the moscow art theatre's inaugural performance

Complete portfolio showing scenes from the famous play produced by Konstantin Stanislavsky.

Tsar Fedor Ioannovich is a historical drama by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (first published in 1868) portraying the Tsar as a good man but a weak, ineffectual ruler. It is the second part of a trilogy that begins with The Death of Ivan the Terrible and concludes with Tsar Boris.

The play received its first professional production at the Suvorin's theatre in St Petersburg on 12 October 1898, directed by P.P. Gnedich. Two days later on 14 October, the play was performed as the inaugural production of the world-famous Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstantin Stanislavsky, with Ivan Moskvin in the lead role and Vsevolod Meyerhold as Prince Vasiliy Shuisky. The play was a great success and was staged frequently thereafter.

Folio (38 x 27.7 cm); complete with title including a list of actors and 12 collotype plates by K.A. Fisher, repaired tears to title, margins of 4 plates cut not affecting image, loose in portfolio; original patterned card boards with white cloth spine and printed label to upper cover.