TRIPPING THROUGH TRAVESTIES: A GUIDE


Though Travesties is fictional, playwright Tom Stoppard was inspired by historical facts: in 1917, during WWI, three revolutionaries— Lenin, Tristan Tzara and James Joyce—all lived in Zurich, Switzerland. Further, Joyce was involved in a court case against British consular official Henry Carr over the cost of a pair of pants Carr purchased to wear while appearing in Joyce’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. The play is told through the unreliable memory of an older Henry Carr.


TRAVESTY •


• • •


A travesty is “a debased, distorted or grossly inferior imitation” of something


Can also be defined as an artistic imitation of something in a ridiculously inappropriate style Travesties is a travesty of The Importance of Being Earnest and other literary sources Characters in Travesties are travesties of the real people they are based on


WWI (1914-1918) •


•


• • •


Started when Austro-Hungary invaded Serbia


• Known as the War to End All Wars • The two sides were:


-Allies: Russia, Great Britain, France, Serbia, United States -Central Powers: Germany, Austro-Hungary 10 million soldiers, 5 million civilians killed


ZURICH •


Major city in Switzerland, its financial center


First language of Zurich is German, but French is also widely spoken Switzerland was politically and militarily neutral during WWI


Spies, diplomats, artists, refugees and intellectuals all gathered there to work or to escape the war


THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST •


• Oscar Wilde’s famous high comedy about the English upper class, which premiered in 1895


• Main characters are Algernon and Jack, who both lead double lives, and the women they love, Cecily and Gwendolen


Cecily and Gwendolen in Travesties have resonance with Wilde’s characters of the same names 6 ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24