Theatre
The Locals
Тутэйшыя
Yanka Kupala · 1924
Opening lines
Гануля
Калі ласка! Заходзьце!
Please! Come in!
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from knihi.com
Synopsis
In Minsk, between 1918 and 1920, the German, Polish and Bolshevik occupations follow one another. Mikita Znosak, an opportunist, changes each time his name, language, costume, lodging, currency and trade in order to side with the power of the moment, and gets caught up in constantly shifting alliances; opposite him, Janka Zdolnik follows a different course. Through these reversals, the play shows the neighbouring powers undoing Belarusian identity.
Context
Written in 1922 and published in 1924 in the journal Polymia, the play, which its author subtitles tragicomic scenes, was staged in December 1926 at the first Belarusian State Theatre, then withdrawn by the censors, who judged it full of national-democratic elements. It remained banned for more than half a century: a Mogilev production was halted in 1982 after two performances, and the play returned to Minsk only in 1990, in a production crowned with the State Prize, before further withdrawals.
Who it is for
A play in four acts, in Belarusian; translated into French in 2006 and published in English in 2013.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as the best satirical comedy by its author, and as the first to raise the question of how neighbours to the east and west view the Belarusian awakening.
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