Sin and Sorrow Are Common to All (Grekh da beda na kovo ne zhiviot, Грех да беда на кого не живёт)[1] is a four-act drama by Alexander Ostrovsky, written in 1862 and published on the No.
[2] In mid-1862, Ostrovsky returned from his European voyage which, according to biographer Vladimir Lakshin, made him "more enlightened and wise", giving even more poignancy to "his love-hate relations with the Russian [national] character... Love for all of our generosity, impracticality, tolerance, openness to goodness.
One of his friends Goryachev, a young merchant and a theatre fan, whom the dramatist admired for his energy, moral strength and physical power, told him the story of his life, which served as a base for this drama's plot.
Both actors provided high quality, inspirational work, and several Russian critics were so impressed as to compare Ostrovsky to Shakespeare.
[5] Ostrovsky's intention was to keep loyal to Sovremennik, but since his return from Europe Nikolai Chernyshevsky has been imprisoned and Nekrasov's magazine got closed for eight months.