War and Peace (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Leo Tolstoy

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

A magnificent two-play epic, adapted from Tolstoy's novel and first staged by Shared Experience. One of the longest novels in Western literature, Tolstoy's War and Peace intertwines its epic account of Napoleon's invasion of Russia with the tale of three aristocratic families. Painted on a vast canvas of locations, characters and experiences, Helen Edmundson's stirring adaptation is an intricate saga of families, love and friendship against a backdrop of war. Helen Edmundson's earlier, one-part adaptation of War and Peace was staged by Shared Experience at the National Theatre in 1996. 'triumphant... what a remarkable, unmissable achievement this is... Shared Experience's approach is so fluid and fresh it can only reinvigorate your appreciation of the book' - Telegraph

Leseprobe

WAR AND PEACE

adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s novel by

Helen Edmundson

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

War and Peace: the Journey

Original Production

Dedication

War and Peace: Part One

Characters

Prologue

Act One

Act Two

War and Peace: Part Two

Characters

Act Three

Act Four

Epilogue

About the Author

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

War and Peace: the Journey

Tolstoy began thinking about the novel which would become War and Peace in 1861. His original intention was to write about a man returning from Siberia, after having been exiled for involvement in the failed Decembrist uprising of 1825. However, as he constructed the history of this man and the experiences which brought him to the point of revolution, Tolstoy became increasingly interested in the period 1805–1812, and the book developed in a different direction. It is consequently not until the first epilogue that we find Pierre (the original ‘man’) becoming involved in subversive political activity, and we are left to imagine his fate.

Although coming so late in the novel, this information became key to my interpretation of it. In the philosophical passages, Tolstoy sets out clearly, if not dogmatically, a new idea of human freedom: dismissing free will as an illusion and the exercise of will as futile and dangerous, he claims that real freedom lies in relinquishing the will and reconciling ourselves to whatever life brings. This is borne out in the experiences of his characters, in his depiction of the struggle between Napoleon and Kutuzov, and verbalised beautifully and simply by the peasant, Platon Karataev. However, in leaving us with a Pierre who is rejecting Karataev's wisdom and preparing to intervene, Tolstoy, almost in spite of himself, admits that this philosophy is not an easy answer, that it is not an answer at all for some, and this throws up vital questions which I wanted to place at the centre of the play. Is it ever right for one person to impose his or her will on others? How can we reconcile ourselves to what is happening around us if we feel injustice is being done? If we decide to take action, how can we judge whether it is for the best? Even when movements start in the name of justice and freedom, are they doomed to become corrupt in the struggle to sustain themselves? These are the dilemmas which War and Peace confronts and explores – dilemmas which seem to me as relevant today as they were in nineteenth-century Russia.

When Shared Experience and I first began work on War and Peace, twelve years ago, we all felt that, in an ideal world, we would like to have closer to five hours than three in order to do full justice to the story and really deliver it to an audience. That was not possible at the time. So I am very grateful to the company for giving me the opportunity to return to my adaptation and create this two-part play, and very grateful too to Nick Hern for publishing it. It has been hugely rewarding for me to be able to extend and enrich my original work, to restructure and revise it and to build on what I learned the first time around. Amongst many other things, I have been able to take us all to the battle of Austerlitz, to give proper attention to Prince Andrei and to award more time to Pierre's challenging and ever-shifting philosophy. Returning to the novel, so many years on, I have found details and thoughts which I did not fully appreciate before. I daresay the same thing would happen if I were to read it again in another ten years’ time. The whole process has brought home to me, in a very personal way, what Tolstoy is so brilliant at capturing in his characters: that none of us ever remains the same, that our views and ideas will always evolve and that life is a constant revelation. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Helen Edmundson London, 2008

This two-part version of War and Peace was co-produced by Shared Experience, Nottingham Playhouse and Hampstead Theatre and first performed on 7 February 2008 at Nottingham Playhouse with the following cast:

Richard AttleeNAPOLEONMarion BaileyCOUNTESS ROSTOV/ANNA PAVLOVNA SCHERERGeoffrey BeeversCOUNT ROSTOV/KUTUZOVLouise FordNATASHATheo HerdmanBORISBarnaby KayPIERREJeffery KissoonPRINCE BOLKONSKYDes McAleerATTENDANT/BAZDAEV/KARATAEVHywel MorganANATOLE/PETYASophie RobertsSONYA/LISAVinette RobinsonHÉLÈNE/MLLE BOURIENNEDavid SturzakerPRINCE ANDREISimon ThorpVASILI/DOLOHOVKatie WimpennyPRINCESS MARIAJonathan WoolfNIKOLAI

Other parts played by members of the company

Directors Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale

Set Designer Angela Simpson

Costume Designer Yvonne Milnes

Composer and Sound Designer Peter Salem

Lighting Designer Chris Davey

Movement Director Liz Ranken

Set and costume designs for this production were based on Bunny Christie’s original designs.

War and Peace was originally commissioned by Shared Experience and the National Theatre, and first performed in the Cottesloe auditorium of the National Theatre, London, on 25 June 1996, with the following cast:

Simeon Andrews, Rakie Ayola, Cathryn Bradshaw, Peter de Jersey, Anne-Marie Duff, David Fielder, Richard Hope, Sam Kelly, Barbara Marten, Jonathan Oliver, Helen Schlesinger, Joe Stone-Fewings, Anny Tobin, Ronan Vibert and John Warnaby.

Directors Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale

Designer Bunny Christie

Composer Peter Salem

Lighting Designer Chris Davey

Movement Director Liz Ranken

For Nancy

WAR AND PEACE

Part One

Acts One and Two

Characters

THE ATTENDANT

PIERRE BEZUHOV

COUNT ROSTOV

COUNTESS ROSTOV

NIKOLAI, their elder son

PETYA, their younger son

NATASHA, their daughter

SONYA, a niece of the Rostovs

PRINCE BOLKONSKY

ANDREI, his son

MARIA, his daughter

LISA, Prince Andrei’s wife

MADEMOISELLE BOURIENNE, Princess Maria’s French companion

ANNA PAVLOVNA SCHERER

PRINCE VASILI KURAGIN

ANATOLE, his son

HÉLÈNE, his daughter

GENERAL KUTUZOV, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian army

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

DOLOHOV

BORIS DRUBETSKOY

PRINCE DOLGORUKOV

BILIBIN, an aide-de-camp

CAPTAIN TIMOHIN

OSSIP ALEXEYEVICH BAZDEYEV, a Freemason

Also various others, including party guests, priests, mourners, servants, Russian soldiers and aides, French soldiers and aides, a doctor and a nurse, Napoleon’s orderlies.

Prologue

A gallery in the Hermitage Palace, St Petersburg, 2007.

In one corner, on a wooden chair, an ATTENDANT is sitting, knitting. He has the hunched, worn air of many Russian men. A younger man – PIERRE – enters. He is wearing bright, fashionable clothes and has a camera around his neck. He looks about the room – up at the fantastic chandeliers and the windows, then at the pictures, in their huge gilt frames. He sees an upholstered, antique chair, and goes to it. He touches the velvety material, then sits.

ATTENDANT (in Russian). Don’t sit there. It’s forbidden. (In English.) It’s forbidden to sit there.

PIERRE (jumping up). Sorry.

He begins to look at the paintings in more detail.

ATTENDANT (standing and putting his coat on). We’re closing.

PIERRE. It’s not quite half past.

An announcement comes over a tannoy system, first in Russian, then in English, then in French: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, The Hermitage Gallery is now closed.’ The ATTENDANT doesn’t respond. He puts his knitting away in a carrier bag which displays a picture of a naked woman.

Who are all these men?

ATTENDANT. Officers in the war against Napoleon. 1805 – 1812. (Pointing across the room.) All our Russian generals are there – Kutuzov, Bagration, Barclay de Tolly. That’s Tsar Alexander.

PIERRE looks, then goes back to the smaller paintings of the officers.

PIERRE. These are remarkable. They’re all so similar.

ATTENDANT. The same artist. We’re closing.

He goes to the light switch.

PIERRE. And yet each man is there. Each character. Which is your favourite?

ATTENDANT. What’s that?

PIERRE. Which is your favourite one?

ATTENDANT (smiling bashfully). I love them all. I have been sitting here every day for many years. I know them all.

PIERRE. Why are some of them missing? Restoration?

ATTENDANT. No. They were the officers who took part in the failed revolution. The Decembrists.

PIERRE. I don’t know anything about that.

ATTENDANT. December, 1825. An uprising of officers and intellectuals against the new Tsar Nicholas. The leaders were hanged. Others were banished to Siberia. Portraits of offenders were removed.

PIERRE. You have to admire them. To raise your hand against all this…

ATTENDANT. We fight and fight for what we believe in. And because we believe in it we think it is right.

Music. Gradually through the scene, the characters of the play begin to filter into the room and inhabit it.

Your first time in St Petersburg?

PIERRE. Yes. My ancestors were Russian.

ATTENDANT. No one ever stops in here. Right now they all rush through, looking for the paintings recovered from the Nazis. Next year it will be something else. Yes, everything is always shifting, shifting. The lady of the court who once sat in that chair, would never have believed that her God, the Tsar would one day be torn from this palace and killed. The men in those missing paintings would never have believed that one day Stalin’s image would be wiped like a stain from the face of Russia. Go to the Literary Museum. Take a taxi, the bus is too democratic. Look at the statue of Gorki. A few years ago, that was a statue of Lenin – but they changed the moustache a little, added a lot of hair… We are all bound by time. Only the Lord is free.

PIERRE. You weren’t always an attendant, were you?

ATTENDANT. You are right, my friend.

PIERRE. Are you happy?

ATTENDANT. Yes, why not? It is warm in here, the canteen is good. My wife sells our knitting in the Metro at weekends. Why not happy? When I lie on my deathbed, will I think of Stalin, or Gorbachev or Putin? No. It is love which endures. Perhaps I will think of you though, because we talked unexpectedly today. I will think of you because you asked me which painting I like best.

The music rises. The characters, past and present, begin to move slowly forward, as if into battle. Suddenly one of them cries out – ‘Charge’ – and all rush forward with a mixture of aggression and fear. They disband.

ACT ONE

Scene One

Anna Pavlovna Scherer’s house, St Petersburg.

The GUESTS at her soirée divide into several liquid groups. PIERRE stands in the middle, looking about in anticipation like a child in a toy shop. PRINCE VASILI has a strong grasp on his arm. They have just arrived. ANNA PAVLOVNA SCHERER approaches.

ANNA. So, Prince Vasili, it seems that Genoa and Lucca are now no more than the private estates of Napoleon Bonaparte. If you persist in claiming that a war is avoidable then I shall not know you and you will no longer be a friend of mine, or my ‘faithful slave’ as you call yourself.

VASILI. Mercy on us, Anna Pavlovna, what a violent attack.

ANNA. But I see I am frightening you. Welcome, welcome to my little soirée. And who is this you have brought for me?

VASILI. Pierre Kirillich Bezuhov – my nephew on my late wife’s side.

ANNA. Ah, yes, of course. Monsieur Pierre.

VASILI. Pierre, may I present our esteemed hostess, Anna Pavlovna Scherer, confidante of the Dowager Empress and quite the cleverest woman in St Petersburg.

ANNA. Flatterer.

PIERRE. Very… Yes… Hello.

VASILI. Pierre has just returned from abroad where he has been completing his education.

ANNA. Indeed?

PIERRE. In Paris. I have been in Paris. And what you just said about a war with the French…

VASILI. He has been staying with me for a month now but has spent all his time carousing with my recalcitrant son. This is the first time he has set forth into society.

ANNA. Then I am especially glad that you have chosen to come and visit me.

PIERRE. I came because I thought Prince Andrei Bolkonsky might be here.

ANNA. Prince Andrei? Yes, I hope he will be joining us shortly. In the meantime, please come and meet ma tante. Although she is elderly she does so enjoy…

PIERRE. I’ve just… Excuse me.

He walks away towards a group where he has heard some interesting remarks.

ANNA. Well.

VASILI. Precisely.

ANNA. And to think that his father was a lion – the most handsome and charismatic man I ever met. I suppose one must be grateful that the boy is not quite comme il faut and cannot inherit.

VASILI. Au contraire. Now that his father is dying he is showing a great deal of interest in Pierre. He asks about him daily.

ANNA. But how extraordinary.

VASILI. And I have reason to believe…

A GUEST passes close by. They pause and smile until he is gone.

I have reason to believe that the Count has written to the Emperor asking that Pierre be made legitimate.

ANNA. Legitimate? But Prince Vasili, your inheritance.

VASILI. It may no longer be my inheritance.

ANNA. Mon cher ami.

VASILI. Pierre himself is not even aware of the situation.

ANNA. A letter has been written, you say, but has it been sent?

VASILI. That, I do not know.

ANNA. It is unthinkable. One of the largest estates in Russia. Forty thousand serfs. Millions of rubles. To think that it should fall into the hands of such a…

VASILI. A clown?

LISA (calling across the room). Annette, Annette, do come. The Vicomte has been telling us the terrible story about the murder of the Duc d’Enghien.

ANNA. Ah, yes. I am well acquainted with the details of that appalling tale. It does not surprise me in the least to learn that Bonaparte is capable of cold-blooded murder.

AUNT. And it was all because of a woman, you say?

VICOMTE. It was, Madame. I have it on good authority that Bonaparte and the Duc were enjoying the favours of the same lady. Whatever Bonaparte says now about the Duc’s political intentions, there is no doubt that he had him executed for reasons of jealousy and pride.

LISA. How shocking.

ANNA. It is too much! Surely the world cannot stand by any longer and condone the atrocities perpetrated by that Antichrist?

GUEST. Here, here!

ANNA. The only thing I have faith in now is that our fine and virtuous Emperor Alexander will step in where all the other sovereigns of Europe have failed. The Poles, the Prussians, the Italians – all have crumbled beneath Napoleon’s might. But Russia will triumph. 1805 will become a famous year – the year that Russia crushed the hydra of revolution and rid the world of the Corsican monster.

There is loud approval.

VASILI. Eloquently put, Annette.

PIERRE. But the execution of the Duc d’Enghien was a political necessity.

There is a stunned silence. Someone giggles.

ATTENDANT (announcing). Prince Andrei Bolkonsky.

PRINCE ANDREI enters. ANNA seizes upon him.

ANNA. Ah, Prince André, you are here at last. You know almost everyone, I’m sure. Your sweet wife, Lise, has been telling us how you think of enlisting for the war.

LISA. He doesn’t care about me, do you, André? He is leaving me quite alone in the country. Do tell them, mon cher.

ANDREI notices PIERRE.

ANDREI. Pierre!

PIERRE. Andrei.

They step to one side. The groups begin to talk again.

ANDREI. Pierre. Good Lord, what are you doing here?

PIERRE. I need to talk to you. Can I come to you for supper?

ANDREI. For supper? Absolutely not.

He smiles, and PIERRE understands that he is joking. They join the group around the VICOMTE.

VICOMTE. I do not mind admitting, ladies, that I fear for the future of my country. If Bonaparte remains on the throne another year, things will have gone too far. By intrigue and executions, French society will have been destroyed for ever.

ANNA. Have no fear, my dear Vicomte. The Emperor Alexander, having defeated the usurper, will allow the French people to choose their own form of government. Who can doubt that the whole nation, once delivered, will throw itself into the arms of its rightful king?

ANDREI. I’m afraid I agree with Monsieur le Vicomte. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to return to the old regime.

PIERRE. From what I heard in Paris, almost all the aristocracy has gone over to Bonaparte.

There is a frisson in the room. All look at the VICOMTE.

VICOMTE. Only a Bonapartist would say that. Although, since the murder of the Duc, I cannot believe even Bonaparte’s most ardent supporters regard him as a hero.

PIERRE. The execution of the Duc was a political necessity and I consider that Napoleon showed nobility of soul in not hesitating to carry it through.

ANNA. Dieu! Mon Dieu!

LISA. What, Monsieur Pierre, do you think murder a proof of nobility of soul?

AUNT. Capital!

VASILI. I’m sure that isn’t exactly what you mean, Pierre.

PIERRE. I say so because the Bourbons fled the revolution, leaving the people to anarchy. Napoleon alone was capable of quelling it and for the general good he could not stop short at the life of one man.

ANNA. Time for tea, I think.

PIERRE. Napoleon is great because he towered above the revolution. He suppressed its abuses, but fought to keep all that was good in it.

VASILI. Pierre…

PIERRE. The whole meaning of the revolution lay in the rights of man, in emancipation from prejudice, in liberty and equality.

VICOMTE. High-sounding words which have long been debased. The people wanted liberty but Bonaparte destroyed it!

PIERRE. The revolution was a grand fact!

Scene Two

The study, Andrei’s house, St Petersburg.

PIERRE’s idea of NAPOLEON BONAPARTE is standing in the shadows behind him. PIERRE is pacing the room, imitating NAPOLEON making a speech.

PIERRE. England’s day is over! They said la Manche could not be crossed – I have crossed it! They said that London would never fall – she has fallen to me! Mr Pitt, as a traitor to your country and the rights of man, I sentence you…

ANDREI enters. NAPOLEON disappears. PIERRE sits quickly.

ANDREI. Supper won’t be long.

PIERRE. Thank you.

ANDREI. Poor Anna Pavlovna. You certainly livened up the party.

PIERRE. I just want them all to understand. They don’t understand Napoleon at all. They don’t understand what he’s trying to do.

ANDREI. And what is he trying to do? In your opinion?

PIERRE. To create a single European state. One great, unshakeable Europe.

ANDREI. With himself as Emperor.

PIERRE. Yes, but…

ANDREI. And what if people don’t want to bow down before Napoleon? The people of Europe are rather attached to their own kings and emperors.

PIERRE. But don’t you see how liberating it would be? If people could just try to imagine… to think beyond… Europe would be stable. There would be no more wars. No need for boundaries…

ANDREI. They like their boundaries too.

PIERRE. But…

ANDREI. I don’t disagree with all that you’re saying. There is a great deal to admire in Napoleon, though I question whether one man can ever hold so much power without becoming corrupt.

PIERRE. But what if Napoleon is that man? If you could have been in Paris and heard the affection with which people spoke about him.

ANDREI. You will have to be careful, you know. There’ll come a point, very soon, when your opinions won’t only be unpopular, they’ll be tantamount to treason.

PIERRE. So you think war is inevitable?

ANDREI. Absolutely. The French are making rapid progress through Austria. The Austrians can’t hold out without our help. I think we will move our troops across the borders within the month.

PIERRE. And you will go with them?

ANDREI. Yes. I have already enlisted.

PIERRE. But you don’t really believe in this war – not in your heart.

ANDREI. I believe in it sufficiently to know that I can’t allow it to happen without being a part of it. Without proving to myself and everybody else what I…

ANDREI becomes aware that LISA is approaching.

PIERRE. What?

ANDREI. And besides, I have to go.

LISA enters.

LISA. Dear oh dear, Monsieur Pierre, what a contentious person you are.

PIERRE. I’m afraid I was just arguing again. I can’t work out why your husband wants to go to the war.

LISA. But that’s exactly what I say! I just can’t understand why men can’t survive without war. If it were left to women there would be nothing of the kind. You know, if he would only stay here, he is on the edge of a brilliant diplomatic career. Only today I heard a lady ask, ‘Is that the famous Prince André?’ I did really.

PIERRE notices the rigid expression on ANDREI’s face.

PIERRE. When do you think you will have to leave?

LISA. Oh, please don’t talk about that, I can’t bear it. On a whim, a mere whim, he is deserting me and shutting me up alone in the country.

ANDREI. You will not be alone. You will be with my father and sister. Maria will take care of you.

LISA. But I will not see any of my friends. And then, you know, André, I am frightened.

ANDREI. What are you frightened of, Lise? I don’t understand.

LISA (reproachfully). I must say… I must say you have changed. You have changed terribly.

ANDREI. Your doctor said you should go to bed earlier.

LISA. Why should I care if Monsieur Pierre is here? I have been wanting to ask you for a long time why you have changed towards me. What have I done? When we were first married you were the kindest husband I could have wished for. You longed for me. You hated it when I left the room…