A summer of pleasure. A storm on the horizon.
It's a hot, beautiful summer in 1905, and Russia's elite retreat to the countryside to swim, sip champagne and start affairs.
When they're having this much fun, why care about anything else? But Varvara just can't shake the feeling that their holiday idyll is built on borrowed time.
As the party continues, how long can they ignore the storm on the horizon?
Nina Raine and Moses Raine's new adaptation of Maxim Gorky's razor-sharp portrait of class, privilege and denial is premiered at the National Theatre, London, in 2026.






















