Havel Leaving

Main
ISBN: 978-0-571-30139-3
Verlag: Faber & Faber
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 96 Seiten

Chancellor Rieger is leaving office. But does leaving office necessarily mean that he, his mistress and his extended family have to leave the state villa, which has been their home for years? While his former secretary, and the former secretary to his former secretary, grapple with the mechanics of change and his family prepare to vace an uncertain future, the chancellor himself considers his legacy amid visits from journalists, an infatuated student and his arch-rival and possible successor, Patrick Klein. With echoes of both King Lear and The Cherry Orchard, Vaclav Havel's Leaving addresses the themes of change, dispossession and the transfer of power from one generation to the next. The play received its English-language world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in September 2008. Leaving is Vaclav Havel's first play since he was propelled to political office in 1989.

Václav Havel was born in Czechoslovakia in 1936. Among his plays, those best known in the West areThe Garden Party, The Memorandum, Largo Desolato, Temptation, and three one-act plays, Audience,Private View and Protest. He is a founding spokesman of Charter 77 and the author of many influential essays on the nature of totalitarianism and dissent. In 1979 he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his involvement in the human rights movement. Out of this imprisonment came his book of letters to his wife, Letters to Olga (1981). In November 1989 he helped to found the Civic Forum, the first legal opposition movement in Czechoslovakia in forty years; in December 1989 he was elected President of Czechoslovakia; and in 1994 became the first President of the independent Czech Republic. His memoir, To the Castle and Back, was published in 2007.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Havel, Vaclav

Leseproben

Act One

Zuzana () Yeah … Aha … Okay … Marvellous … Brilliant … Me too … Very much. No, you’re the one, Lili … Okay, talk to you soon … Bye.

.

Irena Are you warm enough?

Rieger Yes.

Irena You can’t possibly be warm enough!

Rieger I assure you, darling, I am quite warm enough.

Irena Let me bring you a blanket.

Rieger I don’t need a blanket. I don’t want a blanket. I am quite comfortable as I am.

Grandma Let him be. Stop treating him like a child.

Irena Monika, would you please? The brown one. It’s right there in the hall, on the armchair.

Monika You mean the beige one?

Irena Yes.

Rieger Monika, please. I’m perfectly fine.

.

Grandma There are several beige blankets in there, and they’re in a bit of a mess, they haven’t been to the cleaners in donkey’s years, and anyway, they’re not very warm.

Rieger What’s keeping those reporters? Weren’t they meant to be here by now?

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Victor I simply don’t understand it, sir. People can’t just come and go as they please when you’re visiting the Chancellor! I’ve called them and apparently they’re on their way.

Irena Vilem, you have to tell them exactly what you think. None of your diplomatic pussyfooting around. People would be very disappointed in you –

Victor Precisely. You have to be firm.

Grandma Vilem doesn’t need to be told what he should do. He’s always had a way with reporters.

Rieger I think it’s time for my afternoon toddy.

Thank you, Oswald. How did you sleep?

Oswald Very well, thank you, Mr Chancellor.

Irena () It’s time to peel the potatoes for dinner. When you’ve put them on to boil, empty the washing machine and hang everything out to dry on the line over there among the cherry trees. The clothes pegs are in their usual place under the sink, and be careful not to spill the rubbish when you’re getting them. You might take the rubbish out while you’re at it – but not until you’ve finished hanging out the laundry. And don’t forget to put in a new bin-liner.

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Zuzana () n’t have to, really … Right … Yes … Right … No, there’s nothing to worry about! … Exactly! … Exactly! … No, absolutely not! … Great! … Great! … Brilliant! … Okay, talk to you soon. Bye.

Irena () Don’t even think about just emptying the rubbish and putting the old liner back in the bin. It makes an awful smell. Monika will be along shortly to make sure you’ve done it properly, and generally give you help and advice. Won’t you, Monika?

Hanuš () Good news, Vilem. You can keep this. The chancellery stamp on the back is so smudged that if it comes down to it, we can always say we simply didn’t notice.

Rieger Let them have it. It’s a shoddy piece of work anyway.

Grandma I want it. I’ll hang it in my bedroom.

Rieger Mother, please. We’re not going to clutter the house up with fourth-rate finger paintings.

Irena We’ll keep it. But it doesn’t belong in Grandma’s room. She can put up some of your childhood pictures if she wants. It’s going in my room. Besides, it’s not half bad, is it, Monika?

.

Victor They’re here!

Grandma Who’s here? The reporters? How many of them are there? Wouldn’t it be better if they stayed on the other side of the fence?

Irena Monika, would you be kind enough to take Grandma inside? She can watch television, or read yesterday’s .

Victor Mr Chancellor, this is Dick. He’s a well-known reporter, and this is Bob, who’s going to take a few pictures, if that’s all right with you.

Rieger May I ask which paper you work for?

Dick Various foreign journals, all world-class papers, I hasten to add. And some domestic ones as well.

Rieger Which domestic ones?

Dick Well, for instance, I work for . I interviewed you fifteen years ago, in Athens, do you remember?

Rieger I’ve given so many interviews.

Dick It was right below the Acropolis.

Rieger I was there with Papandreou, wasn’t I?

Dick Exactly.

Rieger Very well, please take a seat.

Dick () Can you tell us, Mr Chancellor, how, after so many years spent in –

Irena Would you mind introducing us?

Rieger Yes of course, sorry. This is Irena, my long-time companion.

Dick Dick.

Irena It’s an honour to meet you, Dick.

Dick () Your long-time companion is utterly charming.

Rieger Thank you.

Dick () Can you tell us, Mr Chancellor, how, after so many years spent in –

Irena Excuse me, but is there anything I can get you?

Dick That’s kind of you, but I’m fine. Or – come to think of it, a couple of beers would hit the spot. For Bob and me.

Rieger I’ll join you.

Dick Do you think I could have a bit of cinnamon with that?

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Irena () Did you find the clothes pegs?

Oswald I haven’t looked yet.

Irena Well, when you do, be careful not to knock over the bin. And could you send Monika out?

Dick () Can you tell us, Mr Chancellor –

Rieger I’m not the Chancellor any more –

Dick...