Director Philipp Gurevich invites audiences to explore the figure of the major Soviet writer, public figure, and "stormy petrel of the revolution," Maxim Gorky, without the usual textbook monumentality. The focus of Gorky. Love shifts to his inner human evolution instead.

Gorky is told through the eyes of four women who played significant roles at different stages of his life: his first love, Olga Kaminskaya; Ekaterina Peshkova, his only legal wife; leading actress of the Moscow Art Theatre, Maria Andreeva; and the fateful and enigmatic Baroness Maria Budberg.

"These are the stories of the women who accompanied Maxim Gorky throughout his life," says director Philipp Gurevich. "Our goal isn't even to remove the famous Soviet writer from his pedestal; we want to see him as a flesh-and-blood person. His women tell stories about a great man, and a woman always knows her man best. This is a play about Gorky without Gorky. However, each of his lovers is a worthy individual in her own right."

The premiere Gorky. Love took place as part of the Gorky + arts festival.