Evald Flisar    

Aquarium

Year of writing: 2007
“I hate everything to do with the world and what’s become of it when I wasn’t paying attention. I am bored by everything about this world. I am bored to death by small joys and small sorrows of my relatives. Most of all I am bored by any sort of conversation, even this one, with you, because it robs my thoughts of truth, seriousness and meaning.”
Total cast size: 7 (3 f, 4 m)

grown-ups

tragicomedy
interpersonal relations, loneliness, cynicism, family

Konrad is a master of verbal violence. He used to be quite the opportunist and is prone to autocratic behaviour. He decides to withdraw from the world into isolation in his own house but in fact leaves his door unlocked as he is in need of company and hopes that something will pull him back to the centre of action. His obsession with the film Casablanca which he watches over and over, stems from a feeling that in the film, the city of Casablanca is like the aquarium he owns where his rotting fish owns nothing that could be exchanged for a transit-pass to access the open sea. Konrad finally loses the feeling of being in control when an old school friend pays him a visit. The visitor reveals that Konrad is the father of his grandson and that this grandson would like to meet Konrad on his birthday. The child’s honesty and the promise of pure innocence give Konrad hope that perhaps he might be able to leave Casablanca after all.

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For the author's contact please write to sigledal@gmail.com.

Recently added

Awards, nominations, shortlists and recommendations

Nomination for Slavko Grum Award

The main protagonist withdraws from the world of pornography, from omnipresence of the media kitsch, from criss-cross copulation and other overindulgences after having been actively and successfully involved in it all for some time. He hides behind a veil of cynical distance, he only allows himself small pleasures and violently rejects any attempt of people close or distant to him, to pull him back into the world and get him tangled up in difficult relationships again. All the other characters revolve around the protagonist, everyone convinced that it is them who are the world and the solution. The more he rejects them and the less he cares for them, the more important they feel. A thorough assessment reveals an all-pervading amnesia and suppressed emotions. Moreover, it brings up a dark and pitiful image of solitude and self-sufficiency. The play then cathartically opens up to offer a possibility of transition.

2004

Play's productions

Directed by: Dušan Mlakar

Akvarij

Prešernovo gledališče Kranj, 2007

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