Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / Catherine the Great and the Russian Enlightenment's Forgotten Playwright
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we've talked a lot about Catherine the Great's politics — her wars, her reforms, her love affairs. But there's one side of her that often gets overlooked: Catherine the playwright. Luna: Wait — Catherine wrote plays? Lucas: She did. Over twenty of them. Comedies, historical dramas, even opera librettos. She was deeply involved in the Russian theater scene, not just as a patron but as a working writer. She saw the stage as a tool for shaping public opinion and spreading Enlightenment ideas. Lucas: Keep in mind, Russian theater was still young in the 1760s. Professional troupes had only been around for a few decades. Catherine wanted to create a national theater that could compete with French and Italian companies, and she led by example. Luna: What kind of plays did she write? Lucas: Mostly satirical comedies. Her first major play was 'Oh, These Times!' — in Russian, 'O, Vremya!' — written in 1772. It's a comedy about a corrupt noble family and their obsession with French fashion. But it also takes jabs at serfdom and religious hypocrisy. Pretty bold for an empress. Lucas: She followed that with a series of plays targeting specific groups: 'The Deceiver' and 'The Deceived' mocked Freemasons, who were becoming fashionable in Russian high society. Catherine was suspicious of secret societies, even though some of her own courtiers were Masons. Luna: Was she worried about them plotting against her? Lucas: Partly. But she also saw Freemasonry as a rival to her authority — a source of alternative loyalties. So she used comedy to ridicule them. Her plays were performed at the Hermitage Theater, which she had built in the Winter Palace complex. Only the court and invited guests could attend, but the plays were also published. Lucas: And she didn't just write. She collaborated with the leading playwright of the day, Denis Fonvizin. Fonvizin is best known for his play 'The Minor' — 'Nedorosl' — which is a classic of Russian satire. Catherine admired his work and they exchanged ideas. Some scholars think she even contributed lines to his plays. Luna: So she was basically the showrunner of the Russian Enlightenment? Lucas: In a way, yes. She saw herself as a philosopher on the throne, corresponding with Voltaire and Diderot. But her plays reveal the limits of her Enlightenment. She could criticize serfdom on stage, but she didn't abolish it. She mocked nobles, but she needed their support. The stage was a safety valve — let people laugh at problems without actually solving them. Lucas: Take her historical drama 'The Early Reign of Oleg', written in 1788. It's about the 10th-century Kievan prince Oleg, who united Slavic tribes. Catherine used the play to promote the idea of a strong, wise monarch — basically herself. The play premiered with elaborate sets and music, and it ran for several seasons. Luna: Did anyone criticize her for being a writer? Lucas: Actually, yes. Some nobles thought it was beneath an empress to write comedies. But Catherine didn't care. She once said, 'I write for my own pleasure, and if it amuses others, so much the better.' She was genuinely proud of her literary output. She even published a collection of her works in 1783. Lucas: And here's something interesting: Catherine's plays were often performed in French translation across Europe. Voltaire read them and praised her as 'the Semiramis of the North.' But in Russia, they were also used as textbooks in schools. So she wasn't just entertaining — she was shaping a generation's values. Luna: I had no idea she was that hands-on with culture. Lucas: It's a side of her that really shows how she understood soft power. You can conquer Crimea and reform the bureaucracy, but if you want people to think like you, you need stories and laughter. Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia, was also a playwright who believed that a well-timed joke could change a mind. Luna: Speaking of changing minds — Lucas, a lot of our listeners come to these episodes because they care about history that's alive, not just names in a textbook. And we keep this show ad-free because of listeners who support us on buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. If you've been enjoying these deep dives into Catherine's world, that's why they're here. Lucas: Absolutely. We love digging into these stories, and listener support makes it possible. So thank you to everyone who chips in. Now — back to Catherine's theater. One of her most controversial plays was 'The Siberian Shaman', which mocked superstitious folk healers. That got her into hot water with the Orthodox Church. Lucas: The Church censored some of her works, but she pushed back. She argued that comedy was a moral force — that by laughing at ignorance, you could cure it. It's a very Enlightenment position. Of course, she didn't extend that logic to political dissent. Critics of her rule were exiled, not laughed into submission. Luna: So was she a hypocrite? Lucas: Not exactly. She genuinely believed in reason, education, and progress — but within the framework of absolute monarchy. For Catherine, the stage was a place to model good behavior and critique social ills without threatening the throne. She wanted to be both a philosopher and an autocrat, which is a tough balancing act. Lucas: Her theater legacy outlived her. The Hermitage Theater became a center for Russian culture. And her plays were revived in the 19th century, though they're rarely performed today. But they give us a window into how she thought — and how she wanted to be seen. Luna: It makes me wonder what other hidden talents the Romanovs had. Lucas: Well, Peter the Great built ships with his own hands. Alexander I was a mystic who wrote religious poetry. And Nicholas II was a master of bookbinding — he bound his own diaries. The Romanovs were more than just rulers; they were people trying to make sense of their world, often with very human passions.