Uncle Tom's Cabin

A one-person performance by Maxim Sukhanov based on the famous novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) entered world literature history as the author of the famous novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” In this work, whose plot is based on real events, she sharply criticized the slave system in the south of the United States. Published shortly before the Civil War (in 1852), this book caused a major public stir and, according to some assessments, seriously intensified the already tense relations between the North and the South.

In the plot, the main character is an Afro-American man who, over the course of the story, manages to change several owners, and in the end ends up with a cruel tyrant who tortures his slaves. Whatever happens in the hero’s life, he always remains honest and kind, even feeling sympathy for his enemies. Tom, like most slaves, cannot read or write—yet he knows the Bible perfectly and lives by its teachings. Apparently, this trait “was passed on” to the character from the author: Harriet Beecher Stowe was born into a preacher’s family and herself was well versed in texts of Sacred Scripture.