Three Soviet Plays : The Bedbug ; Marya ; The Dragon

No Soviet play can escape from being 'Soviet', from registerinmg the facts of living in a country which has undergone and is undergoing an experience too overwhelming to be ignored in any serious drama. But not all the plays produced since the russian revolution have been written obediantly in the 'boy-meets-tractor' manner. A handful have been produced by writers safe enough or brave enough to approach the Russian experience with openn minds and a sense of humour, with imaginative power, originality, and unconcern with the deadening ephemera of ideology. The three plays in this volume are a selection of that handful.

"The Bedbug" by Mayakovsky - 1929: Translated by Hayward
"Marya" by Babel - 1935: Translated by Glenny & Shukman
"The Dragon" by Schwartz - 1944: Translated by Hayward & Shukman