 On March 20, 1860, he informed his friend, author and translator Boleslav Markevich that he had written and re-written the drama, then read it to critic Vasily Botkin and writer Nikolai Kruze, who gave him their approval.Markevich in his letters criticised some aspects of the play (the need for prologue, the fact that Don Juan doesn't appear in the epilogue, etc.