| TOMISLAV DURBEŠIĆ |
- a drama -
THEME: The death of Rasputin
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 11 (9 male, 2 female) and the ghost of Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Mussolini, Dutschke, Trotsky, Manson...
NUMBER OF ACTS: A one-act play
PLACE: An interior (a salon in the Counts Jusupovs' family dacha)
TIME: The evening of December 16, 1916
SUMMARY:
The legend of the Russian Czarist court, "magus and wizard... miracle-worker and drunk", Rasputin is invited to a gala dinner at the home of the Counts Jusupov, where he is awaited by Count Jusupov, the Grand Duke Pavlich member of the Duma and leader of the Black Shirts, Purishkiyevich, Captain Suhotin, and Lazovet, the court physician, who together with Peter, Count Jusupov's chamberlain, plan to murder Rasputin. During the dinner the conversation
turns to murder, which Rasputin expects and announces that he is "only the first letter" in a series which will follow. Then the plotters fire at him, one by one, while the stage, which had originally had the setting of a plesant salon, collapses and "reconstructs as a new 'possible' world", in which the ghost of Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Mussolini, Dutschke, Trotsky and Manson appear as the reincarnation of the ingenious wild man, Rasputin. Finally, Peter stabs Rasputin, and then removes his livery and the wig which makes him appear to be an old man, and puts on a leather coat and cap. When the others leave the stage, the now-young worker Peter is left with Rasputin, who removes his costume
and remains in a modern civilian suit, ready to "jump into a new name".
The play was published in the book Time, Gentlemen, Rijeka, 1994.
It was premiered at the &TD Theatre in the 1977/1978 season.
BIOGRAPHY:
Tomislav Durbešić was born in 1928. He studied Slavic Languages and German at the Faculty of Philosophy, and theatre direction at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He became a senior lecturer at the academy in 1972, and a full professor at the Department of Acting and Direction in 1985. He has directed some 150 plays in Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Sarajevo, Zenica, Banja Luka, Pristina, Split, Rijeka, Zadar, Osijek, Belgrade, and at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and Split Festival. In 1965 to 1966 he was engaged by the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. He was one of the founders of the &TD Theatre in Zagreb, where he also directed. He founded the Small Drama Studio and P.S. Stage at the Croatian National Theatre and Evening Stage at the Cherry City Theatre. Dubrešić has written several poetry collections including: P.S. 1975, 1977, Poems of Defiance 1997, To Whom? 1987, Pedestrian on the Motonvay 1988, Enough! 1999. He also writes essays: Fate Largo 1977, The Narrations of an Avantgarde Conservative 1989, Just Like That 1990. He is married to the actress Veronika Durbešić.
ADDRESS:
Tomislav Durbešić, Dalmatinska 13, 10000 Zagreb Cell 'Phone: +385 98 359 832