Theatre
Skirgaila
Not translated into English
Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius · 1925
Opening lines
Henrikas Mazovietis
Taip mane sutikti! .. Mane, kunigaikštį, augštą Bažnyčios dignitorių ir svarbiausiąjį karaliaus patarėją! .. Patsai didysis Romos ciesorius nebūtų drįsęs tiek užgauti mane ir mano asmeny įžeisti šventosios Bažnyčios ir lenkų karaliaus garbę...
To receive me like this!… Me, a prince, a high dignitary of the Church and the king's chief counsellor!… The great Roman emperor himself would not have dared to insult me so, and in my person to outrage the honour of the holy Church and of the Polish king...
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from archive.org
Synopsis
In the Upper Castle of Vilnius, at the end of the fourteenth century, Prince Skirgaila governs Lithuania for his brother Jogaila. Baptised, he remains secretly attached to the old gods, whom the vaidila Stardas defends, a supporter of war against the Teutonic Order. Polish envoys urge him to embrace Christianity in earnest and to take as his wife Ona Duonutė, princess of Lida, held at the castle, while knights of the Order, among them the young Keleris, seek to profit from these rivalries.
Context
The drama first appeared in Russian in 1922; rewritten in Lithuanian, it was published in 1925, in the sixth volume of its author's works. It had been staged as early as 1924 at the Kaunas State Theatre by Borisas Dauguvietis, who played Keleris in it, and was revived in 1966, in 1981 and in 1992. Bronius Vaškelis sees in it a tragedy of tight construction, with Shakespearean accents, more realistic than the author's first historical drama; Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas regarded it as his strongest drama.
Who it is for
A historical drama in four parts; no French or English translation has been found. Skirgaila, brother of King Jogaila, really did govern the country in his name.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the finest plays in Lithuanian literature and as one of its first great historical dramas.