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Miro Gavran

MIRO GAVRAN

  (1961 - )
Nationality:    Croatian
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    Click here

Literary Agent:    n/a

MIRO GAVRAN (05 Mar 1961) is a Croatian playwright and novelist, whose works have been translated into thirty-five languages. To date, his plays have had more than two hundred first nights worldwide and have been seen by more than two million Theatre-goers. He is the only living playwright in Europe to have a Theatre festival devoted to his work; only plays based on his texts are performed at the GAVRANFeST, which was founded in Slovakia in 2003 and is held every year. His major plays include: CReON's ANTIGONe, NIGHT OF the GODS, GeORGe WASHINGTON's LOVeS, CHeKHOV SAYS GOOD-BYe TO TOLSTOY, ALL ABOUT WOMeN, ALL ABOUT MeN, DOCTOR FReUD's PATIeNT, HOTeL BABYLON, HOW TO KILL the PReSIDeNT, NORA IN OUR TIMe, GReTA GARBO's SeCReT, PARALLeL WORLDS, the CRAZIeST SHOW IN the WORLD, MY WIFe's HUSBAND, FORGeT HOLLYWOOD, COUPLeS, the DOLL and DeATH OF AN ACTOR. they have had first nights in Zagreb, Rotterdam, Maribor, Washington, Paris, Krakow, Sofia, Mumbai, Vilnius, Brno, Buenos Aires, Ljubljana, Pecs, Tokyo, Bratislava, Prague, Augsburg, Waterford, Rome, Warsaw, Avignon, Belgrade, Athens, Sarajevo, Novi Sad, Mostar, Podgorica, Priatina, Budapest, Vienna, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Tirana, New York, Antwerpen and some fifty other cities. For the past twenty years, Gavran has been the most highly performed Croatian playwright at home and abroad.

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below is a list of Miro Gavran's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         All About Men         All About Women         Chekhov Says Goodbye To Tolstoy         Couples         Craziest Show in the World, The         Creon's Antigone         Death Of An Actor         Doll, The         Dr Freud's Patient         Forget Hollywood         George Washington's Loves         Greta Garbo's Secret         How To Kill the President         ICE-CREAM         My Wife's Husband         Night Of the Gods         Nora In Our Time         Parallel Worlds         Royalty And Rogues         Shakespeare And Elizabeth

All About Men

Synopsis:
each of the three actors plays 5 roles in 5 different stories that intertwine. the first story is about 3 forty-year-olds who have been friends for 20 years, but a conflict arises when one of them has an affair with his friend's wife. the second story concerns a Father and his two sons, one of whom accuses his Father of being to blame for the death by suicide of his mother five years earlier. the heroes in the third story are three gays, in the fourth they are strippers in a nightclub, while in the fifth we encounter the heroes of the first story forty years later - as old men of eighty.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Jan Palarik, Trnava, Slovakia    2007

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays, Publisher ITG, Zagreb, Croatia, 2007   978-9537167127

Music:
-

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Genre:
Gay, theme/character, full length comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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All About Women

Synopsis:
each of the three female members of the cast plays five roles. the play has an unusual structure in which five life stories - all about women - alternate and interweave. One story concerns two sisters who are at loggerheards because of the man they both love - and there is also the question of their mother? the second story is also about two women who are exceptionally close, until their relationship undergoes a crisis when a third woman comes into their lives. then there is the story of secretaries working for the same firm; about three little girls who go to kindergarten together; and old ladies living in a retirement home. the play had its first night at the epilogue theatre in Zagreb. Since then it has had thirty premieres. Translated into english, Czech, Slovakian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Lithuanian. Performed in 30 various theatres.

Notes:
Miro Gavran's play "All About Women" that had its premiere in production of "Compagnie du soir" in Le Funambule Theatre Montmartre in Paris in June of last year and was a great success will be performed on renowned international theatre festival "OFF AVIGNON" that will be held from September 4th to 26th. Play was translated into French by Anica Falamic-Brochoire and Tsolinee Vacher. Director is Etienne Chevrel while main roles are performed by Fanny Honore, Friedrique Renda and Tsolinee Vacher. Play is takes place in today's Zagreb and all three actresses play five roles in five stories full of emotions and humour giving audience insight into intimate life of contemporary women. This Gavran's play so far had forty first nights around the world and is translated into fifteen languages.

1st Produced:
Epilog Theater, Zagreb, Croatia    2000

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Four Plays, Publisher epilog theater, Zagreb, Croatia, 2000   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Chekhov Says Goodbye To Tolstoy

Synopsis:
the young writer Chekhov and his wife Olga come to visit at the estate of the aged writer Tolstoy, where he lives with his wife Sophia. Soon Tolstoy tries to seduce the young Olga, while Sophia tries her wiles on the young Chekhov. there is a conflict between the old writer and his young colleague. A play packed with irony, humour and a feeling of lonesomeness.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Itd [Etc.] Theatre In Zagreb    1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Couples

Synopsis:
In this play, the author applies a similar Dramaturgical model to the one he used in his plays ALL ABOUT WOMeN and ALL ABOUT MeN, but in this case the six actors each play four roles in six diverse but interwoven stories. the 24 personages depict diverse variants of male-female relations.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    2010

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Craziest Show in the World, The

Craziest Show in the World, The
the Craziest Show in the World is an unusual monoDrama in which the only actress plays 12 different roles, some of them male roles. the story speaks of actors and their director who are working together on a new play. As they are rehearsing, there is a backdrop of lovers' and business intrigues, from actors' envy and female jealousy, which lead to intensive conflicts. everything is presented with doses of humour in a manner that demystify the theatre and show the brilliance and misery of the actor's life. Playing this role requires an actress of broad capabilities for brisk transformations and of physical and intellectual skill.

Notes:
Miro Gavran was awarded the Marin Drzic and Ivan Raos prizes for this text.

1st Produced:
Gavran Theatre In Zagreb    06 Nov 2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
monoDrama 90 min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Creon's Antigone

Synopsis:
Creon wants to get rid of his political opponents, his wife, his son and his son's fiancee antigone and her brothers. He will then use their deaths as the basis of a tragedy he plans to write.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Gavella, Zagreb, Croatia    1983

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays,the Bridge / DHK, Zagreb, Croatia, 2000   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
One act Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Death Of An Actor

Synopsis:
A sixty-year-old amateur actor has for a full forty years been following the life and work of Croatia's greatest theatre actress. When her career fades, he invites her to a retirement home to play together with him in a play which he has written for the two of them. Rehearsing the play, they both compile inventories of their own lives - which have unexpectedly flared up since they have been together. the Drama is drenched in emotion but is also full of humor. the sole characters are Tom and eva. Premiered at the epilogue theatre in Zagreb in 1995, and translated into english, Slovakian, French, Russian, Czech and Maharathi. Premiered in six various theatres.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Epilog Theatre, Zagreb, Croatia    1995

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Three Plays - the Bridge/DHK, Zagreb, Croatia, 2000   ISSN: 13305093

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Doll, The

Doll, The
the play the Doll tells of a 39-year-old man whose girlfriend leaves him after a six-year relationship due to his reluctance for the marriage and child that she wants. Left alone, he cannot bear the loneliness and after a few months begins to live with a woman-doll, the latest android designed to make man happy. But the android was constructed by a female scientist, who gave some of her own views on male-female relationships to the android, so that through the playtic and humorous situations undergone by this lonely man and the "doll", the audience sees the essence of wrongdoing toward women and the misunderstanding of them by today's men. In living with a "doll", the man will gradually become aware of the mistakes for which his girlfriend left him.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
He Local Theatre Present, West End, New York    2012

Organisations:
Storefront and Bench Productions

1st Published:
Mozaik Books, Zagreb, Croatia, 2012   978-9531411141

Music:
-

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Genre:
Comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Dr Freud's Patient

Synopsis:
This grotesque takes place in 1919 in Vienna. the thirty-year-old Adolf Hitler comes to Sigmund Freud's consulting room with his girl-friend Christine, look for help. their sex life is not developing as Adolph would hope. Freud agrees to treat these unusual patients, but it is not long before unexpectedly unpleasant things start happening. the characters of the young dictator-to-be and the world's most famous psychiatrist are sketched with a great deal of humor.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Zkm, Zagreb, Croatia    1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
AGM, Zagreb, Croatia, 1994   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Forget Hollywood

Synopsis:
A young man who has been trying for years, without success, to become a professional actor, starts coming for tutoring to a professor of acting at the theatre Academy to prepare for his entrance exam. the two establish an unusual closeness which gradually grows into ruthless competition. the interweaving of the comic and the Dramatic gradually leads to an unexpected conclusion. Premiered at the epilogue theatre in Zagreb in 1997; part of the theatre's repertoire. Translated into english, French, German and Slovakian. Performed in three various theatres.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Epilog Theater, Zagreb, Croatia    1997

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Four Plays, epilog theater, Zagreb, Croatia, 2000   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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George Washington's Loves

Synopsis:
A month after the death of the great President, his widow Martha invites her husband's mistress, Sylvia Carver, to visit her. In the Dramatic encounter, full of emotion, the two rivals for the first time tell each other the truth, and uncover the past in a completely new light. the powerful struggle between the wife and the mistress takes the audience into an unexpected turnabout. the play gives the actresses an opportunity for building of the strong characters. Number of characters: 2 the play was first performed in the &TD theatre in Zagreb in 1988, and has been performed to date in 30 different theatres. It has been translated into english, German, Polish, Hungarian, esperanto, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Czech, Greek, Persian and Russian.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Itd, Zagreb, Croatia    1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays, the Bridge/Duriex, 1991   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
One act Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Greta Garbo's Secret

Synopsis:
the heroine of this play is Greta Garbo, the celebrated film actress. the play is set at time fourteen years after her retirement from the world of film. Greta is now exactly fifty years old and this play speaks of her secret love, because of which she had abandoned screen-acting and which now leads her to entertain the crazy idea to renew this old relationship.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Jan Palarik, Trnava, Slovakia, 2008    2008

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Publisher ITG, Zagreb, Croatia, 2008   978-9537167165

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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How To Kill the President

Synopsis:
This Drama takes place in one of the european countries in transition. the hero is thirty-one year old Igor, who is against globalization and is prepared to fight for a new world in any way he can. His brother Robert who is fourteen year older, struggled against Socialism when he was a young man, but has now become a conformist. Igor returns to his homeland with his fiancee, Maria. His brother Robert and Robert's wife StElla don't like Igor's radical viewpoints about globalization and anti-globalization because they fear he could threaten their careers and their family well-being. the play was premiered at the &TD theatre in Zagreb in 2004. It has been translated into english, Italian, Slovakian, Polish, Japanese, German and French. It has been performed in five various theatres.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater Itd, Zagreb, Croatia    2004

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Dangerous Plays, Publisher theater GAVARN, 2007   9539768896

Music:
-

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Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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ICE-CREAM

Synopsis:
about mother-daughter relation in period of 57 years.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Zagreb    30 Jan 2014

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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My Wife's Husband

Synopsis:
Two men are married to the same woman for five years, without either of them knowing anything about the other. How can that be? - Well, it can, because the wife works as an attendant on a train, and alternatively lives for two days with her Slovenian husband in Ljubljana, and then for two days with her Dalmatian husband in Split. One day her Slovenian husband find his wife's marriage certificate in the lining of her winter coat, and learns that she has another husband. He does not tell her that he has found out about her secret, but after two months travels to Split to speak with "his wife's husband". the two of them have to agree on how to continue their lives. A comic rivalry soon develops between them, as they struggle for the right to be their wife's husband. This comedy was first performed at the Four G's theatre in Zagreb in 1991. the play has been translated into Slovenian, Slovakian, German, english, Polish, Spanish, Albanian, Russian and Czech. It has had 16 premieres to date.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Theater "Four G", Zagreb, Croatia    1991

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Publisher ITG, Zagreb, Croatia, 2002   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
One act comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Night Of the Gods

Synopsis:
One evening on the tenth anniversary of their friendship and the first time they got drunk together, Louis XIV of France, his Jester and the famous writer Moliere, come together to get drunk together again. In the middle of the fun, the King reveals to his friends that he has heard that the two of them play in a farce about him, in which they make a mockery of him. He forces them to play the farce for him. the farce pokes fun - to the point of grotesque - at Louis's faults and mode of government, while the story focuses on an actress whom both Louis XIV and Moliere had loved, but who had committed suicide when the King had tried to force her to become his mistress. the friendship between the three men is shattered, the King dismisses Moliere, and only then do we learn that the Jester had been pulling the strings. the Jester demands that Moliere be punished by death, that he be forced to take poison before the performance begins.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
National Theatre, Podgorica, Montenegro    1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays, Publisher the Bridge/Duriex, 1991   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
One act Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Nora In Our Time

Synopsis:
As in Ibsen's "Nora", the heroine of this story is a young woman of the same name who is in constant conflict with her husband because of their opposing views on the relationships between men and women. Locating the story at the beginning of the 21st century, Gavran shows that today's male and female psychology is profoundly different than that in Ibsen's time, and that men and women have, in many respects, changed places.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Croatian National Theater, Varazdin, Croatia    2006

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays, theater GAVRAN, Zagreb, Croatia, 2007   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Parallel Worlds

Synopsis:
the hero of this play experiences amnesia and takes on a different character, that is, he thinks he is someone else. This situation seriously affects his wife, who has a lover, and also upsets the hero's brother whose wife has had no sexual contact with him for several years, because she has hallucinations in which she sees their unborn daughter. the psychiatrist who tries to cure the hero becomes attached to him and finds herself in a conflict situation with his wife. . . this happens at a time in which her relationship with her partner is going through its greatest crisis. the heroes of this complex and serious play are under such pressure that they escape into imaginary worlds, since they find their realities to be so unbearable.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Croatian National Theater, Osijek, Croatia    2010

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Publisher DHK, Zagreb, Croatia, 2009   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  10            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Royalty And Rogues

Synopsis:
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, is engaged to the King's son who has hatched his own plot to cheat both his 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.

Notes:
WRITTeN IN: 1983; and then adapted in 1987 and 1999

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Plays, Publisher the Bridge/Duriex, Zagreb, Croatia, 1991   -

Music:
-

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Genre:
Tragicomedy

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Shakespeare And Elizabeth

Synopsis:
the young thirty year old playwright, William Shakespeare, is deeply and unhappily in love with Queen Elizabeth, who is almost twice his age. the only person in whom he confides is his friend Jane. At the same time Queen Elizabeth falls in love with the young Shakespeare, and she tells her secret to her court advisor, the earl of Wales, who opposes for political reasons the Queen's attachment. A meeting between the Queen and the playwright soon takes place with an unusual interweaving between the world of the theatre and the world of politics.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Scena Theater, Washington D.C.    1994

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Three Plays, the Bridge/DHK, 2000   -

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
One act Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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