The Drunks

All of the characters in the play by Ivan Vyrypaev, one of the more intriguing contemporary Russian playwrights, are drunk. Drunkenness is here a concept, a metaphor and a condition. Those who are intoxicated are basically drunk – confused, disoriented, lost – in spirit. Vyrypaev inventively merges metaphysical drama with comedy, more often than not bordering with the absurd. He also blends religion and irony, which made some critics call him ‘’a combination of Tarkovsky and Tarantino’’. One of the characters in the play says: ‘’One needs to see the goals and tasks we set for ourselves, that’s all’’, which is precisely the point: fourteen people wandering through the (big) city landscape of this text appear as if they don’t know where they are going, so the actions they take are often bizarre and on the spur of the moment. The humour which alleviates their existence is rough and ruthless. The plot twists are conditioned by sudden declarations of love, admissions of infidelity, out-of-the-blue hellos and goodbyes... And when it comes to alcohol(ism), one shouldn’t rule out literalness, so the play warns of that social problem as well. Directed by Vito Taufer, the Slovenian director with immense theatre experience, well-known on Croatian stages, ‘’The Drunks’’ are a play that calls for an electrifying ensemble performance. Full of nervous motions and passionate logorrhoea, rowdy and physical, where excessive wordiness and drunken whirlwinds are an indication of that which is suppressed within us...

‘’’’The Drunks’’ are an excellent way to open the new season in Zagreb. Boris Svrtan’s tenure in Gavella will be remembered by this play and by the ‘’Reunification of the Two Koreas’’. (...) ‘’The Drunks’’ are a mouthful. It is a play that seeks maximum engagement from the director, the dramaturge and each individual actor.’’ (Bojana Radović, Večernji list)

‘’Gavella opened the season with and intelligent, witty, almost philosophical play, ‘’The Drunks’’, written by the contemporary Russian playwright Ivan Vyrypaev. The Slovenian director Vito Taufer staged the play as a series of dynamic, entertaining, bizarre, funny and often absurd situations with the emphasis on the text and actors’ interpretations. (...) It was a very convincing performance that made us think.’’ (Nina Ožegović, T-portal)

‘’Gavella’s actors, accompanied by the almost constant, unobtrusive, yet varied and rich jazz soundtrack (composed by Nana Forte and Jure Ivanušič), take us through a drunken night. Some of them, like Filip Šovagović (Karl, the banker) and Ranko Zidarić (Gustav, the banker) manage, through the condition of alcoholic distortion of consciousness, to reach the high voltage of psychic powers that control the self: Šovagović as Karl brilliantly portrays the psychotic denial or the total negation of those aspects of reality which he’s not able to accept, whereas Zidarić as Gustav portrays the announcement of a grand religious brotherhood of all living things in the universe in an equally suggestive manner. (...) Sven Šestak (Lorens), too, dares to look ‘’beyond’’ the screen of alcoholism and see what lurks there. (...) Both Živko Anočić (Maks) and Enes Vejzović (Gabrijel) are brilliant in the bachelor party scenes.’’ (Nataša Govedić, Novi list)

‘’Marita Ćopo’s costumes are vivid and finely tuned. The empty, dimly lit, cabaret-like stage design by Igor Pauška works very well and the atmosphere is complete by the satirical musical ‘’gifs’’ by Nana Forte and Jure Ivanušič...’’ (Tomislav Čadež, Jutarnji list)