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 way ...
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), ...
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 hims ...
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 ...
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 Theodore Barriere 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 su ...
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, Cilinc ...
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 assassin ...
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the great adventure novels of the nineteenth century. But the author, Alexandre Dumas, also converted many of his fictions into riveting dramas, dividing his classic tale of revenge into four plays. In this fourth and final part, Edmond Dantes (the Count of Monte Cristo) sets out to destroy Danglars and Villefort, the other two men who had helped shanghai him to the island prison of Chateau d'If. He uses ...
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the great adventure novels of all time. But the author, Alexandre Dumas, also adapted his novel into four riveting plays. Part Three: The Rise of Monte Cristo is set two decades after Edmond Dantes has been unjustly imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. Edmond has made himself into the Count of Monte Cristo, and he now sets out to gain his revenge upon the three men who shangaied him into 14 years of prison. Fi ...
