (The Bankrupt).
3. Utro molodogo cheloveka (A Young Man’s Morning). 1850, 1853.
4. Neozhidannyi sluchai (Unexpected Incident). 1851, 1902.
5. Bednaia nevesta (The Poor Bride). 1852, 1853.
6. Ne v svoi sani ne sadis’ (Don’t Sit in Another’s Sleigh). 1853, 1853.
7. Bednost’ ne porok (Poverty’s No Vice.) 1854, 1854.
8. Ne tak zhivi, kak khochetsia (Don’t Live as You Please). 1855, 1854.
9. V chuzhom piru pokhmel’e (Trouble Caused by Another). 1856, 1856.
10. Dokhodnoe mesto (A Profitable Position). 1857, 1863.
11. Prazdnichnyi son—do obeda (A Holiday Dream Before Dinner). 1857, 1857.
12. Ne soshlis’ kharakterami (Incompatibility of Character). 1858, 1858.
13. Vospitannitsa (The Ward). 1859, 1863.
14. Groza (The Thunderstorm). 1860, 1859.
15. Staryi drug luchshe novykh dvukh (An Old Friend Is Better than Two New Ones). 1860, 1860.
16. Svoi sobaki gryzutsia, chuzhaia ne pristavai (We Won’t Brook Interference). 1861, 1861.
17. Za chem poidesh’, to i naidesh’ (You’ll Find What You Go After). 1861, 1863. Also called Zhenit’ba Bal’zaminova (Balzaminov’s Wedding).
18. Koz’ma Zakhar’ich Minin-Sukhoruk (Kozma Zakharyich Minin-Sukhoruk). The first version was initially published in 1862 but never performed. The second version was first published in 1904 and first performed in 1866.
19. Grekh da beda na kogo ne zhivet (Sin and Sorrow Are Common to All). 1863, 1863.
20. Tiazhelye dni (Difficult Days). 1863, 1863.
21. Shutniki (Jesters). 1864, 1864.
22. Voevoda (Voivode). First version: 1865, 1865. Second version: 1890, 1886. Also called Son na Volge (Dream on the Volga).
23. Na boikom meste (At the Jolly Spot). 1865, 1865.
24. Puchina (The Abyss). 1866, 1866.
25. Dmitrii Samozvanets i Vasilii Shuiskii (The False Dmitry and Vasily Shuisky). 1867, 1867.
26. Tushino (Tushino). 1867, 1867.
27. Vasilisa Melent’eva (Vasilisa Melentyeva). 1868, 1868. In collaboration with S. A. Gedeonov.
28. Na vsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty (To Every Sage His Share of Folly). 1868, 1868.
29. Goriachee serdtse (An Ardent Heart). 1869, 1869.
30. Beshenye den’gi (Easy Come, Easy Go). 1870, 1870.
31. Les (The Forest). 1871, 1871.
32. Ne vse kotu maslianitsa (Feasting Can’t Last Forever). 1871, 1871.
33. Ne bylo ni grosha, da vdrug altyn (Not Even a Copper, Then Lo a Goldpiece). 1872, 1872.
34. Komik XVII stoletiia (Comic of the 17th Century). 1873, 1872.
35. Snegurochka (The Snowmaiden). 1873, 1873.
36. Pozdniaia liubov’ (Late Love). 1874, 1873.
37. Trudovoi khleb (Hard-earned Bread). 1874, 1874.
38. Volki i ovtsy (Wolves and Sheep). 1875, 1875.
39. Bogatye nevesty (Rich Brides). 1876, 1875.
40. Pravda khorosho, a schast’e luchshe (Truth Is Fine, but Good Luck’s Better). 1877, 1876.
41. Schastlivyi den’ (Happy Day). 1877, 1877. In collaboration with N. Solovyov.
42. Posledniaia zhertva (A Last Sacrifice). 1878, 1877.
43. Zhenit’ba Belugina (Belugin’s Wedding). 1878, 1877. In collaboration with N. Solvyov.
44. Bespridannitsa (Without a Dowry). 1879, 1878.
45. Dikarka (Wild Woman). 1880, 1879. In collaboration with N. Solovyov.
46. Serdtse ne kamen’ (The Heart Is not a Stone). 1880, 1879.
47. Nevol’nitsy (Bondwomen). 1881, 1880.
48. Svetit da ne greet (It Gives Light but not Warmth). 1881, 1880. In collaboration with N. Solovyov.
49. Blazh’ (Whim). 1881, 1880. In collaboration with P. Nevezhin.
50. Talanty i poklonniki (Talents and Admirers). 1882, 1881.
51. Staroe po-novomu (The Old in a New-fashioned Way). 1882, 1882. In collaboration with P. Nevezhin.
52. Krasavets-muzhchina (Handsome Man). 1883, 1882.
53. Bez viny vinovatye (Without Guilt Guilty). 1884, 1884.
54. Ne ot mira sego (Not of This World). 1885, 1885.
Artistes and Admirers (Talanty i poklonniki). Tr. by Elisabeth Hanson. Manchester U. Press; Barnes and Noble, New York; 1970.
At the Jolly Spot. Tr. by Jane Paxton Campbell and George R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 1, 1925.
Bondwomen. Tr. by Schöne Charlotte Kurlandzik and George R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 4, 1925.
A Cat Has Not Always Carnival (Ne vse kotu maslianitsa). Tr. by J. P. Campbell and G. R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 3, 1929.
The Diary of a Scoundrel (Na vsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty). Adapted by Rodney Ackland. Marston, London, 1948. Included in vol. 2 of The Modern
Theatre (Eric Bentley, ed.). Doubleday, Garden City, 1955. Also published as Too Clever by Half by Applause Theatre Bk. Pubs., 1988.
A Domestic Picture (Kartina semeinogo schast’ia). Tr. by E. L. Voynich in The Humour of Russia. Walter Scott, London; Scribner, New York, 1909.
Easy Money (Beshenye den’gi), and two other plays: Even a Wise Man Stumbles (Na vsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty), and Wolves and Sheep. Tr. by David Magarshack. Allen & Unwin, London, 1944. Reprinted by Greenwood Press, Inc.; Westport, Conn. Easy Money is included in From the Modern Repertoire, Series II (Eric Bentley, ed.), Indiana U. Press.
Enough Stupidity in Every Wise Man (Na vsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty). Tr. by Polya Kasherman. In The Moscow Art Theatre Series of Russian Plays. Second series, New York, 1923.
Fairy Gold (Beshenye den’gi). Tr. by Camille Chapin Daniles and G. R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 1, 1929.
Five Plays. Tr. by Eugene K. Bristow. Pegasus, New York, 1969. Contents: It’s a Family Affair—We’ll Settle It Ourselves, The Poor Bride, The Storm, The Scoundrel (Na nsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty), The Forest.
The Forest. Tr. by Clara Vostrovsky Winlow and G. R. Noyes. S. French, New York, 1926.
The Forest. Tr. by Serge Bertennson. Reproduction of typewritten copy in New York Public Library.
Incompatibility of Temper. Tr. by E. L. Voynich. In The Humour of Russia (see above under A Domestic Picture).
The King of Comedy Is Speaking to You. Vol. One. Tr. by J. McPetrie. Contents: A Sprightly Spot, Late Love. Stockwell, London, 1938. Copies in the British Museum, Library of Congress, and Grosvenor Library at Buffalo.
Larisa (Bespridannitsa) Tr. by Michael Green and Jerome Katsell, The Unknown Russian Theater, Ardis, Ann Arbor, 1991.
A Last Sacrifice. Tr. by Eugenia Korvin-Kroukovsky and G. R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 3, 1928.
Plays. Edited by G. R. Noyes. Contents: A Protégée of the Mistress (Vospitannitsa), Poverty Is No Crime, Sin and Sorrow Are Common to All, It’s a Family Affair—We’ll Settle It Ourselves. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1917. Reprinted by AMS Press, Inc., New York, London.
Plays. Tr. by Margaret Wettlin. Contents: Poverty Is No Crime, The Storm, Even the Wise Can Err (Na vsiakogo mudretsa dovol’no prostoty), More Sinned Against than Sinning (Bez viny vinovatye). Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1974.
The Poor Bride. Tr. by John Laurence Seymour and G. R. Noyes. In Masterpieces of the Russian Drama, vol. one (G. R. Noyes, ed.). Dover, New York, 1960 (originally D. Appleton, New York, 1933).
The Storm. Tr. by Constance Garnett. Duckworth, London, 1899.
The Storm. Tr. by George F. Holland and Malcolm Morley. Allen & Unwin, London, 1930.
The Storm. Tr. by F. D. Reeve. In An Anthology of Russian Plays, vol. one. Vintage, New York, 1961.
The Storm. Tr. by David Magarshack. In The Storm and Other Russian Plays. Hill and Wang, New York, 1960. Also Ardis, Ann Arbor, 1988.
Thunder. Tr. by Joshua Cooper. In Four Russian Plays. Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1972.
The Thunderstorm. Tr. by Florence Whyte and G.R. Noyes. S. French, New York, 1927. Included in World Drama, vol. two (Barrett H. Clark, ed.) Dover, New York, 1933.
The Thunderstorm. Tr. by Andrew MacAndrew. In 19th Century Russian Drama. Bantam, New York, 1963. Also in A Treasury of the Theatre, vol. one, ed. by John Gassner.
Too Clever by Half. See The Diary of a Scoundrel.
We Won’t Brook Interference. Tr. by J. L. Seymour and G. R. Noyes. Banner Play Bureau, San Francisco and Cincinnati, 1938.
Wolves and Sheep. Tr. by Inez Sachs Colby and G. R. Noyes. Poet Lore, no. 2, 1926.
You Can’t Live Just as You Please. Tr. by Philip Winningstad, G. R. Noyes, and John Heard, Poet Lore, no. 3, 1943.
I am indebted to Herbert R. Smith for some items below.
Bristow, Eugene. See the preface, introduction, and notes in his translation of Ostrovsky: Five Plays.
Beasley, Ina. “The Dramatic Art of Ostrovsky.” The Slavonic Review, vol. 6 (1927-28), 603-17.
Cizevskij, Dmitrij. Wide-ranging and perceptive discussion in Volume Two of his History of Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature (translated from the German). Vanderbilt U. Press, Nashville, 1974.
Cox, Lucy. “Form and Meaning in the Plays of Alexander N. Ostrovsky.” Diss. U. of Pa., 1975.
Dana, H. W. L. Discussion in A History of Modern Drama, edited by Barrett H. Clark and George Freedley. Appleton, New York and London, 1947.
Esam, Irene. “An Analysis of Ostrovsky’s Ne ot mira sego and the Play’s Significance in Relation to the Author’s Other Works.” New Zealand Slavonic Journal (NZSJ), Summer, 1969, 68-91.
— “Folkloric Elements as Communication Devices in Ostrovsky’s Plays.” NZSJ, Summer, 1968, 67-88.
— “A Study of the Imagery Associated with Beliefs, Legends and Customs” in Bednost’ ne porok. NZSJ, Winter, 102-22.
— “The Style of Svoi liudi-sochtemsia.” NZSJ, Summer, 1972, 79-105.
— Grylack, Bevin Ratner. “The Function of Proverbs in the Dramatic Works of Ostrovsky.” Diss. New York U., 1975.
Henley, Norman. See the brief end materials in English in his editing of Ostrovsky’s Groza (The Thunderstorm), a text intended for Russian-reading students. Bradda, Letchworth, 1963.
— “Ostrovskij’s Play-Actors, Puppets, and Rebels.” Article in The Slavic and East European Journal (SEEJ), no. 3, 1970, 317-25.
— Review of Ostrovsky’s Artistes and Admirers., SEEJ, no.3, 1971, 382-85.
Hoover, Marjorie L. Alexander Ostrovsky. Twayne, Boston, 1981. Only full-length study of Ostrovsky’s life and works in English and within the limits of the Twayne format a useful work. Reviewed by Andrew R. Durkin (Russian Review, 41(4), 525-26), Felicia Hardison Londré (Theatre Journal, 34 (4), 561), Cynthia Marsh (Modern Language Review, vol. 77, 763-64), and Peter Petro (Canadian- American Slavic Studies, 16 (4), 525-26).
Kaspin, Albert. “Character and Conflict in Ostrovskij’s Talents and Admirers,” SEEJ, no. 1, 1964, 26-36.
— “Dostoevsky’s Masloboyev and Ostrovsky’s Dosuzhev: A Parallel.” The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 39, 222-26.
— “Ostrovsky and the Raznochinets in his Plays.” Ph.D. dissertation, U. of Cal.,1957. A valuable study not so specialized as the title might suggest.
— “A Re-examination of Ostrovsky’s Character Lyubim Tortsov.” Studies in Russian and Polish Literature in Honor of Waclaw Lednicki. ‘s-Gravenhage (The Hague), 1962, 185-91.
— “A Superfluous Man and an Underground Man in Ostrovskij’s The Poor Bride.” SEEJ, no. 4, 1962, 312–21.
Kersten, Peter Andrew. “The Russian Theater in the Plays of A.N. Ostrovskij.” Informative M.A. thesis, U. of Wisconsin, 1962.
Magarshack, David. “Alexander Ostrovsky, the Founder of the Russian Theatrical Tradition.” Introduction to the Ardis edition of The Storm, 5–13.
Mirsky, D. S. Discussion in his A History of Russian Literature. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1949. Also published by Vintage Books.
Patrick, George Z. “A. N. Ostrovski: Slavophile or Westerner.” In Slavic Studies, ed. by Alexander Kaun and Ernest Simmons, Cornell U. Press, Ithaca, 1943.
Peace, R.A. “A. N. Ostrovsky’s The Thunderstorm: the dramatization of conceptual ambivalence.” Modern Language Review, v. 84, 99-110. Valuable discussion with emphasis on double meanings of volia (freedom versus will, the latter equated with outer constraint) and serdtse, literally “heart”(tender emotions versus anger).
Ralston, William. Discussion in The Edinburgh Review, July, 1968.
Slonim, Marc. Nonduplicating discussions in his The Epic of Russian Literature (Oxford Pr., New York, 1950) and Russian Theater from the Empire to the Soviets (Collier, New York, 1962). Slonim is good on Ostrovsky.
Valency, Maurice. Discussion in his The Breaking String. Oxford U. Press, London, and New York, 1966.
Varneke, B.V. Chapter in his History of the Russian Theatre (translated from the Russian). Macmillan, New York, 1951.
Wettlin, Margaret. “Alexander Ostrovsky and the Russian Theatre Before Stanislavsky.” Introduction to her translations of four Ostrovsky plays (See earlier section under “Plays”). 7-79.
Whittaker, Robert. “The Ostrovskii-Grigor’ev Circle Alias the ‘Young Editors’ of the Moskvitianin.” Canadian-American Slavic Studies, v. 24, no. 4 (1990), 385- 412. Illuminating discussion touching on Ostrovsky’s professional life in the early 1850’s.
Wiener, Leo. Discussion in his The Contemporary Drama of Russia. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1924. Reprinted by AMS Reprints, New York and London.
Zohrab, Irene (a.k.a. Irene Esam. See above). “Problems of Style in the Plays of A.N. Ostrovsky.” Melbourne Slavonic Studies, no. 12, 1977.