Chekhov`s Dramas as a Figurative Basis of the Plays by Slavomir Mrzhek “Love in Crimea” and Vaclav Havel`s “Leaving”

Abstract

The play by Slavomir Mrozhek “Love in Crimea” (1993) and Vaclav Havel's “Leaving” (2007) are based on themes and images of the plays by A. P. Chekhov. Slavic playwrights portray Chekhov's style, fill their plays with direct quotes, reminiscences, and allusions from his plays. This paper traces the connections between “Love in Crimea” by Mrozhek and “Leaving” by Havel with Chekhov's plays “The Seagull”, “Uncle Vanya”, “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard”. “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard” by Chekhov became the basis for the creation of Mrozhek's play “Love in the Crimea”. In the first act of the play (1910) the atmosphere of Chekhov's drama, some Chekhov's heroes, the style of the Russian playwright are recreated, and in the last act (1990s) Chekhov's images are transformed and testify to the destruction of Russian life and culture. In the play “Leaving” Vaclav Havel relies mainly on the images and symbols of Chekhov's “The Cherry Orchard", transferred to the 21st century and politically shaped to fit the new realities. The image of time will turn out to be the key: Mrozhek and Havel address the Chekhov's drama to show the connection between times, to reflect in a historical perspective the conflict between the moral and therefore the lonely person and the pragmatic world.