Monologue

Svietlovidoff Monologue from Swan Song

From Swan Song by Anton Chekhov

male · contemplative · 2:02 min

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(Calls, turning toward the noise) Come here to me, boys! (To IVANITCH) Let us go and get dressed. I’m not old! All that is foolishness, nonsense! (laughs gaily) What are you crying for? You poor old granny, you, what’s the matter now? This won’t do! There, there, this won’t do at all! Come, come, old man, don’t stare so! What makes you stare like that? There, there! (Embraces him in tears) Don’t cry! Where there is art and genius there can never be such things as old age or loneliness or sickness... and death itself is half... (Weeps) No, no, Nikitushka! It is all over for us now! What sort of a genius am I? I’m like a squeezed lemon, a cracked bottle, and you--you are the old rat of the theatre... a prompter! Come on! (They go) I’m no genius, I’m only fit to be in the suite of Fortinbras, and even for that I am too old.... Yes.... Do you remember those lines from Othello, Nikitushka? “Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content! Farewell the plumed troops and the big wars That make ambition virtue! O farewell! Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner, and all quality, Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war!”

About this piece

Svietlovidoff reflects on his perceived decline as an artist, grappling with feelings of inadequacy and the passage of time while addressing those around him.

60 and up · melancholy · identity · death · isolation · ambition

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