Marbles: A Play in Three Acts

by Joseph Brodsky

A Platonic dialogue in the form of a double anachronism--the action takes place two centuries after our era--Joseph Brodsky's only play, Marbles , is set in a prison cell that alone provides for the three unities of classic those of time, place, and action. A nightmare rather than a utopia, this play proceeds according to the immanent logic of mental aggravation as its two characters, the inmates Publius and Tullius, examine the tautology of their psychological, historical, and purely physical confines. The fusion of its dour, somewhat terrifying vision with the macabre hilarity of its verbal texture allows Marbles to take its audience beyond the farthest reaches of the theatre of the absurd, into territory more suitable for modernist imagination than for human experience.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Russia, Theatre, Russian Literature

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Joseph Brodsky (Russian: Иосиф Бродский] was a Russian-American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad in 1940, Brodsky ran afoul of Soviet authorities and was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972, settling in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters. He taught thereafter at several universities, including Yale, Columbia, and Mount Holyoke. Brodsky was awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an all-embracing authorship, imbued with clarity of thought and poetic intensity." A journalist asked him: "You are an American citizen who is receiving the Prize for Russian-language poetry. Who are you, an American or a Russian?" Brodsky replied: "I'm Jewish; a Russian poet, an English essayist – and, of course, an American citizen." He was appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1991.

Reviews

[Ffiamma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"sì, la prigione è una mancanza di spazio compensata da un eccesso di tempo"

[Leka]

Un'oasi d'orrore in un deserto di noia

La frase più citata da questo testo teatrale, esistenziale, irriverente, poetico, magmatico, rarefatto, sboccato...
Brodskij, insomma.

[Seregnani · Rating 2 out of 5]

« Ma che diavolo te ne fai del Tempo?
Non ti basta una condanna a vita? »
« Il punto è, caro Publio, che “ a vita “ si trasforma in “ a morte”. Una volta appurato questo, allora “ a morte” si trasforma in “ a vita “ Già in vita, cioè, esiste la possibilità di sapere come sarà di là... E un romano non può lasciarsi sfuggire una simile occasione. »
« L'occasione di spiare. È così? »
« E lui, il Tempo, che ci spia!.... »


2 ⭐️ Siamo in una prigione (una Torre vertiginosa) altamente sofisticata: tutto, dal vitto all'orario, dalle letture alla ginnastica, è artificio tecnologico, anche l'aria, gli alberi, l'odore della foresta. Due prigionieri: Publio e Tullio, E, come nelle liriche di Brodskij, incessante e velocissima è la circolazione fra il quotidiano e il metafisico, fra gli scherzi da galera e le cose ultime.

[Anncleire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph Brodsky è un autore di cui mi sono innamorata tramite un solo libro "Fondamenta degli incurabili" in cui descrive Venezia con gli occhi di chi ci arriva per la prima volta. "Marmi" però è un'opera teatrale visionaria e inquieta che racconta la storia di due prigionieri in una torre apparentemente isolata e inaccessibile in un tempo non ben definito che discutono quotidianamente di classicismo, di attualità e di latinità. Una metafora della vita moderna, incagliata in una sorta di Grande Fratello, bloccata a scontare le manie e le piccolezze di una esistenza sempre uguale a se stessa. Qual è il senso della vita? Che cosa rende unica la nostra esistenza? I due protagonisti si muovono, inconsapevoli, in un mondo spezzato e imprevedibile.

[dddddddddddd dddddd · Rating 5 out of 5]

моя жизнь в общежитии

[Andrea Samorini · Rating 5 out of 5]

In un momento così così, questo libricino con le sue scene, la sua ironia, mi ha fatto bene!
PUBLIO Anche la scrittura è in fondo un tatuaggio. Nero su bianco. Vai a sapere cos'è venuto prima. Cioè in principio. E specialmente - se era poi il Verbo.
___________________________________
FROM BOOK: Dall'esilio (Joseph Brodsky)

[Susanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a skillfully crafted play/book that is intellectual and thought provoking, yet surprisingly funny at times. Though its anachronistic elements and philosophical dialogue can leave you confused at times, they also make this one of the most fascinating works you’ll ever read.


Now, you really do need to have somewhat of a sufficient understanding of ancient Roman history, customs, writers and philosophy in order to see where our characters’ views and behavior come from. More importantly: to be able to follow their chain of thought when they discuss the(ir life in the) prison tower, the (in)possibility of escape, and (their nostalgia of) the city of Rome that surrounds the tower.
It’s not all ancient stuff though: the setting is quite modern and technologically advanced, and modern philosophy was an inspiration for, most notably, the panopticon-like prison tower that forms more than just the setting of the story.

Some might become a little fed up (I don’t believe the work could ‘bore’ one, just confuse one…) with the work since its setting doesn’t change, we only ever ‘observe’ two characters and it’s quite ‘unexciting’ in the sense that not that much action takes place. However, as the audience/reader, we are precisely meant to crawl into this role of invisible (and to the characters oppressive) observer. Simultaneously, we’re intentionally given a momentary experience of the maddening, monotonous and displaced life Publius and Tullius are forced to live out in this confined space that is not so much a physical torture, but a psychological one.


Marbles is a complex work that even has personal layers of Brodsky himself to it. Moreover it is heavily marked by ideology and memory (existential memory, and fame). I shan’t repeat the academic essay I wrote on this exact topic, but I will direct you to the works of Yana Meerzon and Sergey Zhilyakov (two sources I consulted) if you wish to learn more about Marbles’ contents. This is especially recommended if you struggled to understand the ending.

[Sona Petrossian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Անտիուտոպիա անտիկ դարաշրջանում...