Bitef

Nothing is new, and there is nothing we learn from. Take the story of 'The Seagull’. I don’t want- to claim a comparison, but let's just look back at that episode in the history of Russian theatre; A. Suvorin: ’.. . the play has its defects; not enough action ... a lot of room has been reserved for the trifles of life, for drawing unimportant, uninteresting characters.’ The Committee for Theatre ant Literature:' . . . with regard to the actual constuction of the scenes ... a certain flippancy or hasty approach, to the work is noticeable; some scenes have been dashed off more őrless arbitrarily without any close connection to the whole, without dramatic consistency ... the symbolism has an unpleasant effect... and if that 'gulf hadn’t been there, it wouldn't have made any difference to the comedy, whereas the piece is only made worse by it now’. The board of editors of 'Theatre and Art’ magazine considered the play 'an oblique piece of work’, but, through A. Kugel, it eventually admitted that 'the impression the piece makes is definitely the result of intelligent, talented and perhaps evpn inspired direction'. I am pursued by 'the piece being worse than its direction'. That is what was said about 'The GrownUp Daugher’, and what is being said and written about Cerceau. The author bravely defends himself against all rumours, and our friendship will certainly not be ruined, although jealousy could have done that long ago. It wont happen, and that completely or almost completely characterises Viktor Slavkin, In his small roome in Malomoskovskaja Street, surrounded by his favourite books, by his pictures of friends and his jazz, he knows what his plays contain: perhaps the 'istina' (truth), or, as they say nowadays, the ’pravda' (truth). That is: the truth of the spoken word, and of artistic fiction, □ G. Kozjoechova

Letter by the playwright Viktor Slavkin to the german translator of the play Cerceau Barbara Lehmann Moscow, 31 August 1986 Dear Barbara, Unfortunately I received your letter very late. I was on holiday near the Black Sea, and in the meantime your letter was waiting in the theatre. But now I finally have it, and I'm writing back to you right away. First of all I'd like to thank you very much for your interest in my work and your positive reaction to my play. If 'Cerceau' impresses the German audience as much as it did you, I shall be very honoured. When I received your letter, I immediately called the VAAP [copyright organisation]. They told me the text had been dispatched already. It’s the latest version; it is in complete agreement with the perfomance, and has been discussed with director Vasiljev. As to the questions you put in your letter. About ’»Те Cherry Orchard« as a model’: When I wrote the piece it was not my intention to follow ’The Cherry Orchard’ but it so happened that the plot and the function of several characters were similar. Pasha, for instance, has done the same thing Lopachin did. When a director decides to emphasise such things in the play the is free to do so, that is the director's contribution. But a translator need not take it into account, with the exception of quotes, like 'Everything about a human being should be beautiful’. The role of Lars was written without taking Charlotte into account. It is only occasionally that they have a comparable 'tragic mistero buggo function’. As far as my other examples and our specific realities are concerned, I shall try to explain them to you below while answering your questions.

But first, at your request, a few remarks about the play’s general idea. As you probably know, it was initially called Tm Forty, But I Do Look Younger', a sentence Fetushok keeps repeating. Forty, is the age where man reaches stability, the point where both the spent fire of youth and the shape of approaching middle and even old age are clearly discernible. It is the age at which a person can afford ’to take one more chance' (vykinoetj nomer), an idiom referring to an unexpected, risky action, something illogical; by the way, Petushok's words 'To take one more chance, by God' quote the expression ’Vot tak nomer, sjtob ja pomer!'. Our heroes take a chance like that - they are not so young anymore, but nevertheless they try to start living as a group, in a common house, as á commune, the 'third option' (see the play’s text). But it's not real living, they are in fact just playing with that kind of life, and while they’re doing it, they lose themselves in the game. The life they have invented, which is most clearly expressed in the second act, with the 'cerceau' game and the scene with the letters, conflicts with real life - a twist Pasha intoduces in the story when he buys Koka’s house; by the way, Pasha’s behaviour is also playful and provocative. At their first confrontation, our heroes lose their interest, they abandon their positions and split up. They don't want to fight, they don’t try to dominate the situation, because they’ve spent all their strength on their past lives, in which a lot happened and illusions were shattered, and on the game, which they have been persuaded to play by Petushok, who intiated the idea of a common house. But during the game not everybody proves to be suitable for such a 'house', and the nostalgia about 'living together’, which surfaces during this brief weekend in the country, will pursue our heroes for the rest of their lives. The story, which began so cheerfully and casually, almost like a vaudeville, ends in a sad, I'd even like to say tragic manner. As for the quotes in the letters. In the letter of Vladimir Ivanovitch, I have used phrases from a letter Pushkin wrote to A.P, Kern on 25 July 1825 (in French), and from a letterto K.A. Sobanskaya of 2 February 1830, and another one to her written on the same day. Valyusha’s letter contains quotes from letters by M. Tsvetajeva to B.

Pasternak: from a letter marked 'mid-July 1927’ and a consecutive one marked 'late October 1935'. These letters were published in 'Novyj Mir' magazine, nr. 4, 1968, pages 196-198. The description of the dream in Pasha’s letter comes from a letter by A.S. Gribojedov, which was published in A.S. Gribojedov, Works in two parts, part 2, Moscow, ’Pravda' Publishing, 1971. And now my answers to your questions, one by one; 1. Lesnevski is a Moscow critic and Blok-specialist. He wrote the amateur verse improvisation. I dont't think his name needs any comment, it's not important. 2. Koka quotes a verse from Blok’s poem 'Facing The Court', written on 15 October 1915. The poem starts as follows: 'Why so downcast all of a sudden? Look at me like before . . .’ 3. 'Our days pass away like the waves' is an old student song with lyrics by A.V, Serebrovski. That, at least, is what the commentary says to Leonid Andrejev's play 'The Days Of Our Life’, in which the song is quoted during the first act. 4. T came from far away ~. 'Caption on a picture postcard from the beginning of this century, which is part of my collection. The card shows a sailor waving his cap to his sweetheart, 5. Koka’s list of wines was taken from an old menu, which is part of my collection, among other curiosities. 'Restaurant The North', George, the maître d’hôtel, the orchestra conducted by Mataki - it is all documented, and should be translated literally. 6. ’The goat went to the co-op ...’, you'd better leave that out, in translation it doesn't work in combination with the phrase 'funny, isn't it?'. 7,1 don’t have the complete text of the song ’Singing we go on . . .' at hand. It’s a song that was very popular with the masses in the fifties. It occurs in a lot of songbooks from those days, but I don't have them at my disposal right now; I'll refer back to this matter as soon as possible. 8. ’The Sebastopol Waltz’ is a famous operetta by the well-known Russian composer Konstantin Listov, and dates from 1962. It’s a modern lyrical comedy taking place in a pretty seaside town pretty girls, handsome navy officers, romance ... I think I can get you a recording of the waliz, which is the operatta’s main theme, and will send it to you.