Leaving

by Václav Havel

Leaving was the first play written by Vaclav Havel after his final term as President of The Czech Republic. Inspired by Lear and The Cherry Orchard, Havel writes of a man forced to leave the state owned villa he has called home for years, when his time in public office has ended. A drama of ethics and politics with, as always, a touch of the absurd. Translated by Havel's most prolific translator, Paul Wilson. Part of the Havel Collection, a series of new translations of the work of V clav Havel, from Theater 61 Press.

Genres: Czech Literature, Drama, Plays, Fiction, Theatre, Classics, School

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Václav Havel was a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He wrote over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally. He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the freedom medal of the Four Freedoms Award, and the Ambassador of Conscience Award. He was also voted 4th in Prospect Magazine's 2005 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals. He was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.

Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.

Reviews

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much as I like Havel, I didn't think this play was as good as his earlier work. There are too many elements from Largo Desolato in particular that are recycled here in somewhat more stilted form, and I found the "innovation" of this play - the author's voice - to be obtrusive. The problem is, this play was half-written in 1988, then disappeared into a drawer for 18 years while Havel was President of Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic. It really feels as though Havel tried to pick up where he left off nearly 20 years earlier and he wasn't quite successful, because too much had changed during those two decades: the transformation of the monolithic totalitarian state that he built his reputation on satirizing into a democratic society built essentially on random bits of information. Havel the anti-Communist playwright was replaced with Havel the democratic statesman, and he wasn't really able to successfully go back two decades after the fact. Other than the addition of the completely disjointed and one-dimensional character of Zuzana, it doesn't seem as though Havel really fully comprehends how these changes to his resume and to society affect his ability to finish this play, or at the very least doesn't quite know how to merge these two polar opposite societies into the same work. In this case, given the fact that the author had said he was trying to write a tragedy that was "darker than Lear" while every production of the play that was actually made played it for comedy, it's clear that Havel wasn't quite successful with this one. It's a shame, but anyone who has read The Garden Party and Largo Desolato will see this play to be an unfortunately subtle derivation of Havel's earlier work that doesn't quite stand up to the time in which it was written - this is an old man trying to relive his earlier glory long after it's faded, and quite possibly not remembering where he was going with it in the first place. It makes one appreciate Havel in his prime all the more, but it's by far the least impressive of his plays even as it shows that Havel was such a good statesman that he rendered his own satire irrelevant.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting as much for its history as its literary worth, Havel's first play after leaving the Czech presidency chronicles the dirty politics behind the transition from 1 leader to the next.

[sabrinie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ja beztak rating zase zmenim…mam uplne smisene pocity z toho😭

[Ondřej Puczok · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zdánlivě to má vše, co člověk od Havlovy hry očekává. Téma systému/státu (tentokrát ne pohledem řadového člena, ale pěkně od vrcholu), pořádné závěrečné balábile (vida, tak se tomu říká), vztahy po Havlovsku (bez nějakého toho románku by to nešlo), opakující se hutnější fráze (dokonce přeskakující mezi postavami)... Ale nějak to není ono. Je to Havlovo ohlížení? Jeho vlastní třešnička na dramaticky-politickém dortu? Mám v tom hledat i odkazy na další dva porevoluční české prezidenty? Je schválně ono bezčasí jen sem tam usměrňované odkazy na světové státníky? Asi nejvíce mě baví politická bezobsažnost (či dokonce vzájemné odporování některých hlavních tezí), která jako by vypadla z úst i dnešním (nejen českým) politikům. Ale v rámci celé hry mi to nestačí. Zvláště když se k tomu přidává onen autorský Hlas, který já osobně vnímám spíše jako narušující element, než přidanou hodnotu.

[Artemis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarcastic in an almost self-directed way due to the author’s close relationship with the subject of the play, making it almost autobiographical or at least inspired by personal experiences. Loved the fourth wall breaks, expertly incorporated and not overdone at all.

[Dulieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Příjemná kniha na jeden večer. Rozhodně nehodnotím jako Havlovu nejslabší hru. Především oceňuji originální a doplňující hlas z megafonu.

[Martin Kollouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rieger: Dej psovi úřad a hned je z něj pán. Velcí zloději věšejí ty malé. Kožich a talár skryjí všechno! O zločin obrněný zlatem si vyláme zákon zuby, do hříchu v cárech však projede jak nůž! (s.65)

[Ketevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 ტექსტის და 1 ავტორის ბიოგრაფიის გამო

[Indrek Vaino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hea.

[Paul Servini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary comedy about the vicissitudes of political life and afterlife. Having been involved in his country's politics following the overthrow of communism, the reader might be forgiven for thinking Havel has grown disenchanted with the political system - hence this play. It's a comedy about a politician forced into retirement and more by his long-time rival. All is not as it seems to be, and the ending of the play shows that most politicians only care about number one, despite all their high-flying rhetoric. Interspersed with the dialogue is the occasional comment by the author himself, commenting on writing and the way he expects actors to deliver his play.

[Šárka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Až na závěrečný Riegerův proslov je to dost povrchní hra, ale dávám plusový body, za Hlas z magnetofonu.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nevím, proč lidi tvrdí, že je to jedna z Havlových nejslabších her. U mě totiž jednoznačně vítězí.

[Katarína Harčová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uzasna kniha, neviem ktory citat vybrat!

Yivotopisne inspirovane robi si svandu sam zo seba a je v tom aj troska cynizmu... velmi dobra hra, tesim sa na film a rada by som si ju pozrela.

[Eliška ** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Od Havla bych mohla číst cokoli. 💓
Oceňuji koncept Hlasu a skvělé postavy (Albín, Monika).

[Hugo Kuhl]

young havel opet hitnul; mam pocit ze v necem je to fakt hezky, ale detaily si nepamatuju