Mikhail Bulgakov. Dni Turbinykh. [The Days of the Turbins]. Playbill.

One of 5 000 copies printed.

The premier night of this play based upon Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The White Guard about the Russian intelligentsia held on 5th October 1926. It was the first Bulgakov's play performed in Moscow by the Moscow Art Theatre (MAT).
During rehearsals representatives of OGPU and the censors were coming to the theatre to hold lengthy negotiations with the author and director, and to suggest alterations. The play was passed for performance only at MAT – no productions were to be permitted anywhere else. Roger Cockrell wrote in his commentary for the Bulgakov's translation: 'It archived great acclaim, becoming known as "the second Seagull", as the first performance of Chekhov's Seagull at MAT in 1898 had inaugurated the theatre's financial and artistic success after a long period of mediocrity and falling popularity. This was a turning point in the fortunes of MAT. Which had been coming under fire for only preforming the classics and not adopting styles of acting and subject matter more in keeping with modern times and themes' (Bulgakov M. Fatal Eggs. Translated by Roger Cockrell. Alma classics, 2014).
In March 1929 all Bulgakov's plays were cancelled as a result of serve criticism in the Soviet press. However, on February 1932, resulting from the direct interference of Joseph Stalin, who regarded it as a piece of pro-Bolshevik propaganda, The Days of the Turbins was restarted. The performances continued until June 1941 when MAT's sets were destroyed in a fire.
The Days of the Turbins was Bulgakov's only artistic work to have reached a wide audience in his own lifetime.