The Power of Darkness
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The Power of Darkness (original Russian title Власть тьмы, Vlast' t'my) is a five-act dramatic play by Leo Tolstoy written in 1886. The play was long banned in Russia. Actor Jacob Adler had a New York hit in 1904 with his own Yiddish translation—the first successful production of a Tolstoy play in the United States—and a 1920 English-language Broadway production ran for over 85 performances.
The central character is a peasant, Nikita, who seduces and abandons a young girl Marinka; then the lovely Anisija murders her own husband to marry Nikita. He impregnates his new stepdaughter, then, under his wife's influence, murders the baby. On the day of his stepdaughter's marriage, he surrenders himself and confesses to the police.
References
- Adler, Jacob, A Life on the Stage: A Memoir, translated and with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, Knopf, New York, 1999, ISBN 067941351, 354.
- MIT Dramashop 2004 Spring production (http://web.mit.edu/dramashop/www/archive/2003-04/pod.html); review A $^%*@!& Good Show (http://www-tech.mit.edu/V124/N19/Power_of_Darkne.19a.html), in The Tech April 13, 2004.