Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness

by Tony Kushner

A fantastical/political/historical exploration of life in the Soviet Union in the earliest dawn of Perestroika. In scenes ranging from the inner chambers of the Politburo to a secret chamber beneath Lenin’s Tomb to a medical facility near a radioactive disposal site in Siberia, SLAVS! considers the difficulty, the failure, and the abiding importance of Socialism and of ongoing efforts towards building collective societies and a more just world. “The heaven that Tony Kushner envisions in the epilogue of SLAVS!, his bracing, rational 80-minute fantasia is a dark, gloomy place designed to look like a city after an earthquake…he has created a rambunctiously funny, seriously moving stage piece that is part buffoonish burlesque and part tragic satire. From beginning to end, it’s also shot through with the kind of irony virtually unknown in today’s theater, movies and television, where sarcasm passes as wit. There were hints of this exaggerated style in his epic MILLENNIUM APPROACHES and PERESTROIKA, collectively known as ANGELS IN AMERICA… Mr Kushner has emphasized that SLAVS! Is not to be taken as the work of a historian. Rather, it’s a work of a brilliant and restless imagination. Mr Kushner’s words dazzle, sting and prompt belly laughs.”Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama

Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Tony Kushner is an award-winning American playwright most famous for his play Angels in America, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He is also co-author, along with Eric Roth, of the screenplay of the 2005 film Munich, which was directed by Steven Spielberg and earned Kushner (along with Roth) an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Reviews

[Brodolomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Najviše mi se dopao naslov: „Sloveni!”(zbog tog uzvičnika) i podnaslov: „Razmišljanje o dugoročnim problemima vrline i sreće”. Sam dramski tekst me je ostavio ravnodušnim. Podsećao me je na ambicioznu žabu koja je digla nogu, a da pri tom nije ni videla potkovanog konja.

Drama je nastala nadogradnjom dramske predigre, koju je Kušner odbacio i isekao iz konačne verzije drugog dela „Anđela u Americi”, njegove drame sa kojom je doživeo najveći uspeh. Taj odbačeni deo, koji je u „Slovenima!” postao prvi čin (i ubedljivo najbolji deo drame), nadograđen je sa još dva čina, izgrađena na „zabrinjavajuće” velikim flašama votki skrivenih u samovarima, Rusima koji strastveno ljube i još strastvenije kolju, nuklearnim nesrećama, idejama da nema stanovnika Rusije kome brat nije umro gradeći tunele u Uralu, sestra umrla od gladi, otac ubijen u gulagu, a majka izvršila samoubistvo. Povrh svega, na tim američkim klišeima o Rusima, drama pokušava ambiciozno da postavi pitanje šta ćemo sa socijalizmom nakon totalitarnog iskustva dvadesetog veka.

Ako Tonija Kušnera posmatramo kao dostojan pokušaj da se spoje dve suprotne dramske linije - jedna linija vezana za epski teatar Bertolda Brehta, druga vezana za lirizam Tenesija Vilijamsa – „Sloveni!”, poput svih njegovih drugih drama, potvrđuju da je Kušner mnogo bolji Vilijamsov sin, nego što je Brehtovo dete. Kušnerov lirizam u dijalozima i melodramska teatralnost likova su mi ubedljiviji od političkog angažovanja (posebno što je ta politika samo jednoumni „radikalni politički šik” njujorških levičara koji u praksi započinje čitanjem Eme Goldman, a završava se podržavanjem Hilari Klinton). Pa i ta, meni lično, upečatljiva scena iz prvog čina kada ostareli komunistički vođa sa katarkatom skače kako bi „umorio” srce, mnogo je bliže patos scenama Vilijamsovog pozorišta, nego što bi zaista imala fau efekat političkog teatra.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great play. I want to do it again and again. If you liked Angels in America and know where Russia is and anything about it's past 100 years, you will love this play. Slavs!

[Jessica López-Barkl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I re-read this play a couple of days ago in preparation for teaching a class on the Russian dialect, and was so pleased to read this crazy/silly/meaningful play. This is another play with great monologues and scene work, so I'm going to have to pull it off the shelves more often.

[Young Eagle · Rating 3 out of 5]

这部剧是真的意味不明。除了肉眼可见的美国东欧犹太移民后裔的苏俄情结以外，全篇几乎就是在为最后那个在堆满核废料的社会主义废土上追问“怎么办”的政治局老布尔什维克包饺子。同为世纪末的大背景，设定上像是《天使在美国》的余韵（“天使在苏联”），但只能缺乏实感地谈论一些看似宏大的话题。可能在苏联解体的当口上有点回应时事的意味吧。
“上帝是个孟什维克！是个反动派！”

[Young Eagle 于高鹰 · Rating 3 out of 5]

这部剧是真的意味不明。除了肉眼可见的美国东欧犹太移民后裔的苏俄情结以外，全篇几乎就是在为最后那个在堆满核废料的社会主义废土上追问“怎么办”的政治局老布尔什维克包饺子。同为世纪末的大背景，设定上像是《天使在美国》的余韵（“天使在苏联”），但只能缺乏实感地谈论一些看似宏大的话题。可能在苏联解体的当口上有点回应时事的意味吧。
“上帝是个孟什维克！是个反动派！”

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember why i loved this play, but I did.