Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich

Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich (1809–52), Russian writer and dramatist, the first great realist of the Russian theatre. He was already known for his short stories when in 1832, after making the acquaintance of Shchepkin, he began work on a play but abandoned it when he realized that as a satire on bureaucracy it would not pass the censor; the manuscript was later destroyed. Two other plays, both satires, were begun but not finished until 1842. Gogol's dramatic masterpiece Revizor was produced at the Court theatre in the presence of the Tsar in 1836. Its theme was official corruption in a small town, where an impecunious impostor is mistaken for a government official and fêted accordingly. It came at an opportune moment when the authorities were reorganizing municipal affairs, but the satire bit too deep and the play was viciously attacked. Gogol, already broken in health, left Russia, not to return until 1848. The play had an immense influence in Russia and also became well known in translation, being first seen in London in 1920 as The Government Inspector and in New York in 1923 as The Inspector-General. In 1966 an outstanding revival by the RSC was directed by Peter Hall, with Paul Scofield as Khlestakov. An English translation of an amusing but less important comedy Marriage (1842) was seen in London as The Marriage Broker in 1965. Gogol's other dramatic works include the farce Gamblers (1842) and a sketch entitled On Leaving the Theatre after a Performance of a New Comedy, which analyses audience reaction in St Petersburg in the same year. In 1928 Gogol's great novel Dead Souls was dramatized by Bulgakov and presented by Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre, and this version was seen in London in 1964 when the company appeared during the World Theatre Season.