ராஜபார்வை - RAJAPAARVAI

 

Czech

The Censor

- Ivan Kraus ( born, Prague 1/3/39/ )

The Censor is seated on a stool ( or possibly two stools).
The Dancer enters.
At a sign from the Censor she begins to dance.

Censor: More slowly, please.
The dancer continues to dance.
The Censor stops her.
Censor: Hold it! Show me that last movement again.
The Dancer does so.

The Censor shakes his head.
Censor: No. Not that. Omit it.
The Dancer resumes her dance.

Censor: No. Not that. Onit it.
The Dancer dances.
Censor: That's not allowed.

The Dancer again resumes dancing.
Censor: Omit!
(after a while)
Omit!
(after a while)
Leave out!
(after a while)
And that!

The Dancer no longer dances, she is merely walking about
the stage.
Censor: What's this? Call that a dance? Why aren't you
dancing?
The Dancer shrugs her shoulders helplessly.

Censor: Don't do that!
The Curtain starts to come down.
Censor: Just a moment!
The Curtain stops.
Censor: I won't stand for any innuendo. Gently, now...
that's better... gently ... very, very slowly ...

The End


[Translated by George Theiner]

 

THE POET:  KRAUS, IVAN (1939– ), Czech writer. Kraus was born in Prague into a Czech-Jewish family. His father, Oto Kraus survived Auschwitz. Kraus studied at the School of International Economic Relations in 1959. He emigrated after the Soviet invasion in the summer of 1968 and lived in many countries- the USA, Switzerland, Italy, England, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Mexico and France. From 1971, he lived in Germany, where he worked (1971 to 1992) as a TV scriptwriter, puppet player and writer. From 1990, he has a dwelling in the Czech Republic.

Ivan has worked in variety of roles such as a writer, puppeteer, mime and actor in and outside Prague. As an actor he performed in many Czech plays. He was one of the artists who started the first Black Theatre of Prague in the 1960s. He is recognized as a ‘witty Czech writer’, writing humorous stories, sketches, plays and television scripts. In his literary works he worked in the tradition of Czech and Anglo-American humor often displaying the absurdity of socialist life. In writing his plays, Ivan Kraus was often inspired by his own experiences in different countries. Amnesty International has published some of his satirical works. His works are filled with subtle verbal humour and play with languages. 

'The Censor' comes from his collection of short satirical pieces and appeared in Index on Censorship in 1976.

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