Full Description
This collection features four new plays about war, tyranny and discrimination by Eastern and Central European writers. Includes the plays The Body of a Woman as a battlefield in the Bosnian war by Matei Visniec, Cordon by Nebojsa Romcevic, When I want to whistle, I whistle... by Andreea Vălean, Soap Opera by György Spiró
The title of this volume alludes to the history of political double-dealing in a troubled region within southern Europe, surrounded by the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas. G.B. Shaw wrote Arms and The Man about a small Balkan plot in the 19th century. It's in this tradition, rather than in a geographical sense that we use the title Balkan Plots. The plays in this volume are dramatic works which have emerged from, or which take as their subject matter, the struggle of individuals within societies affected by recent political upheaval. The writers explore aspects of freedom and rebellion, ethnicity and discrimination, loyalty and betrayal in situations where conventional attitudes and beliefs are severely tested. In some plays, the conflict is between traditional socialist attitudes and western capitalism. In others, the values and beliefs of the younger generation collide with and challenge those of the older generation. Within each of the plays, the way in which the personal and the political interacts, is very much in evidence.
Contents
Introduction by Gina Landor 7
The Body of a Woman
as a battlefield in the Bosnian war
by Matei Visniec
translated by Alison Sinclair 14
Cordon
by Nebojsa Romcevic
translated by Sladjana Vujovic 66
When I want to whistle, I whistle...
by Andreea Vălean
translated by Cheryl Robson and Claudiu Trandafir 106
Soap Opera
by György Spiró
translated by Andrew Bock 132
