Anthony Burgess was an energetic writer and composer, whose work
for the stage is widely admired. In Two Plays, we see him tackling
major monuments of French and Russian theatre: The Miser by
Molière and Chatsky by Alexander Griboyedov.
Miser, Miser! is a bold reworking of Molière’s classic comedy of
1668. Harpagon the miser is hoarding a pile of gold, which he has
buried in his garden. As he tries to sell off his daughter, catch himself
a beautiful young bride and outwit his scheming household of clever
servants, the comedy of errors intensifies.
Although the original French play is written in prose, Burgess
remakes it in a mixture of verse and prose, in the style of his famous
adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. This translation, discovered in the
author’s archive, is the work of a writer at the height of his powers,
reinventing Molière for modern audiences.
Chatsky, subtitled ‘The Importance of Being Stupid’ is another verse
comedy. The theme is that of the intellectual hero who rebels
against the smug, philistine society in which he finds himself. First
performed in 1833, Griboyedov’s play was so heavily cut by Russian
censors that it was barely recognisable. The play is a virtuoso vehicle
for male actors, and the source of many famous quotations. It is
also notoriously difficult to translate. In Chatsky, Burgess remakes a
classic Russian play in the spirit of Oscar Wilde. It is a great feast of
language and invective.
The complete texts of both plays are published here for the first time.
Two Plays confirms Anthony Burgess’s reputation as a gifted writer
for the stage, and as a translator of great wit and sophistication.
MISER, MISER! CASTING: 7 men, 3 women
CHATSKY CASTING: 9 men, 7 women
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Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He spent six years in the British Army before becoming an education officer in Malaya and Brunei. After the success of his Malayan Trilogy, he became a full-time writer in 1959. He achieved a worldwide reputation as one of the leading novelists of his day, and one of the most versatile. In addition to 33 novels, he wrote stage plays, criticism, translations, two volumes of autobiography and a Broadway musical. He composed more than 250 musical works, including a piano concerto and a violin concerto for Yehudi Menuhin. His books include The Complete Enderby, Napoleon Symphony, Earthly Powers and A Clockwork Orange. Burgess died in London in 1993, a few months after the first production of Chatsky at the Almeida Theatre.
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