Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (Russian: 袦懈褏邪懈谢 袘褍谢谐邪泻芯胁) was a Russian writer, medical doctor, and playwright. His novel The Master and Margarita, published posthumously, has been called one of the masterpieces of the 20th century. He also wrote the novel The White Guard and the plays Ivan Vasilievich, Flight (also called The Run), and The Days of the Turbins. He wrote mostly about the horrors of the Russian Civil War and about the fate of Russian intellectuals and officers of the Tsarist Army caught up in revolution and Civil War. Some of his works (Flight, all his works between the years 1922 and 1926, and others) were banned by the Soviet government, and personally by Joseph Stalin, after it was decided by them that they "glorified emigration and White generals". On the other hand, Stalin loved The Days of the Turbins (also called The Turbin Brothers) very much and reportedly saw it at least 15 times.
鈥渋n the finale (a soprano) we will conquer鈥� (basses) ideologically.鈥� rip bulgakov you would have loved the 鈥渂a dum tss鈥� sound effect.
one thing about bulgakov is that he鈥檚 an absolute comedic genius. compared to heart of a dog and the master and margarita this is definitely a much shallower work but he still employs irony so masterfully that it鈥檚 a rip roaring raucous rodeo piece of satire.
the matryoshka doll-esque narrative structure of this play is really interesting. the play within the play is a funny but obviously in-your-face critique that is meant to be interpreted tongue-in-cheek by bulgakov鈥檚 readers, but intended as propagandistic material for vasily arturych鈥檚 audience; the censorship that vasily arturych faces that forces the death of the author (鈥渨ith one swoop, one scratch of a pen he kills me鈥� well, here鈥檚 my chest, pierce it with a pencil鈥�) takes place outside of his play such that somehow art is no longer an outlet for expression which now only takes place through random outbursts, but vasily鈥檚 outburst is at the same time the reason why bulgakov鈥檚 play was banned鈥� bulgakov doesn鈥檛 even spend much time caricaturizing savva the censor since savva鈥檚 very presence within the play (where he actively interferes by participating in the rehearsal) is a caricature of censorship and its murder of theater in itself.
even putting aside all this meta theatrical stuff, bulgakov is a brilliant writer despite things probably being lost in translation: a beautiful monologue (that 鈥渉e doesn鈥檛 write in the play [within a play]鈥�)鈥斺€渢he attic, sixteen square yards and moonlight in place of a blanket鈥� oh, you, my blind windows, miserly and pale dawn!鈥� Down with the fires on Meshchansky Street鈥� the stray dogs鈥� Long live the sun鈥� the ocean鈥� The Crimson Island!鈥濃€攁nd of course him finding his place within the tradition of russian literature鈥斺€渉is flaming heat does not fit into sixteen square yards; he needs the broad, free earth鈥︹€� (a paraphrase of chekhov鈥檚 gooseberries written in response! to tolstoy鈥檚 how much land does a man need?).