Theatre
Martyn Borulia
Мартин Боруля
Ivan Karpenko-Kary · 1891
Opening lines
Боруля
Нате, читайте!
Here, read it!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from ukrlib.com.ua
Synopsis
Martyn Boroulia, a rich peasant from the south, has got it into his head that his family is noble and that a court deed will prove it. He has placed his son Omelko as a copyist in town, teaches his household to speak and carry themselves like people of quality, and refuses his daughter Marysia to the boy she loves in order to seek a husband for her among the minor officials, the clerk Natsievsky. While his lawyer Trandaliov drags the matter out, the lawsuit eats up his money and the peace of his home.
Context
The play was written in 1886 in Novocherkassk, during its author's exile. The subject comes from home: his father, an estate steward, had for years tried to have the nobility of his family recognised, and everything failed over a single letter, the old papers bearing Tubilevych and the new ones Tobilevych. The text appeared in 1891 in the journal Zoria, in Lviv. Sources diverge on the premiere: Kropyvnytsky's company performed it on tour as early as 1887, in Moscow and Petersburg among other places, and a first performance is dated 10 November 1891 in Kolomyia, by the company of Saksahansky and the author.
Who it is for
Five acts, which read quickly. The subject recalls that of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, transposed to the enriched peasants of the south.
Prizes and reception
One of the most frequently performed tragicomedies of Ukrainian theatre, it has remained in the repertoire for more than a century.
Sources for this page 7
The pages consulted to check this page.