3 Winters

by Tena Štivičić

From the remnants of monarchy to Communism, democracy, war and the EU: Croatia 1945–2011. The Kos family argue, adapt, fall in and out of love.

I will never understand why dinner conversation with you lot always turns so damn contentious. Why can’t we have some pleasant anecdotes for example.

World after world is erected and torn down around them. The one constant is the ivy-clad house in Zagreb, built by aristocrats, partitioned, owned by all, owned by a few; witness to four increasingly educated and independent generations of women.

But when the family assemble for Lucia’s wedding, Alisa learns that her nouveau-riche brother-in-law has bought the once nationalized house. For the bride this is progress, for her sister it’s a shady act of greed. For their principled parents, finally, it’s one battle too many.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Book Club

109 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2014

Reviews

[Mahtab Safdari · Rating 5 out of 5]

3 Winters is a sweeping, emotionally resonant play that traverses nearly seven decades of Croatian history through the lens of one family’s women and the house they inhabit. Set entirely within a single home in Zagreb, the play unfolds across three pivotal winters—1945, 1990, and 2011—each marking a turning point in both national and familial identity.
The Kos family home is more than a backdrop; it is a living symbol of Croatia’s turbulent evolution. Originally an aristocratic residence, it becomes a partitioned communist dwelling after World War II, and later a coveted capitalist asset. The house absorbs the political upheavals and personal dramas of each era, serving as a microcosm of the nation’s shifting values. By 2011, its ownership becomes a flashpoint for moral and ideological conflict, mirroring Croatia’s own struggle between memory and modernity.
Štivičić anchors her epic narrative in the intimate lives of four generations of women. From Rose, the young communist who claims the house in 1945, to her granddaughter Lucia, preparing for marriage in 2011, the play foregrounds female resilience and adaptability. These women navigate war, nationalism, and capitalism, often forced to choose between survival and principle. Their evolving relationships—especially between mothers and daughters—reveal how each generation reinterprets the past, sometimes rejecting the compromises of the one before.
By centering women’s voices, Štivičić subverts traditional male-dominated historical narratives. The domestic sphere becomes a battleground for ideological shifts, and the women’s choices reflect broader societal tensions.
The play’s non-linear structure allows history to reverberate across generations. Patterns of betrayal, adaptation, and ideological conflict repeat, suggesting that the past is never truly past. Štivičić focuses not on grand historical events, but on the quiet, personal crossroads where history leaves its deepest marks.
In 1990, as Yugoslavia fractures, Rose’s daughters confront rising nationalism and political violence. By 2011, Lucia and her sister Alisa clash over the future of the house—one sees it as a pragmatic asset, the other as a moral legacy. Their confrontation encapsulates the play’s central tension: forgetting versus remembering, survival versus integrity.
3 Winters is unflinching in its portrayal of the compromises required to endure. Whether under communism, war, or capitalism, each generation must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice. The play resists easy moral judgments, instead revealing how historical forces complicate personal ethics.
Ultimately, Štivičić suggests that survival is both a triumph and a burden. The Kos family endures, but not without scars. The house stands, but its meaning shifts with each era. And through it all, the women persist—bearing the weight of history, memory, and change.
***
"LUCIJA. People on Facebook are real.
VLADO. If they are real and if an issue is worth protesting over, then go out into the street and protest. What is this anonymous, lazy, one-click stand everyone seems to be taking these days – take to the streets if –"
***
"We had no say in that life we’d been given. But now we have a say. No woman will be turned out into the street with an infant to fend for herself. My mother will never be a servant again. Our daughter will never be a servant to anyone."
***
VLADO. You can’t be strategic if you’re not strategic. You can’t go against your conscience.
MAŠA. I know.
VLADO. I’m not sorry. I look back and I’m not sorry, Maša. I can look myself in the mirror, I don’t have to pretend that time never happened. Like many others. ‘In the war, different rules apply.’ No, they don’t. The only thing that happens in the war is that you get used to it. It becomes the new normal and you lose sight of the fact that one day it will pass, one day the real normal is going to come back and you will have to account for those savage, ruthless, self-serving traits, which got the better of you."
***
"It’s as if words don’t mean the same any more. Trusting means stupid. Considerate means weak. Solidarity means you don’t know how to look after yourself."
***
"ALISA. That’s all? He gave you his word?
VLADO. Doesn’t a man’s word count for anything any more?
ALISA. ‘A man’s word’? You’re a historian! When did a man’s word count for anything?"

[kamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izvanredno. Drago mi je da sutra imam izlaganje o ovoj drami jer stvarno imam potrebu govorit o njoj 45 minuta bez prestanka.

[Nataša · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ljeto je, pomalo promjenjivo, no ipak vruće i sparno, a ja neumorno vrebam kvalitetne knjige, lovim zanimljive naslove i evo jednog preda mnom. Tena Štivičić i njene Tri zime. Kolosalna drama, gotovo nevjerojatno slojevita u problematici koju preispituje; presjek društveno - političkih zbivanja u krucijalnim trenutcima povijesti od 1918., 1945. preko 1990. do suvremene hrvatske stvarnosti. Dramsko tkivo isprepleteno spomenutim pov.nitima postaje još stvarnije kada se u njega duboko usade sudbinske refleksije različitih života generacijski čudno povezanih žena. Dakle, femističko preispitivanje položaja žene u društvu, politici i općenito intimna
previranja predstavljaju vjesto osmisljen kostur drame. Monika, Karolina Ruža, Dunja, Maša, dio su omnibusa koji propituje granice izdržljivosti navedrnih hetoina.
Započnimo s Monikom nepismenom služavkom u gospodskoj kući, naivnom ljubavnicom i nezaštićenom majkom; potom ogorčena Ruža njena kći, gospodsko kopile zagovornica velike nove ideje preko žrtve obiteljskog nasilja Dunje do zadnjih predstavnica Lucije i Alise. Alisa, kao da slijedi obiteljsku socjalst. borbu za humonošću, no istovremeno napušta dom. U toj Europskoj obečanoj uniji u osvit ulaska Hrvatske u novu zajednicu i ona kao da želi srušiti ustaljene kanone prešućivane obiteljske patnje Bira slobodu, a njena lezbijska orjentacija podsjeća me na obračunavanje s zlostavljačkom patrijahalnom tradicijom. Lucija, najmlađa kći svojom udajom za uspješnog poduzetnika spašava obiteljsku kuću, no ostaje pomalo gorčine u srcu( barem meni) kada promišljamo o tome je li pristala na uglađenu moralnu posrnulost ili se jednostavno vješto snašla; pronašla bogatog supruga i spasila kuću?
Sve je ovom djelu, zaista duboko promišljeno, precizno poentirano i diskretno naznaćeno.Postavljam si pitanje, koliko smo odmakle od strmih provalija u kojima su se spomenute junakinje našle?Jesmo li zanemarile ono što nam ostavljaj u naslijeđe? Je li. Lucija, pristajanjem na usudila bih se reći, neprosvjećene folklorne običaje pred brak izdala baku Ružu? Ne znam, no nekako ovim damama odajem počast i poručuje.GIRLS POWER!

[Tracy Hollen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

[Irma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gospođe Glembajeve

[Artep · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd seen the play in Zagreb, but was, unsurprisingly, too busy piecing together what was going on to realize just how well-written this is. And it's SO well-written. I loved the build-up of hinting at family secrets, then peeling off one layer at a time. So many relatable details, not the least of which are all the instances of migration, and the ongoing theme of who gets to be seen as having their life in order. And then that last 2011 scene, followed by the last 1945 scene. Masterful.

Also, I'll definitely need to reread this in English because I'm extremely curious about: a) the fact that it was originally written in the language, and b) it being such a Croatian story, how does it even work in another language? Must. Find. Out.

(While the play itself is brilliant, I found the forewords/analyses included in my edition to be extremely iffy, to say the least. Yes, yes, everyone's got the right to their own reading of the text, buuut... iffy. Especially the one analysis that basically takes away all of Lucija's agency in what happens to the house because holy missing the point, Batman!)

[Anamarija · Rating 5 out of 5]

nevidljivi udarni valovi potresaju drustvo nakon prekretnica i lomova, a njihovo trajanje premasuje rok ljudskog zivota. Tri zime opisuju sto ti valovi cine zenama i muskarcima - obiteljima. scene drame su mi bile poznate, bolno bliske, iako stvarne slicnosti nema.
nadam se da cu jednom pogledati i predstavu.

[Hester Prynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[1ThoughtAtATime · Rating 2 out of 5]

A still relevant historical fiction story/play spanning 3 generations, 3 classes and 3 different regimes. The reason I am giving it 2 stars is because of the English translation. Using blatantly British vernacular (eg "sod") does not work. I also think the English translations loses all those wonderfully absurd flourishes of Croatian vernacular, thought etc I hope in the near future the English translation is redone by someone who understands how to translate the Croatian spirit and soul into the English language with the poetry and justice it deserves.

[Pat Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best plays I’ve read in ages. Masterful work.

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

So heartfelt and wonderful, though perhaps difficult for a reader unfamiliar with Croatian history. A wonderful read especially if you do your research!

[k · Rating 3 out of 5]

zanimljiv koncept, zanimljivo okarakterizirani likovi, ali nista posebno

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my maša.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play is definitely more about the characters & the family line than the plot. Again, (as with many plays), this was a difficult one to read (leave it to the Slavic authors to make character relationships confusing), but difficult in the "who's who in the family," way, rather than "who is this person as a character." In the show, we see characters a couple times during their lives (1945, 1990, and 2011), and keeping their relationships straight was a challenge. So here's a family tree I made after one read of the show. No guarantees that it's 100% accurate.

http://postimg.org/image/4y19mx963/

As to the characters - I enjoyed the clearly defined characters, although I didn't always understand their objectives. Alina, Rose, Monika and Vlado stood out the most to me, Alina because she was the brash European who experimented outside of tradition, Rose because she was cold and calculating in the face of adversity, Monika because she was so passive and afraid of her life, but held the biggest secrets and suffered, and Vlado because he was such a dad, trying so hard to be the figurehead, but yet being so lost in a new world.

As to the plot - I'm not sure why this story was being told. The so called "twist" at the end was predictable in an Agatha Christy kind of way. Red herrings left all over the place to indicate that Karolina was the mother, and yet only one vague mention at the beginning of the play of a brother studying somewhere in Europe, and OH BY THE WAY SEBASTIAN'S THE DAD REVEAL AT THE END... kind of cheap, considering it didn't really matter who from the Amrus family was the parent, as the house was (sort of) the central theme of the play.

[Emma (thecourageofbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

- I really like the characters especially the female ones like Rose and Alisa.

- The historical part and the way it shows the circularity of history is very interesting.

- It was a bit confusing because there are a lot of characters.

- In the end, I wanted to story to continue and tells me more about this family.

[daft sod · Rating 4 out of 5]

first read:

my track record with reading plays has been rocky, so i was understandably cautious when approaching another. i read this with a highly critical eye, and was very pleasantly surprised

second read:

how could i have missed so much the first time? definitely one of those texts where you notice something new each read through

[m · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.47⭐