Armoured Train 14–69 | |
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![]() Photograph of Khmelev (centre) from the 1927 Moscow production. | |
Written by | Vsevolod Ivanov |
Date premiered | 8 November 1927 |
Place premiered | Moscow Art Theatre |
Original language | Russian |
Genre | Socialist realism |
Armoured Train 14–69 (Russian: Бронепоезд 14–69, romanized: Bronepoezd 14–69) is a 1927 Soviet play by Vsevolod Ivanov.[1] Based on his 1922 novel of the same name, it was the first play that he wrote and remains his most important.[2] In creating his adaptation, Ivanov transformed the passive protagonist of his novel into an active exponent of proletarian ideals; the play charts his journey from political indifference to Bolshevik heroism.[3] Set in Eastern Siberia during the Civil War, it dramatises the capture of ammunition from a counter-revolutionary armoured train by a group of partisans led by a peasant farmer, Nikolai Vershinin.[4] It is a four-act play in eight scenes that features almost 50 characters; crowd scenes form a prominent part of its episodic dramatic structure.[5] Near the end of the play a Chinese revolutionary, Hsing Ping-wu, lies down on the railway tracks to force the armoured train to stop.[6]