Razotkrivanja: tri različite drame
The book is a collection of three plays by one of the most performed contemporary playwrights, whose works have been translated into over 40 languages and performed in more than 450 premieres around the world.
The three plays represented in the book – Chekhov Said Goodbye to Tolstoy (1989), Night of the Gods (1986) and The Loves of George Washington (1988) – are thematically different, but connected by Gavran’s recognizable poetics: an exploration of power, relationships, ideologies and human nature through historical figures, with elements of humour, irony and deep psychological analysis.
In the play Chekhov Said Goodbye to Tolstoy (a duodrama with four characters), the young writer Anton Chekhov and his wife Olga visit the aging Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya at their estate in Yasnaya Polyana. The meeting, inspired by a real event from 1902, escalates into an ideological conflict: Tolstoy tries to win Chekhov over to his ideas of non-aggression, vegetarianism and renunciation of art, while Chekhov defends art as a mirror of life. The spouses engage in a discussion, revealing clashes of generations, worldviews and personal ambitions. The play explores the limits of tolerance and artistic freedom.
The Night of the Gods is a tragicomedy about three friends: the French king Louis XIV, his court jester, and the writer Molière. One evening, on the tenth anniversary of their first drunkenness together, they decide to repeat the ritual. The merriment turns into a dramatic conflict – the king discovers his loneliness despite his power, the jester his wisdom, and Molière the conflict between art and submission. The play criticizes totalitarianism and the relationship of artists to power, emphasizing how alcohol reveals true natures.
In The Loves of George Washington (duodrama), a month after the death of the American president, his widow Martha invites his lover Sylvia Carver to a meeting. The two women, from different social classes, clash over Washington's legacy, revealing his weaknesses, infidelities, and contradictions between a public hero and a private man. The play explores themes of jealousy, power, the role of women, and the deconstruction of myths about great historical figures.
These plays, Gavran's earlier works, demonstrate his talent for dialogue, historical fiction, and universal themes. The book serves as an insight into the author's development, emphasizing how the unraveling of characters leads to deep truths about humanity. Translated and performed globally, these "different plays" confirm Raven as a master of combining entertainment and reflection.
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