A performance from a play by Julio Cortazar will be staged in Kharkiv

The Kharkiv theater Theatre na Zhukah is working on the premiere of “The Fog” from the novel “Final Exam” by Julio Cortazar.

“Final Exam” by Julio Cortazar, one of his first novels, bases on Argentinean materials, unlikely most of his other works. “Final Exam” was written in mid-40-s in Buenos Aires after a military takeover lead by general Peron. A young writer, a teacher of French literature, took part in anti-Peron manifestations. His book could not be published because of the censorship. By that time, only the writer’s closest friends could read it. 

Later, after moving to Paris, Cortázar has applied for a literature competition, but he failed. So he decided not to show this text to anyone. It was only in his later years, when Cortázar, being severely ill, comes back to “Final Exam”. But the novel was published only in 1985 a year after the writer’s death.

“The novel’s destiny is unusual in itself, because it turned out to be a lifelong novel. Julio Cortazar is one of our favorite authors, and “Final Exam” is one of our favorite works. But still, we couldn’t think of staging it”, – the theater director Olha Ternova mentioned. She was the one to do the novel dramatization and the production.

“Still, the events in Ukraine that started three years ago reminded us strongly of the text by Cortazar’, – she mentioned.

“The associations were so strong we could hardly resist them. We couldn’t but think of “Final Exam’, so we came up with the idea to stage the novel. We tried to find the way with this work but due to different reasons, postponed the staging. But it is still relevant for us. I don’t know if it is good or bad. This production is a kind of aesthetic reflection of what we are experiencing today, this crazy life we’re living, where there’s still place for beauty, love and creativity, despite everything.  The only thing we may lack is a conscious attitude to the current events and our own experiences. And this performance is for the admirers of Cortázar, good music, good poetry and for creative minds. All of these are human needs no war can ever destroy. These things are important to me, and I want to speak about them with my audience”, – the director says. The timeline of the novel covers only two days of the protagonists’ lives. These are five friends: Clara, Juan, Anders, Stella, and Reporter who ramble around the city just before their final university exam. As typical for Cortázar, the real and the grotesque word collide inside the text and strange fog turns out to be one of the novel’s feature. Nobody knows where it comes from, but it keeps covering the city.