TEHRAN – Mehregan Theater in Tehran is hosting the Russian play “The Living Corpse” written by Leo Tolstoy.

Elmira Norouzi has directed the one-hour play and performs in it along with Sara Talaei, Mahshid Sedaghatmanesh, Setayesh Sahraei, Younes Radmehr, Aysa Mohammadi, Salar Barzegar, Morteza Nasrabadi, Melika Fouladi, and Dorsa Sadeghi, among others.

Although written around 1900, “The Living Corpse” was only published shortly after Tolstoy’s death, as the author 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 never chose between him and Viktor Karenin, a suitor 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 relationship with a gypsy singer, Masha. However, due to the disapproval of Masha's parents, 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.

Leo Tolstoy (1828 – 1910) was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time.

Born to an aristocratic family, Tolstoy achieved acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, “Childhood,” “Boyhood,” and “Youth” (1852–1856), and with “Sevastopol Sketches” (1855), based on his experiences in the Crimean War.

“War and Peace” (1869), “Anna Karenina” (1878), and “Resurrection” (1899), which is based on his “youthful sins,” are often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction and three of the greatest novels ever written.

“The Living Corpse” will remain on stage until June 22 at Mehregan Theater located at No. 3, Farhangi (Behnam) Alley, Vesal Shirazi St., Enqelab St.

SS/SAB