مونی و کاروان‌هایش

by Peter Terson, حسن ملکی (Translator)

Zigger Zagger; Mooney and His Caravans Two Plays

Genres: Plays

87 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 1970

Reviews

[Negin Hdzdh · Rating 3 out of 5]

نمایشنامه ای درباره زوج جوانی که با مشکلات و فقر دست و پنجه نرم میکنند، و هر دو از شرایط اسفناک خود آگاه هستند اما واکنش های متفاوتی به شرایط نشان می‌دهند. مرد تلاش می‌کند تا همه مشکلات را سطحی و پیش پا افتاده جلوه دهد تا به این طریق در مقابل همسرش آبروداری کند که البته تنها خودش را گول میزند . زن واقع بین است و تحمل بی احترامی ها را ندارد اما گزینه بهتری هم برای زندگی ندارد. در کل یک نمایشنامه روان و قابل پیشینی.

ماو. ای کاش ما رو انقدر نزدیک توالت ها نگذاشته بود چارلی.
چارلی. عوضش دستشویی رفتنمون راحت تره،ماو. اون فکر ما رو کرده. چشم به هم بزنیم دم دستشویی هستیم.
ماو. این رو نمیگه که... چه بویی دائم تو هواست؟
چارلی. بو، ماو؟ بو؟ نه، این بوی یونجه ی مرتع هاست.
ماو. ولی خیلی تندتر از این حرف هاست.خیلی بوش تند ترئه.
چارلی. مال قاصدک هاست، ماوی.قاصدک ها. نه چیز دیگه.

[Kevin Tole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have been 12 when I saw this on TV and it made a big impression on me..... that drama could be made and written about contemporary issues. Written in 1966-67 specifically for the National Youth Theatre, it is one of those genre of plays about social situations which were cropping up around then in a movement of kitchen sink realism which might have started with John Osborne back in the mid-50s. Though football hooliganism would get much worse before it died with the advent of big money into football, this was a play about more than just going to the game and becoming a hoolie. It had all that investigation of working class alienation which was a spirit of the times. I was wallowing in a new school outside of my social class and felt in myself a great deal of alienation from my background and the one I had been thrust into. Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' didn't seem too relevant to me. THIS did. And understanding this made me understand the Shakespeare more, made me realise that drama could be a living thing.

At 70 now, it seems really kind of weird. Peter Terson was a man of his time and had been writer-in-residence at the Victoria Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent which was a theatre-in-the-round (one which I would later attend to see a performance of David Hare's 'Fanshen'). From a working class background, he had taught for 10 years before taking to playwriting full time. Michael Croft, the director and commissioner of 'Zigger Zagger' knew his work and wanted a play for NYT, the basis of which was to be for a large cast of many age groups. The play was developed in rehearsal. It has been performed widely in Europe by both professional casts and in schools.

Now..... well, as its written here, it seems somewhat dated..... but the joy of this play is that it can be updated to any period and the text can be changed. Its not like say Trevor Griffiths's 'Comedians' which is specific to time and space.

I came across the section that had really got to me:-

"Old bloody soldiers
Never bloody die
Never bloody die
Never bloody die
Old bloody soldiers
Never bloody die
They just bloody fade away."

Coming from a garrison town which I was desperate to get away from, it touched a nerve. It led me to write a chant for Julius Caesar "Oh we hate big Brutus, and we hate Big Cass, but most of all we hate Publius. We don't give a wiggle and we don't give a wank. We are the Caesar, BOOT BOYS!!" - it didn't go down well with the be-gowned straight English Teacher so it never went any further. But it led me to want to update Shakespeare to now each time I saw a Shakespeare in the raw and realised that the elements Shakespeare was giving us were relevant to any age. I subsequently saw an updated version of 'Troilus and Cressida' by the Northcott Theatre Company which involved a blue film blackmail and was a renowned production.

I can still see the magic in Zigger Zagger. And its great to finally get hold of a copy of the text.

As for 'Mooney and his caravans' - its a two-hander of a young, newly-married couple escaping from Selly Oak to the country caravan park in the hope of bettering themselves. Its class distinction and dodging-the-issue full in yer face.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

مونی و کاروان‌هایش اثر پیتر ترسن درباره‌ی چارلی و ماو، زن و شوهر جوانی است که در پی استخدام چارلی در کارخانه‌ای به عنوان کارگر ساده در شهری دیگر ساکن شده‌اند.

این زوج جوان به شخصی به نام مونی معرفی شده‌اند که صاحب مجموعه‌ای از کاروان‌هاست و یکی از کاروان‌هایش را به عنوان محل سکونت در اختیار چارلی و ماو می‌گذارد. این کاروان در محلی پرت قرار دارد و از امکانات رفاهی چندانی برخوردار نیست اما چارلی امید دارد که به زودی وضعیت بهتری پیدا کنند. اوضاع به میل چارلی پیش نمی‌رود و این زوج جوان با مشکلاتی پیچیده و نامنتظر رو به رو می‌شوند.

[Parisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

ساده دل یا ساده لوح
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