Paul the First

The play is set in St. Petersburg from March 9 to March 12, 1801, on the eve of the assassination of Emperor Paul I. The upper nobility, outraged by Emperor Paul I’s boundless caprice—he was obsessed with Prussian drill and marching—conspires against the ruler.
Count Pahlen, the military governor of St. Petersburg and the main instigator of the plot, draws all members of the imperial family into it, and convinces Grand Duke Alexander, heir to the throne, that by taking part in the conspiracy he will save not only himself and his loved ones, but also all of Russia, exhausted by the despotism of his crowned father.