<Tr> <Th> Setting </Th> <Td> The Islaev country estate in the 1840s </Td> </Tr> <P> A Month in the Country (Russian: Месяц в деревне, translit . Mesiats v derevne) is a play in five acts by Ivan Turgenev, his only well - known work for the theatre . Originally titled The Student, it was written in France between 1848 and 1850 and first published in 1855 as Two Women . The play was not staged until 1872, when it was given as A Month in the Country at a benefit performance for the Moscow actress Ekaterina Vasilyeva (1829--1877), who was keen to play the leading role of Natalya Petrovna . </P> <P> Originally entitled The Student, the play was banned by the Saint Petersburg censor without being performed . Turgenev changed the title to Two Women . In 1854 it was passed for publication, provided alterations were made--demands made more on moral than political grounds . To play down the controversy, Turgenev finally settled on the name A Month in the Country . </P> <P> In the introduction to his 1994 English translation, Richard Freeborn wrote: </P>

Turgenev a month in the country full text