Ivar Kreuger and Jeanne de la Motte

Two Plays by Jerzy W. Tepa

Barbara Tepa Lupack

• Publisher: Intellect Books
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781783204304
• eBook ISBN: 9781783204328
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Acting & Auditioning

The 1930s were a period of triumph and turmoil in Poland, yet the decade saw the production of a number of exceptional dramatic works. Some dramatists of the period, among them Jerzy W. Tepa, are not well-known today because many of their plays were lost – or presumed to be lost – during the war years. However, the recent rediscoveries of Tepa's Ivar Kreuger and Jeanne de la Motte allow a fascinating glimpse into a rich and vital period of Polish literary culture unfamiliar to most English readers and scholars. This book not only reintroduces Tepa and his work to new readers but also demonstrates why he was one of the leading voices of the Polish interwar era.

Ivar Kreuger

A Film-Play in Three Acts with Seventeen Parts

Cast

A CERTAIN AUTHOR

ERIC WALDEN, Former Director of Kreuger & Toll

IVAR KREUGER, “The Match King,” Company Director

HOFFMAN and larsen, Company Officers

RUDOLPH, Editor-in-Chief

J. P. MORGAN, American Banker and Financier

ROSTING, Comptroller

SUSETTE

STENOTYPIST

SARONY, Secretary of the Embassy

J. C. SMITH

RADIO BROADCASTER

SINGER

DAILY MAIL (Reporter from Daily Mail)

BERLINER TAGBLATT (Reporter from Berliner Tagblatt)

MATIN (Reporter from Matin)

I.K.C. (Reporter from Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny)

GUEST 1, 2, 3

LADY 1, 2, 3

MAN

Choir of Sailors, Guests, Employees, Voices of the Sharks on the Stock Exchange

The play takes place in Europe between the years 1929–1933.

Act 1

Part 1

Prologue

The front curtain rises, illuminating a wide strip of the proscenium. Music plays in the distance. A boy runs across the stage carrying a tray with a single business card. From the left of the stage enters walden, with a cigar in his mouth. The boy hands him the tray.

WALDEN	(Looking at the tray) For me? Aha. Tell him to come in. Yes, by all means, invite him inside.
	(The boy returns with the AUTHOR, who enters from the left of the stage. After bowing deeply, the boy exits.)
WALDEN	Welcome, Tom. So—five years since we last saw each other! I would hardly have recognized you. You have changed a lot, grown quite stout. Are you still working for the press?
AUTHOR	Indeed I am. And how are things with you, Eric?
WALDEN	Oh, the same as with anyone who is getting on in years. I worry about the security of my retirement pension; I squabble with the other tenants; and (Motioning to the right) naturally, I come to the club. It is the one place where I can get a little quiet and read the daily newspapers. But enough about me. What about you? I heard that you wrote a play. If I remember correctly … it involved a marital triangle, Paris, the Champs-Elysées. And, of course, there was some kind of a happy ending. (Laughs)
	Apparently, like me, you stay busy trying to keep a few steps ahead of the tax man. So, what next? Are you planning to write something new?
AUTHOR	I certainly am.
WALDEN	Is it a comedy? A farce?
AUTHOR	No, something more serious than that. I have already started gathering material for it. In fact, that’s the reason I was so anxious to meet with you today.
WALDEN	With me? Now you have piqued my curiosity. What is the subject of your research?
AUTHOR	Ivar Kreuger.
WALDEN	Kreuger … hmmm … an interesting subject, to be sure. But do you really think you can delve deeply enough into the head of Kreuger, a man whose mystery no one has yet been able to penetrate?
AUTHOR	What I believe is that, these days, a dramatist no longer has to take a strictly psychological approach to his subject. Personally, I prefer to let the facts speak for themselves: they have their own distinct logic and psychology. What I have in mind is a kind of factual montage.
WALDEN	A factual montage, you say? I am not sure I would recommend that. In the first place, no one would believe that such a montage is true. And a straightforward recounting of the facts would just be boring. Add to that the likelihood that you would face charges of defamation of character from Kreuger’s parents and the rest of his family …
AUTHOR	That would only increase the publicity.
WALDEN	If it is publicity you are after, there are far better ways to achieve it. You might try to get yourself sued for plagiarism. Then you could turn the accusation into an enormous public spectacle. I doubt that you could promote your play any better than that! But to get back to your original question. (Appears pensive, lost in his thoughts; exhales a big puff of smoke) Hmmm.
AUTHOR	What do you propose?
WALDEN	Something closer to what you first described. (After a pause) As you know, I worked for the firm of Kreuger & Toll from its very founding in 1913 …
AUTHOR	That’s precisely why I am here, so I can discover the simple truth about the company for myself.
WALDEN	Don’t kid yourself, Tom. The truth is never simple. Let me put it another way. There are certain things about which one doesn’t speak. There are certain things about which one isn’t permitted to speak. And there are certain things about which one doesn’t want to speak. Taken together, those are insurmountable obstacles for anyone who wants to tell the real story of Ivar Kreuger.
AUTHOR	But those obstacles you refer to no longer exist. The investigation conducted by the Swedish Government has already brought the facts to light.
WALDEN	Do you really believe that, my young friend? I can assure you that while the investigation exposed certain facts, it served only to obscure the actual person even further. Today, the whole world considers Kreuger to be a faker, a thief, a con man. Only those of us, his closest colleagues, see him as he really is … (Emphatically) only those of us who know firsthand about his rather complicated and mysterious life. Yet the misconceptions about Kreuger persist. And I fear that they will follow him to his grave!
AUTHOR	Are you saying that Kreuger is still alive? Is the gossip that I have heard really true?
WALDEN	Let me tell you a little story, Tom. Maybe it is the truth, maybe it is only a legend. Then again, maybe it is a bit of both. Either way, what I have to say should provide you more than enough material for your play. Do you want to hear it?
AUTHOR	Absolutely.
WALDEN	(Checking his watch) It is now almost eight o’clock. That should allow us a few hours before the last group of bridge players leaves and the club closes its doors for the night. Just long enough for us to talk. Shall we move into the reading room, where we will be more comfortable?
AUTHOR	Sounds perfect. (Pulls out his notepad)
WALDEN	My only request is that you put away your notes. Listen to the whole story first and then decide if it is even worth recording. Who knows? Perhaps it will prove entirely worthless. (He takes the AUTHOR by the arm and leads him off the stage, toward the wing of the theater or into the pit of the orchestra) So—it all began one April night in Paris …

(Proscenium dims. A gong sounds. The curtain rises immediately to unveil the next part, which proceeds without any break in the action.)

Part 2

A fragment of the Alexander III Bridge over the River Seine. Visible from the bridge is much of central Paris: Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Elysées, neon lights. Nearby, a large marble sculpture is perched upon a pedestal. Below, a stone bench.

Night. Several lanterns are lighted. A car horn blares, followed by a siren, then the sound of a stalled car engine. Two spotlights shine on the stage. From the left, a man appears. He runs past the arc of the spotlight, then disappears into the dark. Loud cries can be heard, followed by the sounds of a heated argument.

MAN	(Offstage) Let go of me, you damned thug! What the hell do you want from me? Let me jump!
IVAR	(Offstage) Calm down! Stop thrashing around like a wild man!
MAN	Let me go!
IVAR	No, I won’t!
MAN	Let me go … because … owww! (Cries out in pain)
IVAR	You can see that I am stronger than you are! Come with me!
MAN	Stop! Leave me alone!
IVAR	I don’t understand your stubbornness! Keep moving!
	(IVAR enters the stage, dressed in formal evening attire, holding the MAN by the arm. The MAN is wearing a worn and ragged trenchcoat, with the collar turned up. His f...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Ivar Kreuger: A Film-Play in Three Acts with Seventeen Parts
• Jeanne de la Motte: A Play in Six Tableaux and Three Entr’actes
• Epilogue
• Back