A play directly about war was necessary for both the theatre and spectators. Army was retreating, and people needed a performance which would raise the fighting spirit. A. Korneychuk’s play was a precise fulfillment of a political order (a direct order of Stalin). Having just appeared it was immediately published in “Pravda”. Twenty two theatres of the country were granted an honorable right for productions of “The Front”. It was only one year later that Moscowites saw the performance of the Vakhtangists, when the theatre returned from evacuation, but the production was immediately recognized as the best.

In 1975 the performance was reopened by E. R. Simonov. The role of Gorlov in the new production was played by Mikhail Ulyanov, and that of Ognev — Vasiliy Lanovoy.