Somewhat unexpectedly for the reader, the classic of German drama in this play of his turns to Russian history. Moreover, he takes as a basis Yakov Knyazhnin’s play “Vadim Novgorodsky” from 1789, and makes his own, author’s version. Boyar Vadim returns from exile from the outskirts of the Novgorod principality, where in recent years he fought extremely successfully with the Finno-Ugric tribes. He was exiled because he once tried to stage a military coup and seize power in the principality. From the moment of his exile, the Varangian Rurik, elected by the Novgorod veche, came to power. He rules fairly and calmly, but wants to marry Ramida, Vadim's daughter. And to make sure everything is done properly, he brings her father back to reconcile with him. But Vadim, having arrived, immediately begins to vilify his relatives, who abandoned the veche and gave power into the hands of a foreigner. So for the second time he raises an uprising, the events of which unfold in the play. Peter Hax is a German playwright, poet and essayist. In the 60s he became the founder of socialist classicism and was considered one of the most significant playwrights of the GDR. For a long time, Hax was the only modern writer whose works were staged on the theatrical stage not only in the GDR, but also in the Federal Republic of Germany. Hax gained worldwide fame from his play “A Conversation in the Stein Family about the Absent Herr von Goethe.” Translation: Ella Vengerova