Boris Godunov (play)

Boris Godunov
Illustration from the 1925 French publication of the play
Written byAlexander Pushkin
Date premieredSeptember 17, 1870 (1870-09-17)
Place premieredSaint Petersburg
Original languageRussian
GenreTragedy
SettingRussia and Poland–Lithuania, 1598–1605

Boris Godunov (Russian: Борис Годунов; variant title: Драматическая повесть, Комедия o настоящей беде Московскому государству, o царе Борисе и о Гришке Отрепьеве, A Dramatic Tale, The Comedy of the Distress of the Muscovite State, of Tsar Boris, and of Grishka Otrepyev) is a play by Alexander Pushkin. It was written in 1825, published in 1831, but not approved for performance by the censor until 1866. It premiered in 1870. Its subject is the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605. It consists of 25 scenes and is written predominantly in blank verse.

Modest Mussorgsky's opera, Boris Godunov (1874), is based on this play.