Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress

by Bernard Shaw

"Annajanska, the Bolshevik Empress" by Bernard Shaw is a one-act play written in 1917. Set in an imaginary country fresh from revolution, the play centers on a clash between a loyal general hoping to restore the old regime and the Grand Duchess Annajanska, the ruler's daughter who once ran away to join the circus. Now the Duchess has escaped captivity and mysteriously eloped with an officer whose identity and revolutionary plans remain unknown—until a dramatic revelation changes everything.