Pushkin's Boris Godunov

Widely accepted to have been inspired by Shakespeare s Macbeth, Boris Godunov recounts the tragic conflict between Tsar Boris and the pretender Dimitri. Following the death of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov became regent for the feeble-minded Tsar Fyodor, the heir to whose throne, the boy-prince Dimitri, died mysteriously in 1591. It was widely rumoured that Boris had murdered him, and when a renegade monk later appeared claiming to be Dimitri, he rapidly became a focus for revolt.This adaptation by acclaimed playwright & novelist Adrian Mitchell, was Mitchell s final project before his death in 2008 and forms part of the Royal Shakespeare Company s Winter 2012 season.