Three Plays

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These milestones in modern theatre unequivocally demonstrate Gombrowicz's importance as a contributor to, and forerunner of, the Theatre of the Absurd. Gombrowicz draws on elements of darkly subversive fairy tales, dreams and witty parody to confront themes of personal identity and the collapse of existing value systems.

Princess Ivona
, first performed in 1938, is set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional royal court. Ivona, an unattractive and apathetic girl, finds herself entangled in the intrigues of the court, to which she finally falls victim. She is the only person who behaves consistently throughout, thus becoming, curiously, a stable point from which the Court's absurd and nonsensical behaviour can be seen as such.

The Marriage
, written in 1946, uses a dream technique to explore the shifting relationship between reality and imagination. Henry, a young soldier during World War II, has a dream involving his parents, his sweetheart and his best friend. Henry's imagination attributes multiple roles to the cast of his dream - Father and King, Mother and Queen, Servant and Princess, Friend and Courtier. The character transformations illuminate the ways in which one's character and relationship to others is determined wholly through others' individual perception.

Operetta
, written in 1967, is a witty parody of the complex operetta form which combines the theme of personal identity with a juxtaposition of both a capitalist and a Marxist society, making hilarious fun of both. The plot involves a materialistic count, an undercover Marxist revolutionary, a nude woman, and various courtiers and pickpockets. All the sparkle, glamour and glitter are associated with the best Viennese operettas.