On the history of Russian translation reception of Bernard Shaw’s plays (“Heartbreak house” in translation by I. A. Aksenov)

The article comprehends the circumstances of the creation of the first Russian translation of B. Shaw’s play “Heartbreak House” by I. A. Aksenov in 1921 by the order of the State Theatre after V. E. Meyerkhold preserved in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (fund 963, register 1, storage unit 870). It analyzes the changes made by the outstanding director V. E. Meyerkhold in I. A. Aksenov’s manuscript in order to adjust the translation for the Russian spectator and mass perception, adapt it to staging. It carries out the comparison of I. A. Aksenov’s translation with S. P. Bobrov and M. P. Bogoslovskaya’s translation, first published in 1946 and still considered the best reading of B. Shaw’s play.