Ostrovsky started writing The Forest in the last days of summer 1870 in his Shchelykovo estate. Initially it was supposed to be a family comedy but gradually the satirical line in it strengthened with Nestchastlivtsev, originally a marginal character, becoming the main hero.[1]
The play's first informal public reading took place at the house of Alexander's brother, Mikhail Ostrovsky. Following the latter's advice, soon after the publication of the play, Ostrovsky nominated it for the prestigious Uvarov Prize but hasn't got it.[2] The jury's decision has been criticized by Pavel Annenkov who wrote: "Alexander Nikolayevich has been refused the Prize. Such was the decision of those walking suitcases stuffed with quasi-scientific nonsense who sit in the [Academy's] Department of the Russian literature, having... not a drop of taste or poetical feeling; not a trace of understanding what mastery is in literature," he wrote to Mikhail Ostrovsky.[3]
On 14 May 1871 the play received the censors' permission at the Theatre and Literature committee. It was premiered in Saint Petersburg's Alexandrinsky Theatre as a benefit for Fyodor Burdin who played Neschastlivtsev. It also featured Maria Tchitau (as Gurmyzhskaya), Yelena Struyskaya (Aksyusha) and Platon Pronsky (Milonov). Ostrovsky, who was not in a position to control the artistic process personally, has been trying to do it by means of letters, addressed to Burdin. After the premiere, the latter informed the author that the "play has been received very warmly" but opined that his presence would have done well to improve the quality of the production.[4] What happened in reality was, the play flopped, due, mostly to Burdin's inadequacy who, according to one reviewer, "[had] not a modicum of a tragic actor in him."[5] Tchitau's performance (as Gurmyzhskaya) was found wanting too, while the performances by Zubrov (as Schastlivtsev) and Vasilyev the 2nd (as Vosmibratov) were reviewed positively.
In Moscow, The Forest was performed on 26 November 1871, as a benefit for Sofia Akimova, who played Ulita. It also featured Nadezhda Medvedeva (Gurmyzhskaya), Glikeriya Fedotova (Aksyusha), Ivan Samarin (Milonov), Vasily Zhivokini (Bodayev), Prov Sadovsky (Vosmibratov, Neschastlivstev), Sergey Shumsky (Schastivtsev).[1]
