Theme: Love and political scheming
Number of characters: 3 female, 8 male
Number of acts: 2
Setting: A royal court
Time: 10th century
Written in: 1983; and then adapted in 1987 and 1999
Summary
The play takes place at the court of the first Croatian king, Marun. Marun’s Chancellor tries to take the King’s crown for himself. He has been Queen Jelena’s lover for several years. The Chancellor’s daughter, Dora, who is engaged to the King’s son has hatched her own plot to cheat both her father and the King. This is a thought-provoking play about political intrigues, women in politics, and the struggle for power. The psychology of wartime and contemporary political manipulation testify indirectly to the Balkans in recent years.
This play is in written in Shakespearean style but definitely has a modern air. Premiered at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, U.S.A., in 1999.