Crazy Jourdain
Crazy Jourdain ( Russian Полоумный Журден ) is a comedy by the Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov , which was composed in 1932. Although the piece was written directly for a performance, it was not played during Bulgakov's lifetime - albeit not, as with other Bulgakov pieces, for political reasons, but because of the difficult technical feasibility (e.g. the necessary quick change of scene).
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The play takes place in Paris in 1670. The poet Molière , who does not appear in the play himself because he is ill, sends Bejárt a new comedy that corresponds to the actual Molière comedy Der Bürger als Edelmann . The performance begins immediately, the roles are quickly assigned, and the piece within the piece begins. As in the original, the focus is on Jourdain, who has gone mad (played by Béjart), who has made it into his head to be a member of the nobility.
The internal plot was enriched with brief allusions to two other plays Molières, Don Juan and The Forced Marriage .
German-language editions
- Mad Jourdain. Molièreiade in three acts. Translated from the Russian by Thomas Reschke . Pp. 201–236 in: Michail Bulgakow. Pieces. With an afterword by Ralf Schröder . Verlag Kultur und Progress, Berlin 1970. 432 pages (translation from: Bulgakow. Dramas and Comedies , Moscow 1965)
- Crazy Jourdain. Translated from the Russian by Bernd Poßner. Verlag epubli, Berlin 2017. ISBN 978-3-7450-5626-6