|
AUGUST 25 - SEPTEMBER 30
|
||
|
||
|
Written by Alexander Ostrovsky, translated by Rodney Ackland. |
||
|
The Russian farce "Diary of a Scoundrel, or Too Clever by Half," was written by Alexander Ostrovsky (1823-1886), Russia's once-leading and still popular playwright.
Wait . . . aren't the words Russian and farce mutually exclusive? Well, not to worry. This devilish romp features Yegor Dimitrich Gloumov (Ostrovky's 19th-century scoundrel), who has been relegated to existing "in a little humble apartment" (no more mansions) after his father's death. Gloumov is inconvenienced. "I'm intelligent and malicious and envious of anyone better off than myself," he declares. How is he to succeed in pre-Revolutionary Moscow without really working? His means: the flattery of fools, the exploitation of stupid people — everybody, in other words, better off than Gloumov. His end: a prestigious do-nothing job in the civil service and a bride with a dowry. All with the blessing and cooperation of his likewise inconvenienced mother, Glafira Klimovna Gloumova. |
||
