''Paulinka'' () is a comedy play in two parts by a

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian poet and writer

Yanka Kupala Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich (; – 28 June 1942), better known by his pen name Yanka Kupala (Янка Купала), was a Belarusian poet and writer. Biography Early life Kupala was born on July 7, 1882, in Viazynka, a folwark settlement n ...

.) Written in 1912, it was printed first time in 1913 in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

by the publisher ''The Sun Will Peek into Our Window As Well'' ( :be:Загляне сонца і ў наша аконца) "«Паўлінка» восьмы дзясятак на купалаўскай сцэне"
/ref>

Plot

Paulinka is a daughter of a petty nobleman ("village '' szlachtic''") Sciapan Krynicki. She falls in love with the local teacher Yakim Saroka. The father disapproves this planning her marriage with a wealthier ''szlachcic'' Bykovsky. Paulinka and Saroka are planning to run away, but Yakim is arrested for his revolutionary views, ratted out by Bykovsky. Play directors often replace the finale with a more optimistic one: the pair does run away.

History

The play grew out of the short story ''And the Willows Rustled'' (''А вербы шумелі'') started by the author. It is suggested that the prototype of Paulinka was Kupala's lyrical friend , but in later years she denied this."Первая Павлинка Купаловского театра получила роль 19-летней барышни, когда ей было уже 40, а играть в спектакле продолжала до 60!"
/ref> Some also claim that Myadzyolka was first one to play Paulinka, which is not true: the first amateur play of ''Paulinka'', starring Софья Маркевич, was in Vilnius in January 13, while Maydzyolka played next month in an amateur play in St.Petersburg.

In film

In 1952 a Russian-language TV play was released directed by

Aleksandr Zarkhi Aleksandr Grigoryevich Zarkhi (; 18 February 1908 – 27 January 1997) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR (1969). Hero of Socialist Labour (1978). His film ''Twenty Six Days from the Life of ...

and starring

Lyudmila Senchina Lyudmila Petrovna Senchina (; 13 January 1948 or 13 December 1950, – 25 January 2018) was a Soviet and Russian singer (soprano). In 1979 she was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist of the RSFSR and in 2002 the title of People's Artist of ...

. In 1972

Belarusfilm Belarusfilm () is the main film studio of Belarus. History Soviet times Belarusfilm, under the name ''Belgoskino'' was founded in 1924. The first film shot at the studio was "The Forest Past" by Yuri Tarich. In 1928, the ''Soviet Belarus'' ...

released a full-feature

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

' starring

, screenplay by , directed by .

References

1913 plays Belarusian plays {{1910s-play-stub