COMPILATION OF

DRAMAS THROUGHOUT
THE WORLD

Submitted to:
Mr. Abelardo Young Viter
Ms. Jennilyn Laxamana

Submitted by:
Jenel P. Gomez

April 08, 2019

INDIA

THE REFUGEE
by Asif Currimbhoy

The Refugee is a one-act play written by Asif Currimbhoy

against the political upheaving in East Pakistan in 1971.
Currimbhoy is quick with his dramatic reflexes to events
around him. During 1971 there was an influx of
Bangladesh refugees into India and the same year saw the
writing of The Refugee. Some critics have grouped it
along with Currimbhoy's Inquilab and Sonar Bangla,
written in 1970 and 1972 respectively, and called the
group 'The Bengal Trilogy'.

The play The Refugee, a one act play, presents the

miserable condition of the refugees from East Bengal on
one hand, and on the other, the play throws ample light on
the effects of the refugee problem in the social life in
India. During 1971, about 9 million refugees from East
Pakistan entered into India to take refuge and to save themselves from the cruel atrocities of the
West Pakistan armed forces. In addition to bringing a heavy burden to the Indian economy, these
refugees created other social and political problems. The play The Refugee successfully dramatizes
all those problems. The story of the play begins shortly after March 25, 1971 when talks between
the 3rdpresident of Pakistan, Yahya Khan and a politician and statesman, Sheikh Mujib fail which
led to the partition of East Pakistan and influx of Bangladesh refugees in India. It not only created
bitterness in Indo-Pak relations but also put a heavy burden on Indian economy.

Currimbhoy focuses on all sections of society. In his plays, he tries to depict the people from the
lowest to the highest strata of society. He believes that each political incident has a far-reaching
effect on society. This play presents the problem of refugees as a result of political incidents in
1971.
About the Author:

Asif Currimbhoy is one of the greatest modern Indian

dramatists in English and a major figure in twentieth
century literature. An iconoclast, he has used language,
form and content in innovative way producing an
enduring body of texts. He began writing plays in his
twenties. He chose to write for the theatre because he
thought that this was the art form which allowed him
most to show the complexity of the society he lived in.
He entertained independent thinking, close controversial
themes, embodied them in arresting dialogue and
constructed and resolved plots in an unconventional way.
His literary career is ranging from 1959 to 1975 during
which he wrote twenty-nine plays with the rapid speed of
two plays in a year. He is “India’s first authentic voice in
the theatre”.

His plays are first and foremost meant for the stage. He brilliantly succeeds in producing “actable”
plays. His plays are richly invested with his understanding of Indian history, society, religion,
politics and philosophy. He has brought to Indian theatre a breadth of vision, a metaphysical rigor
and depth of thought, a symbolic richness, a lyrical fervor and an essential “Indianness” of style.
His plays wake the reader up to a critical culture. The demand to be read with attention, to be
understood, to reach the point of communion with the playwright so the word disappears and all
that remains in the meaning, the sudden light in the reader’s own mind as connections form, shaped
by his own experience and present knowledge.
AFRICA

MADMEN AND SPECIALISTS

by Wole Soyinka

In Madmen and Specialist, the primary theme is

the consequences of immoral action in a world
where values are inverted. Exploring numerous
dimensions of morality, Wole Soyinka also
presents themes of Oedipal father-son conflicts
and humans’ responsibility toward the earth. By
creating an Absurdist scenario in which
cannibalism has been normalized, the author
points out the difficulty—or even impossibility—
of making an ethical choice between two abhorrent
alternatives. He emphasizes the inversion of values
by making one central character a physician. In
this regard, although the play seems to relate to
Soyinka’s native Nigeria in his own time, it also
calls up earlier atrocities committed in the name of
science, such as Nazi experimentation.

The Old Man has forced Bero and his companions

into immoral or sinful behavior through cannibalism. In doing so, he has placed Bero in an
untenable position. Already fatally compromised, Bero sees no hope of salvation for himself. His
reasoning, therefore, is that committing another sin—killing his father—will not worsen his own
situation but will instead save others from his fate.

Although Bero had done noble deeds as a doctor, past virtue cannot redeem present depravity.
Further transgression, ironically, will benefit society by removing the scourge that the Old Man
and his philosophy represent. In this Oedipal scenario, the mother-son marriage aspect goes
beyond any individual, biological mother; rather, it encompasses the maternal, fecund aspect of
the earth as symbolized by the two mothers’ characters, Iya Agba and Iya Mate.

This play was written as a response to the Nigerian civil war (1967–70), which had led to Soyinka's
imprisonment when he protested against the brutal suppression of the Biafran population. By
showing the way Bero, a decent country doctor, can be perverted to become an evil cannibalistic
figure, Soyinka has written a powerful and often enigmatic African sequel to Brecht's A Man's a
Man.

About the Author:

Wole Soyinka, in full Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka,

(born July 13, 1934, Abeokuta, Nigeria), Nigerian
playwright and political activist who received the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1986. He sometimes wrote of
modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious
intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the exercise of
power usually was evident in his work as well.

Soyinka was the first black African to be awarded the

Nobel Prize for Literature. An autobiography, Aké: The
Years of Childhood, was published in 1981 and followed
by the companion pieces Ìsarà: A Voyage Around Essay
(1989) and Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: A Memoir,
1946–1965 (1994). In 2006 he published another memoir, You Must Set Forth at Dawn. In 2005–
06 Soyinka served on the Encyclopædia Britannica Editorial Board of Advisors.

Soyinka has long been a proponent of Nigerian democracy. His decades of political activism
included periods of imprisonment and exile, and he has founded, headed, or participated in several
political groups, including the National Democratic Organization, the National Liberation Council
of Nigeria, and Pro-National Conference Organizations (PRONACO). In 2010 Soyinka founded
the Democratic Front for a People’s Federation and served as chairman of the party.
PHILIPPINES

SISTEMA NI PROPESOR TUKO

by Al Santos

Ang Sistema ni Propesor Tuko (Professor Gecko's Way) is a play in one act, written by Al
Santos in1980. It was first staged on 7 Feb 1980 by the Philippine Educational Theater Association
(PETA) at the Dulaang Raha Sulayman in Front of Santiago, Manila. The original Filipino version
was published in the PETA-KE Script Series 2 in 1983. The English translation was published in
Nicanor G. Tiongson(ed), Modern ASEAN Plays: Philippine, Manila: ASEAN COCI, 1992.

This hybrid of a dramatic and spirited humor play portrays the system and techniques of a professor
who unconsciously revels in his colonial mentality, adoring Shakespeare and viewing history
through Western eyes brought about by his obsolete college education. His four students, Kiko,
Babols, Ningning and Bondying are caught in the wall-less classroom of Propesor Tuko learning
from their teacher and in turn teaching their professor a lesson he’ll never forget.
The play attacks imperial powers and the oppressive system that is pervasive in the education
during the 80s. However, despite it being written thirty years ago, the play remains relevant; it
unfailingly inspired chuckles from the audience not only for the slapstick but also for the subtle
and obvious bitter parody of the Philippine educational system.
CHINA

THE BUS STOP (Chezhen)

by Gao Xingjian

The Bus Stop is a Chinese absurdist

play written in 1981 by Gao Xingjian.
Though originally completed in 1981, a
second draft wasn't completed until
1982, and the play was not performed
on stage until 1983. The play premiered
at the Beijing People's Art Theatre and
was directed by Lin Zhaohua, the
Deputy Director of the People's Art Theatre. Though appreciated by many audiences, the original
run was shut down by the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign after only 13 performances. Now
banned from performance in mainland China, The Bus Stop remains an influential text in Chinese
absurdist drama.

The post-Maoist Chinese government had many issues with Gao Xingjian's Bus Stop. The first
problem was the Brechtian, absurdist style. Socialist-realist and naturalist theatre were the most
popular forms of theatre in China at the time, mainly due to the government’s support. Konstantin
Stanislavski and Henrik Ibsen would show China in a good light; Gao's unpredictability would
not. The Bus Stop was quickly labeled "spiritual pollution" by the Anti-Spiritual Pollution
Campaign and in 1984, future performances of Bus Stop were banned.

The second problem that the government had with Gao's writing was his sense of camaraderie or
working together for a better future. In Bus Stop, it appears important to be able to not only take
care of one's self but also work together with other for a better future. The government saw this as
potentially dangerous, for the last thing wanted was a political uprising.

Bus Stop furthermore addressed the issue of backdoorism. In China at the time, many wealthy
folks could bribe to government for this and that, and occasionally would give the government
money for unknowingly nothing in return. When the Director Ma talks about giving cigarettes to
the bus company, he is essentially a victim of this abusive backdoorism system. Gao's critique of
the issue is just another problem that the Chinese government had with the play.

About the Author:

Gao Xingjian, Wade-Giles romanization Kao Hsing-

chien, (born January 4, 1940, Ganzhou, Jiangxi province,
China), Chinese émigré novelist, playwright, and critic who
in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for an
oeuvre of universal validity, bitter insights and linguistic
ingenuity.” He was also renowned as a stage director and as
an artist.

Gao first gained critical recognition with the publication of

the novella Hanye zhong de xingchen (1980; “Stars on a
Cold Night”). In 1981 he became a resident playwright with
the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, and in 1982 his first play,
Juedui xinhao (Alarm Signal), written in collaboration with
Liu Huiyuan, was performed. His second and most celebrated play, Chezhan (1983; Bus Stop),
incorporated various techniques of avant-garde European theatre. It was openly condemned by
Communist Party officials. Gao continued to explore the boundaries of experimental drama with
plays such as Yeren (1985; Wild Man) and, most notably, Bi’an (1986; The Other Shore), which
was quickly banned by the authorities. Gao then embarked on a 10-month walking tour following
the course of the Yangtze River—a spiritual pilgrimage that became the basis for his first novel,
Lingshan (1989; Soul Mountain). In 1987 he settled in France as a political refugee and
subsequently became a French citizen.

Gao’s play Taowang (1989; “Fugitives”), was set during the brutal 1989 suppression of student
demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Its publication angered the Chinese authorities, who banned
Gao’s works and declared him persona non grata. Gao wrote in both Chinese and French. Several
of his plays have been published in The Other Shore: Plays by Gao Xingjian (1999).
JAPAN

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL

by Betsuyaku Minoru

The Little Match Girl is a 1966 play by

Betsuyaku Minoru. Lights come up onan older
couple named “Man” and “Wife” fuss comically
around a table, ritualistically engaging in their
“daily convention” of serving tea. Soon, however,
a young woman (“Woman”) visits them. The
young woman begins telling a story about how she
read the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of The
Little Match Girl, then realized it was about her
own childhood. She then reveals that, as a child, she not only sold matches, she also lifted her skirt
while they burned; in reality, “it was not the matches being sold, it was the girl”. Even more
surprising, she claims the older couple are her parents according to the records at city hall. The
older couple respond in shock, and the situation escalates further as the younger woman summons
in, first, her younger brother (“Brother”), then, her own two young children. The action turns
progressively darker and forms a deeper and deeper indictment of the older couple’s past
mistreatment and rejection of their children. Just before the end of the play, however, the younger
woman’s two young children stop breathing in their sleep from the cold. This raises the question
of whether the younger woman has neglected her children in the same way she was neglected by
her parents. Interlaced throughout the performance are voiceovers that tell a modified version of
the Hans Christian Andersen tale from which the play takes its name.
About the Author:

Born in 1937 in the former Manchuria (present

northeast China), Minoru Betsuyaku is a playwright,
novelist and essayist. He attended Waseda University
and studied in the Political Science and Economics
department but ended his studies before graduation.
Influenced by Beckett’s theater of the absurd,
Betsuyaku formed the Waseda Small Theater with
director Tadashi Suzuki. His play The Elephant
(1962) drew critical attention and he went on to win
the 13th “New Theater” Kishida Kunio Drama Award
for his plays The Little Match Girl (1966) and A Scene
With a Red Bird (1967). In 1971 he won the
Kinokuniya Theater Award for Machi to Hikosen (a town and a blimp) and Alice in Wonderland.
The following year he won the “New Artist” award of the Ministry of Education’s Selected Artists
Encouragement Awards for Soyosoyo Kazoku no Hanran (revolt of a gentle family), and in 1987
he won the Yomiuri Literature Award for his collection of plays titled Shokoku wo Henreki Suru
Futari no Kishi no Monogatari (tale of the foreign travels of two knights). In 1988, his play
Giovanni no Chichi e no Tabi (Giovanni’s journey to his father) won the Minister of Education
Award for the Arts. In 2007 Betsuyaku wrote his 130th play. Besides plays and children’s stories,
Betsuyaku is known for his humorous essays like Mushi-zukushi (a world of full of bugs) that
overturns biological commonsense and Mononoke-zukushi (a world full of ghosts), which
comments on the true nature of ghost in ancient and present-day Japan. With other books of this –
zukushi series including Kemono-zukushi, Tori-zukushi and Sakana-zukushi, he won a name for
himself as a nonsense genre writer. Another work that shows the breath of Betsuyaku’s creative
and intellectual interests is his criminology essay Hanzai Shokogun (criminal syndrome) in which
he analyzes the darker mechanisms at work behind sensational crimes with an astute eye.
References:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wole-Soyinka

http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100124923

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1986/soyinka/biographical/

https://www.scribd.com/document/102075378/Mutya

https://johnryanrecabar.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/review-of-ang-sistema-ni-propesor-tuko-the-
perils-of-too-much-improvisation/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bus_Stop

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gao-Xingjian

https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1393&context=honors_theses

https://performingarts.jp/E/art_interview/0709/1.html

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/21906/7/07_chapter%202.pdf

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Asif_Currimbhoy