Lesson plan
The Bedbug
The Bedbug ( ) is a play by Vladimir Mayakovsky written in 1928–1929 and published originally by Molodaya Gvardiya magazine (Nos. 3 and 4, 1929), then as a book, by Gosizdat, in 1929. "The faerie comedy in nine pictures", lampooning the type of philistine that emerged with the New Economic Policy in the Soviet Union, was premiered in February 1929 at the Meyerhold Theatre, with designs by Alexander Rodchenko. Received warmly by audiences, it caused controversy and received harsh treatment in the Soviet press. Unlike its follow-up, The Bathhouse (denounced as ideologically deficient), The Bedbug was criticised mostly for its alleged "aesthetic faults". The play deals with the themes of suspended animation and being a proverbial fish out of water. In 1929, a young man is frozen in suspended animation during his wedding day. He is revived in the supposedly utopian world of 1979, where drunkenness, smoking, and swearing are long gone. Seen as a relic of the past, he ends up as a human exhibit at the local zoo.
Article summary
The Bedbug ( ) is a play by Vladimir Mayakovsky written in 1928–1929 and published originally by Molodaya Gvardiya magazine (Nos. 3 and 4, 1929), then as a book, by Gosizdat, in 1929. "The faerie comedy in nine pictures", lampooning the type of philistine that emerged with the New Economic Policy in the Soviet Union, was premiered in February 1929 at the Meyerhold Theatre, with designs by Alexander Rodchenko. Received warmly by audiences, it caused controversy and received harsh treatment in the Soviet press. Unlike its follow-up, The Bathhouse (denounced as ideologically deficient), The Bedbug was criticised mostly for its alleged "aesthetic faults". The play deals with the themes of suspended animation and being a proverbial fish out of water. In 1929, a young man is frozen in suspended animation during his wedding day. He is revived in the supposedly utopian world of 1979, where drunkenness, smoking, and swearing are long gone. Seen as a relic of the past, he ends up as a human exhibit at the local zoo.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.