| The Memorandum | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Václav Havel |
| Characters | Josef Gross (Andrew Gross) Jan Ballas (Max Balas) Pillar (Victor Kubs) Maria (Alice) Hana Helena (Talaura) Stroll (Ken Masat) Savant (Sid Maher) George (Josh) Thumb (Ms. Kalous) Lear (J. V. Brown) Column |
| Date premiered | 1965 |
| Genre | black comedy |
The Memorandum is the common name in English for the 1965 play Vyrozumění, by Czech playwright Václav Havel. The first English translation, by Vera Blackwell in 1967, used this title. In 2006, Canadian translator Paul Wilson published a new translation, titled The Memo at Havel's request.[1]
The play is a black comedy that parodies bureaucracy and conformity. Havel wrote it prior to the Prague Spring of 1968 as an ironic satire dissenting against communist rule. Despite its veiled themes, the play was approved by government censors and published. The Memorandum centers on the introduction of a new language, "Ptydepe", that is meant to make work more efficient despite having the opposite effect.[2] Sam Walters considers The Memorandum to be Havel’s masterpiece.[3]
- ^ "Memo into | Theater 61 Press".
- ^ "The Memo, by Václav Havel | Theater 61 Press".
- ^ "Why don't more British theatres put on Václav Havel's plays?". The Independent. 2011-12-20. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2019-07-22.