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.