The Conspiracy of Feelings and The Little Theatre of the Green Goose

Two outstanding examples of socialist-themed plays are combined in this remarkable volume. <em>The Conspiracy of Feelings</em> by Yurii Olesha (1899-1960) is based on his highly respected short novel <em>Envy</em> about the struggle between the old and new in Soviet society. The play, called <em>The Conspiracy of Feelings</em>, is not a simple adaptation, but an original work that reconceived the novel. The play explores the precarious position of the intelligentsia in the new collective state. <em>The Little Theatre of The Green Goose</em> was written by Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski (1905-53) who was one of Poland's most beloved poets. After World War II, he began work as a playwright, inventing a colorful theatre troupe of performers (animal and human) and contributing a new instalment of <em>The Little Theatre of the Green Goose</em> each week to Przekroj, the Cracow literary magazine. Intended for reading only, <em>The Green Goose</em> went unperformed in Galczynski's life and was finally staged in 1955 and gained a permanent place in the theatre and became a force for the creation of the new Polish drama that flourished in the 1960s.