Abstract: The text of the play Artaxerxes’ action by the pastor of the Lutheran church of the German Quarter in Moscow by J.G. Gregory reached us without interludes. In this paper, the first attempt is made to reconstruct the missing interludes of the drama based on the western treatment of the story of Queen Esther. The story of the biblical story gives us the opportunity to reveal the missing interludes in the texts from the repertoire of the “English comedians” and Wanderbühnen Drama (drama of the German wandering troupes). Particularly noteworthy is the text of the comedy about Queen Esther and the proud Aman (Comoedia Von der Königin Esther und hoffärtigen Haman), included in the collection of “English comedians” “Die Schauspiele der englischen Komodianten in Deutschland”, dated 1620. Research and further attempt at reconstructing the lost interludes of Artaxerxes’ action by J.G. Gregory helps us to better present the background to the writing of the first Russian plays and to find the origins of the birth of the Russian court theater, which is inextricably linked with the western dramatic tradition of the 17th century.

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