Balachites (Playscripts S.) - Softcover

Eveling, Stanley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714501018 ISBN 13: 9780714501017

Publisher: Calder Publications Ltd, 1970

Synopsis

These two plays give an admirable indication of the breadth of
Eveling's vision and the variety of his stylistic talent. Both plays follow
the development of a certain idea with an intriguing combination of logic
and absurdity which characterizes his work.

`The Balachites' is set in an empty house, where three characters, a
retired gardener, a super-annuated scientist and a veteran corporal,
discuss their differences in attitude to the value of life. It is not until
a young couple come to look at the house that we realise that the original
trio are ghosts, not strictly speaking malevolent, but ghosts all the same.
At first the natural and supernatural maintain their distance from one
another, but gradually the two worlds join forces in an attempt to
re-create the innocence of Eden, an attempt which must fail.

`The Strange Case of Martin Richter' follows the political rise and fall of
a potential dictator, who turns out to be no more than a butler in the
house of a wealthy industrialist. Parallels with the rise of fascism are
unmistakable - the play is set in Germany, where a racial minority, the
Swebians, are persecuted for no other reason than that they are Swebians,
the rising party is called the National Health Party - but beyond these
similarities, the play can be seen as a political parable based on the
precept that `To him that has shall be given. To him that has not even that
which he has not shall be taken away.'

About this title

About the Author

Stanley Eveling was born in 1925 in Newcastle upon Tyne. After
three years in the army, he read English and Philosophy at Newcastle and
took a further degree in Philosophy at Oxford. He now teaches Philosophy at
Edinburgh University. Stanley Eveling has written several plays for stage,
radio and television and was recently awarded the Scottish Television Award
for the best playwright of 1968, the first year in which this annual prize
was presented. Stanley Eveling is the most discussed Scottish playwright to
emerge during the sixties, a moralist with a natural flair for putting the
problems and dilemmas of modern life onto the stage.

Edition details

• Publisher: Calder Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1970
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0714501018
• ISBN 13: 9780714501017
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 153