| MISLAV BRUMEC |
- Tragi-comedy -
TOPIC: jealousy
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 2 male and 2 female
NUMBER OF SCENES: 5
PLACE: a castle
TIME: the Middle Ages
SUMMARY:
This play is based upon several verses of the "Divine Comedy" in which Dante describes a well known historical episode. The master of the castle, the mighty warriorGianciotto, cares only for hunting and the glory which he will win in the coming crusade. His young wife Francesca feels neglected and uses his brother, the painter Paolo, to make him jealous. Advantage is skilfully taken of this situation by Francesca's .maid, Angela, who is in love with Gianciotto. By deft intrigues she defeats her rivals, and Gianciotto is broken and left to mercy of her cruel love.
The play was produced at the ITD Theatre in Zagreb in 1991, and it won the "Marin Držić" award of the Croatian Ministry of Culture.
- Horror-melodrama -
TOPIC: incestuous love
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 5 male and 3 female
NUMBER OF SCENES: 6
PLACE: the dilapidated seat of a decaying aristocratic family
TIME: the 19th century
SUMMARY:
The play is based upon the motifs of the E.A. Poe's story. A beautiful and sinister (ady, Ligeia, lives in her ancestral ghostly dwelling. Her only company is provided by herservants-wild Anabela and gentle but naive Christoph - and her son Raphael.
Raphael's birth is concealed by the veil of mystery - he is a freak with six fingers, a deformed skull, and he suffers from a rare aging disease. Ligeia's brother, the young poet Roderick, returns home with his wife Rowena and his friend Trevon, after ten years of absence. The situation becomes unbearable for all the protagonists.
The stage reading of the play was in Osijek in May, 1994. Translated into English. It won two awards: the Chancellor's Award of the University of Zagreb, and the AGM Publishing House Award.
- An Adventure Drama -
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 4 female, 9 maie (walk-ons as required)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 10 scenes
PLACE: A ship's deck
TIME: End of the 16th century
WRITTEN IN: 1993
SUMMARY:
A Spanish caravelle carry gold from the Indies is on its way home from the New World. Shanabal, the daughter of the West Indian king, and Xius, a young warrior, are on board accompanying the treasure.They know that a curse has been cast upon the gold. Xius starts killing the Europeans, one by one, making each death look like an accident. However, Shanibal falls in love with Fran, the captain, whose fiancee Eleonora is also on the ship. Troubled by the presence of the gold and the deaths of their comrades and wcmen, the sailors decide to mutiny. However, the gold remains untouched while the terrible prophecy is fulfilled.
- A Tragicomedy -
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 3 female, 6 male
NUMBER OF ACTS: 14 scenes
PLACE: A Royal Court
TIME: 11th century
WRITTEN IN: 1994
SUMMARY:
This drama is an adaptation of P. Corneille's tragicomedy of the same name, an old story inspired in a new way. Corneille's verses are replaced by prose. Although the adaptation is much shorter, nothing important has been lost from the original story. Much more attention is paid to the characters, so that a mild dose of comedy is introduced to the characterisation.
And there is considerably more physica! action on stage than in the original. However, the end of Corneille's play has undergone the greatest change - as Don Rodrigo dies.
- A Drama -
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 3 (2 male and 1 female)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 7 scenes
PLACE: An apartment
TIME: Today
WRITTEN IN: 1995
SUMMARY:
Damjan, a student drop-out, kidnaps Aleta, the daughter of wealthy parents. He demands a ransom and, more importantly, the release from jail of his brother Kuzma. Kuzma is Damjan's model and idol. Unlike Damjan, he has been successful in all his undertakings. After their initial distrust and enmity, Damjan and Aleta become close. They dream about fleeing together - taking Kuzma too - to Mexico, a distant, promised land. And it really happens just as Damjan agreed with the police: Kuzma appears with the ransom. However, although the brothers are as devoted to each other as ever, jail has changed Kuzma and nothing witl turn out as Damjan had planned...
- A Sports Play -
THEME: Boxing
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 10 (7 male, 3 female)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 10 scenes
PLACE: A flat, a locker room
TIME: The present
WRITTEN IN: 1998
SUMMARY:
Important events in the life of a young boxer, just before and just after a match which is crucial to his future career.
BIOGRAPHY:
Mislav Brumec was born in Zagreb in 1969. He graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. The following plays he wrote have been performed: Francesca da Rimini (&TD Theatre, Zagreb, 1991, Ministry of Culture Marin Držić award-winner); The Death of Ligeia (Croatian National Theatre, Osijek and Zagreb Youth Theatre, 1995, Zagreb University Chancellor's Award, 1993, AGM Publishers' Award, 1993); El Cid (Vinkovci City Theatre, 1996); For the ' Dolphins (Zagreb Little Stage Tlteatre, 1996); Abduction (&TD Theatre, Zagreb, 1998). He also writes for radio and TV Recently a collection of his short stories entitled That's the Way It Had To Be was published (Matica dzrvatska, Zagreb, 1999).
ADDRESS:
Mislav Brumec, Jarnovićeva 54, 10000 Zagreb 'Phone: +385 1 388 4926, +385 1 686 737