Travesties

Travesties Summary | Act 1, Part 1 Summary

Travesties represents fantasy, history, and tribute to a great play - The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. Set within the memories of a diplomat stationed in Switzerland during World War I, the play utilizes historically documented relationships between the Russian political theorist, Vladimir Illych Lenin, the Irish novelist, James Joyce, and the Dadaist philosopher, Tristan Tzara. They are the basis for a highly theatrical and comically complex tale of miscommunication, romance, and intellectual confrontation.

As the play begins, Gwen and Joyce are sitting at a table in the library, busy with research. At another table, Lenin is also busy with research. At a third table, Tzara cuts up a piece of paper on which are written the words of a poem. He drops each word into a hat, shakes it up, pulls out words at random, arranges them into sentences, and reads those sentences aloud as though they were themselves a poem. Cecily passes through, telling Tzara to be quiet. Joyce dictates to Gwen, Tzara creates another poem, and Cecily comes back in, telling them all to be quiet. As she gives books to Lenin, Tzara goes out. Joyce gives Gwen a file folder, and Lenin gives Cecily a file folder. The folders are accidentally exchanged, so that Gwen gets the folder intended for Cecily and vice versa.

Gwen and Cecily both leave, each with the wrong folder, as Nadya comes in. She speaks in Russian with Lenin, their conversation revealing that a revolution has begun in Russia. As they speak, Joyce takes scraps of paper out of his pocket and reads the words written on them aloud. As Nadya goes out, Joyce picks up a slip of paper accidentally dropped by Lenin and reads the words on it aloud. Lenin recognizes the words and approaches Joyce. Joyce gives him the paper, and Lenin leaves. Joyce speaks poetically about a librarian asking people working in the library to be quiet. Cecily comes in, tells him to be quiet and goes out. Joyce also leaves, singing an Irish song.

Carr appears, an old man at this point, and begins a long, rambling, disjointed speech that begins with reminiscences about James Joyce, how they met while working on an amateur production of The Importance of Being Earnest, and how they became friends while Joyce was working on his novel Ulysses. He also recalls what life was like in Switzerland, where he and Joyce both lived, as did Lenin. He then describes Lenin's appearance in great detail, and how Lenin is regarded by history, as opposed to how he's remembered personally. He describes Lenin's greatness, in the same words as he described Joyce's, as never being in doubt. His memories of Lenin lead him to comment that two revolutions were happening in Switzerland at the same time, the political and social revolution led by Lenin and a philosophical revolution led by the Dadaists, followers of a philosophy essentially founded on the belief that life is chaos. Making puns on the word "Dada," Carr refers to the Dadaist philosopher Tzara, which leads him to recall how peaceful, geographically beautiful and politically neutral Switzerland was. As Carr becomes his younger self, he mentions that all his recollections are open to correction, since they are, after all, the recollections of an old man.