The Living Corpse

The Living Corpse
Konstantin Stanislavski as Prince Abrezkov in the première at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1911.
Written by	Leo Tolstoy
Date premiered	5 October [O.S. 23 September] 1911
Place premiered	Moscow Art Theatre, Moscow
Original language	Russian

The Living Corpse (Russian: Живой труп, Zhivoy trup) is a Russian play by Leo Tolstoy. Although written around 1900, it was only published shortly after his death—Tolstoy had never considered the work finished. An immediate success, it is still performed.

The central character of the play, Fedor Protasov, is tormented by the belief that his wife Liza has never really chosen between him and the more conventional Victor Karenin, a rival for her hand. He wants to kill himself, but doesn't have the nerve. Running away from his life, he first falls in with Gypsies, and into a sexual relationship with a Gypsy singer, Masha. However, facing Masha's parents' disapproval, he runs away from this life as well. Again he wants to kill himself, but lacks the nerve; again, his descent continues.

Meanwhile, his wife, presuming him dead, has married the other man. When Protasov is discovered, she is charged with bigamy, accused of arranging her husband's disappearance. He shows up in court to testify that she had no way of knowing that he was alive; when the judge rules that his wife must either give up her new husband or be exiled to Siberia, Protasov shoots himself. Hysterically, his wife declares that it is Protasov whom she always loved.

The play premièred at the Moscow Art Theatre, in a production that opened on 5 October [O.S. 23 September] 1911. It was principally directed by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, with Konstantin Stanislavski acting as a co-director. A production in Saint Petersburg followed shortly after. Soon translated into many languages, it played in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London.

The play received its English-language première in London on 6 December 1912, under the title The Man Who Was Dead (a translation by Z. Vengerova and John Pollock), in a production by the Literary Theatre Society. It was directed by A. Andreev, who came from the Theatre Royal in Belgrade.Edmond Breon played Fedor, Violet Lewis played Lisa, Laurence Anderson played Victor, Lydia Yavorska played Masha, and Anthony Ward played Prince Abreskov.