Skip to content
eventVerified

The Power of Darkness is written as a dated peasant tragedy blocked from Imperial stage performance

In 1886 Tolstoy’s The Power of Darkness, a peasant murder tragedy, was ready as a dated drama but blocked from full Imperial stage performance by censorship. Later Soviet stagings are reception, not 1886. In the causal graph this event weakens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In 1886 Tolstoy’s The Power of Darkness, a peasant murder tragedy, was ready as a dated drama but blocked from full Imperial stage performance by censorship.

Context

Tolstoy.ru and the Cambridge Companion independently treat the censorship block. Later Soviet stagings are reception, not 1886.

Leo Tolstoy’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Conventional years are 1828–1910. Surviving public files are later museum pages, collected-works sites, and encyclopedias. Tolstoy did not typeset those later pages. Posthumous museums and editions are evidence, not acts.

Why it matters

Protection-of-minority-rights / expression path as cost under censorship. High confidence on the ban pattern.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Leo Tolstoy

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

    He wrote the play. Imperial censorship blocked full staging. Complex shared repression file.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactThe Power of Darkness is written as a dated peasant tragedy blocked from Imperial stage performance
    2. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.5 · Effect from 1 January 1886 · verified

    A censored peasant tragedy is a minority-expression and rights cost under Imperial theatre control.

    • Having a say in government

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.5 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Cambridge Companion to TolstoyCambridge University Press · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Tolstoy.ru — collected works and estate portalState Tolstoy Museum / Tolstoy.ru · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Tolstoy.ru and the Cambridge Companion independently describe The Power of Darkness and its Imperial staging ban.

Established: the play was written in 1886 and blocked from full Imperial performance. Not established: a unique national theatre-attendance series.

Leo Tolstoy did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. A banned play is not the Synod definition. Keep theatre censorship off February 1901.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorLeo Tolstoy
  2. contributed toFactThe Power of Darkness is written as a dated peasant tragedy blocked from Imperial stage performance
  3. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). The Power of Darkness is written as a dated peasant tragedy blocked from Imperial stage performance. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/lt-power-darkness-1886

https://factrail.ai/facts/lt-power-darkness-1886

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

Dispute this factNamed here, or represent someone who is? Request a right of reply.