Belarus Free Theatre: New Plays from Central Europe

The VII International Contest of Contemporary Drama

Belarus Free Theatre, Yuri Kaliada

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781783191253
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781783196241
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

The International Contest of Contemporary Drama (ICCD ) was set up by Belarus Free Theatre to encourage new writing and topromote Belarusian cultural identity on an international stage with the participation of artists around Europe. Belarusian playwrights, banned within their own country but recognised for their workoutside, have the opportunity to show their work in Belarus. It also includes the work of foreign playwrights in an international cultural context, and in which Belarus would have its place for the first time.

The ICCD has produced playwrights such as Anna Yablonskaya, Aleksey Shcherbak, and Pavel Pryazhko – whose plays have been produced at the Royal Court Theatre – and brothers Mikhail and Vyatcheslav Durnenekov who have written for the Royal ShakespeareCompany. The contest, one of the top three of its kind in central Europe, has enjoyed success since its conception in 2005, garnering critical acclaim, but was discontinued in 2010 due to a lack of funds. 2014 is the first year it has been held in a free country. In previous years it was held underground in Belarus, hidden from the authorities.BFT have now reinstated this contest, and increased the diversity of participants in order to include Belarusians who remain isolated because of the state policy on internet censorship and media control. This publication is dedicated to promoting the works of the winning playwrights, and is published to coincide with an award ceremony at the Young Vic Theatre in London.

In 2014, BFT received 523 submissions from 12 participating countries:Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, USA, Germany, UK, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Estonia. The winning plays in this collection are in 3 main categories: Best Full-Length Play; Best Experimental Writing for Theatre/Short Play; Best Adaptation of a Classic Text; plus a special award, The Tom Stoppard Award for Best Debut.

The ICCD, and Belarus Free Theatre: New Plays from Central Europe, reconnects the Belarusian people with their independent artistic voice and their cultural identity within a European context.

Medved / The Bear - WINNER Adaptation of a Classic Text

Signals of Reconciliation - WINNER Full-Length Play

Radio Culture - WINNER Experimental Writing for Theatre/Short Play

Prestige - WINNER Tom Stoppard Award for Best Debut

СИГНАЛЫ ПРИМИРЕНИЯ

Марина Крапивина

Родилась в 1971 году в Москве, живет там же. Драматург, редактор. Закончила Московский государственный университет печати. Участник драматургических конкурсов и фестивалей. Пьеса М. Крапивиной «Ставангер» опубликована в журнале «Современная драматургия» и поставлена в Таллинне (реж. Ю. Муравицкий) и в Лиепае (реж. К. Богомолов). Есть поставленные документальные пьесы-вербатим: в Таллинне - «Русские, они такие…» (в соавторстве с А. Зензиновым и Л. Качмарик, реж. Ю. Ауг), в Москве – «Бросить легко» (реж. Р. Маликов).

SIGNALS OF RECONCILIATION

Marina Krapivina

Born in 1971 in Moscow, where she lives. A playwright and editor, she graduated from Moscow State University of Printing. A participant of drama competitions and festivals, her play by “Stavanger” was published in the magazine “Modern Drama” and staged in Tallinn (dir. Yu. Muravitsky) and Liepaja (dir. K. Bogomolov). There are staged documentary verbatim plays in Tallinn – “Russians, they are...” (co-authored with A. Zenzinov and L. Kachmarik, dir. Yu. Aug), and in Moscow – “It’s Easy to Quit” (dir. R. Malikov).

CHARACTERS:

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH, 56 years old

ANNA, his daughter, 27 years old

ALEXEI, ANNA’s husband, 32 years old

ALLA, NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH’s wife, doctor, 63 years old

NURSE

‘Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.’ (Col. 3:21)

Reconciliation signals – a dog’s body language used to express the state of stress, complacency and avoidance of social conflicts (Turid Rugos, Dialogue with Dogs: Signals of Reconciliation).

ACT ONE

Scene 1

A patient is pushed in a wheelchair along a hospital corridor; he is very excitable and does not realize that he’s had a stroke. Being in the heat of passion, he twitches, waves his arms and legs, tries to jump, but NURSE holds him back. ANNA walks with them.

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. Where?! What? Where are you taking me? Where am I?

NURSE. If you’re gonna whoop things up – we’ll tie you down!

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. What’s the score, CSKA Moscow – Rubin? Hit an own goal, with a turn! Let me take the thing I bought. What the hell?! Morons, or what? Where, damn it, is your fucking Sobyanin? Where are they? Seven thousand rubles! How shall I take it now?

Anya, Anya! (He makes a desperate attempt to get up, but NURSE restrains him with her hand, gently, but strictly.)

NURSE. What rage, look at him! We’ll give him an injection of chlorpromazine now, and he’ll calm down. Any diabetes?

ANNA. No.

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. Fibreglass fabrics is there, hidden under the bottom shelf, the train from Cheboksary, carriage 10, coupé 5, seat 23. Anya, you’re my favourite; Anechka, are you here?

ANNA. Here, here, don’t worry. (Leans over.) What is it, Dad?

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH (Frantically whispering.) Listen, there, in my cupboard, open it at the bottom – there are books, OK? There, if something happens…you never know how things will end…for the funeral, so, you can take from there. Oh, damn it, how did it all happen, huh?

ANNA. Dad, calm down, what funeral – you’ll outlive us all, you just have stay here for a while, they’ll treat you and you’ll come back.

Wheelchair enters a ward. The patient is shifted from the wheelchair to a bed with difficulty; the patient resists.

NURSE. Why are you so stubborn, huh? Come on, roll over…good (Encouragingly, when he helps himself.) …well done.

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. And where am I, what am I doing here? (Raves.) I don’t need any hospital, take me home, I’d rather die than be in hospital.

DOCTOR enters.

DOCTOR. And where are you, d’you think? Let’s check you over, footballer. Raise your right leg, and now the left one. (The patient obediently follows orders, but his movements are unbalanced like those of a broken down, disordered robot.)

ANNA. Doctor, it was a stroke, yes? This is irreversible, right?

DOCTOR. Right now it is difficult to say. Need to examine him. Initial inspection shows all the signs of a stroke of the second degree. (Pause.) Well, please try to bring insurance papers tomorrow, we need to register him. And passport. Come on Tuesday. And collect all his things, they can’t be kept in the room. (To NURSE.) Bring an IV here. (NURSE disappears behind the door for a moment.)

The DOCTOR leaves. NURSE comes with IV.

ANYA. (To NURSE.) And what will he need first?

NURSE. (Preparing IV.) Diapers. We’re out. There is a pharmacy just across the street.

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. (Listening.) What? What diapers? What do you mean! I can go by myself (Trying to get up, NURSE gently but firmly lays him down).

NURSE. (Starting IV.) Quiet, quiet, quiet. Where are you going, huh? That’s for you, my dearest. Relax your arm. Relax your arm, I said. (Tying a tourniquet on the forearm.) Here we go. And now work your fist, work it. (Inserts syringe.)

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. Ouch, it hurts.

NURSE. All you men are afraid of pain. (Pulls the needle out.) Well, that’s it. (To ANYA.) Also buy some water. A mug and a spoon.

ANYA. Should I buy any drugs?

NURSE. This is for the doctor to decide. You hold him, otherwise he picks the dropper off. See how restless he is. (To NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH.) Any burning feeling…how is it?

ANYA. (Gets 100 rouble note, hands it over.) If you’d be so kind, look after him, in case he suddenly needs to go to the toilet.

NURSE. You shouldn’t. (Takes the banknote.) Everything will be fine. I’ll stop by. I’ll check them all. You see, though, he’s calmed down already.

ANYA. Well, then I’ll run for the diapers.

NURSE. Yeah, we can’t give him the urinal just now.

NIKOLAI ANDREYEVICH. Give me the urinal.

NURSE. You splash it off, my darling. (T...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Nicolai Khalezin, Artistic Director of the 7th International Contest of Contemporary Drama
• Full-Length Play
• Experimental Writing for Theatre/Short Play
• Adaptation of a Classic Text
• Tom Stoppard Award for Best Debut