LITMIR.BIZ

Voltaire's The Death of Caesar (Mort de César, 1735) is often erroneously described as a reworking of the first three acts of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Instead, Voltaire rewrote the text in its entirety, using a different approach that focuses on the act of tyrannicide, with the complication that Caesar has revealed to Brutus that the latter is actually his son. Brutus is an ardent republican whom Caesar wants to convert to his side. Ultimately, the son places the needs of the country over any paternal connection, and participates in the tyrant's assassination on the Ides of March. Great political drama, and a rediscovered classic of French literature!

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Based on a novel by Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), «Under Western Eyes» tells the story of Razumov, a Russian student indirectly involved in the assassination of a Tsarist minister. Haldin, the man who committed the murder, seeks asylum with Razumov–and his assistance in escaping Russia. Razumov has no sympathy for his friend and gives him up to the Okhrana (the secret police). Reluctantly, Razumov is then recruited as an agent and sent to Switzerland to infiltrate the radical group behind Haldin. But his guilt consumes him, and he ultimately confesses his crime to Haldin's sister. A compelling drama of political terrorism and betrayal!

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Based on a novel by the Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, this dramatic comedy features his eponymous hero, Oblomov. A young man of considerable decency and kindness (with a «soul as clear as crystal»), Oblomov has fallen into such a state of lethargy that he resists even getting out of bed, finding every excuse possible to do absolutely nothing. All the efforts of his male and female friends to energize him ultimately fail in various hilarious ways. Goncharov's character became so identifiable, so emblematic of a particular subset of the upper classes, that it became a byword (olbomovism) for self-imposed laziness and indolence.

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Based on Ivan Turgenev's novel of the same name, Frank J. Morlock's new play clearly dramatizes the societal divisions in mid-nineteenth-century Russia, deftly contrasting the defenders of the old regime with the younger generation of no-nonsense nihilists who will eventually succeed them. Nicolai and Pavel represent the older values (Nicolai softly, Pavel somewhat rigidly), while the two youths, Arkady (softly) and Bazarov (gruffly), make the case for change. In the end, Pavel and Bazarov fight an inconclusive duel–but the heightened animosity between generations yet remains, forecasting the civil war that will eventually overwhelm Russia fifty years later. The parallels between that time and today are striking. An absolutely riveting drama.

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French dramatist Adolphe d'Ennery (1811-1899) follows the Faust story originally developed by Goethe, but with a leavening of humor that the German playwright lacked. Especially entertaining is the character of the female demon Sulphurine, who's created by Faust's servant Wagner to be his slave. Needless to say, this she-devil is no one's mistress! Faust initially repels the advances of Mephistopheles, but suddenly finds himself in love with the young woman Marguerite, whom the devil has dangled in front of him. Now he wants the youth and vigor that Old Nibs has offered, and is willing to do whatever's necessary to gain the girl's love. But «love» is not part of the equation, as he discovers to his ultimate dismay. A marvelous–and highly entertaining–version of the Faust legend.

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Based on the 1885 novel by Henry James, this play tells the story of Hyacinth Robinson, the bastard son of a French woman and an English lord. Robinson has become a bookbinder in the London working-class slums. He embraces radicalism, and joins a conspiracy of anarchists plotting to assassinate high-ranking members of the establishment. But when he's actually given a terrorist mission to carry out, Hyacinth suddenly finds himself conflicted–he no longer sympathizes with radical politics, but feels duty-bound to carry out his assignment. In the end, he discovers, there's no way out! First-rate drama by a well-known American playwright.

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Henry Murger wrote a series of popular short stories in the late 1840s describing the poverty of the young artists of his generation in Paris, basing them on his personal experiences. These were adapted for the stage by Théodore Barrière in 1857. The play follows the fortunes of several young people, including Marcel (a painter), Musette (his promiscuous lover), Rodolphe (a writer), and Mimi (his faithful but fatally ill companion). Unable to support themselves from their art, they are doomed either to sell out or die of despair and the bad living conditions they're forced to endure. But all remain bright, sympathetic characters full of optimism, despite their lack of commercial success. It's the eternal story of talented youth struggling against a bourgeois society that doesn't appreciate them. Barrière and Murger's work later formed the basis of Puccini's enormously successful opera, La Bohème. A wonderfully romantic musical drama.

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First performed in Galati, Romania, in 1996, Victor Cilinca's Polonius is a play of political machination, social aspiration, treachery, and self-deception, set during the events of Hamlet. The play's relevance has escalated since it was first performed, with its barbed commentary on the media's role in shaping our society being more incisive now than ever before. Translated into English by Petru Iamandi and Richard Wright, Cilinca's Polonius reflects our world through a Shakespearean looking glass, the better to see it afresh.

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In order to prevent his aged cousin (Old Martin) from leaving his huge fortune to charity, Pecksniff travels from London to America to dissuade the dying man from such a mistake. But Old Martin is far from death's door, and is planning from pure spite to swindle the relatives he loathes out of all their money. To do this he employs Montague Tigg, a honey-tongued confidence man who has, up to this point, had little worldly success, despite his many talents. He pretends to be an English lord, a man of means who's the foundation of the Anglo-American Disinterested Life Insurance Company–which, of course, is nothing but a sham. The laughs pile up as each of the characters tries to outswindle the others–until no one is sure who's who and what's what. An uproarious farce in the grand traditon.

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Henri de Lagardere, the best swordsman in France, suddenly finds himself duty-bound to protect the baby female heir of a murdered friend–a girl who matures into a beautiful woman who will one day inherit a princely fortune–a girl with whom Henri falls madly in love. But his affection is hopeless: the difference in their ages and stations in life precludes any permanent liaison. One by one, over the years, Henri tracks down and kills the assassins of the girl's father, until only the ringleader is left. But the final villain is a powerful man close to the French court, and cannot easily be impeached. Only the dead may speak to pull him down from his high perch–with the assistance of The Hunchback! A riveting tale of action, politics, and suspense in the tradition of The Three Musketeers.

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