LANA DERKAČ-BESLIĆ

LUX OR OPTICAL ILLUSION

- A Drama -

THEME: Scenes from married life imbued with intimate problems and internal conflicts
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 4 (2 male, 2 female)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 5 scenes
SETTING: A living room
TIME: Undefined
WRITTEN IN: 1996

SUMMARY:
Lucija and Robert live their marriage, waiting for anything that will bring change. Lucija knows about Robert's infidelity, but maintains the marriage hoping for something good, but resignation becomes more and more a part of her mood. The absence of real communication between the couple makes impossible solution of their problems, and the participants in the drama become increasingly enclosed within themselves. Expectation, dust and boredom thicken the atmosphere, while the arrival of Lucija's mother and memories of the sources of her childhood frustrations deepen ever further Lucija's emotional emptiness.


THE CLOAK

- A Drama -
THEME: Scenes from life in a mental asylum which is, in fact, a setting in everyday life
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 10 (9 male, 1 female)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 8 scenes
SETTING: A mental asylum and the space beside it
TIME: Any time during an authoritarian regime
WRITTEN FROM: 1988 to 1991

SUMMARY:
A professor examines his students in a mental asylum, communication is virtually infantile and limited to what is permitted and unfree. Here we have the coquettish Helga whose life is more like an imitation of real life, although it does not seem to be at first glance. The asylum has guards, while Mephisto rules outside the asylum. He is isolated but free-thinking and is therefore dangerous for the established order, and the authoritarian voice of the Gentleman-Ruler of the asylum echoes throughout the play. When he dies, a new voice is heard which gives an inkling that there will be no change in the repressive regime which will simply continue.


BIOGRAPHY:

Lana Derkač-Beslić (Požega, 1969), graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. She writes poetry, prose and plays. He work has been published in Vijenac, Zarez, Forum, the Literary Review, Quorum, Plima, Godine and Libra. Four of her poetry collections have been published: Crucifixes Along the Way (Privlačica, Vinkovci, 1995); Haven for the Torchbearer (Meandar, Zagreb, 1996); Eva from the Postbox (Meandar, Zagreb, 1997); and, Savings Box for Shadows (MH Karlovac, 1999). Her most recent collection won the Croatian Zdravko Pucak poetry prize and the Duhovno hrašće prize for the best collection published between the two get-togethers. Resignation, a selection of her drama texts, was published by Meander, Zagreb in 2000. A collection of her short stories is in the pipeline. Member of the Society of Croatian Critics.

ADDRESS:

Lana Derkač-Beslić, Svetog Roka 50, 34000 Požega
Tel.: +385 34 292 041; Cell Phone: +385 98 256 875