The ‘Dziady’ Project in Dmitry Bogoslavsky’s Dramaturgy

Abstract

This paper focuses on the works of Dmitry Bogoslavsky – a Belarusian playwright who writes in Russian. Its aim is to examine the worldview of this actor, director and dramatist based on selected works by him, and to trace his artistic evolution. More specifically, the paper seeks to answer the question of how Bogoslavsky’s works explore the Belarusian custom of Dziady (Forefathers’ Eve), understood as an element of the Belarusians’ mental image of the world. The analysis of Bogoslavsky's texts and the plays he directed has led to the conclusion that the theme of deracination and homecoming are at the core of his art. In order to communicate with their ancestors, laid to rest in their native land, characters in his works must establish a relation with an extrasensory reality by entering the ritual circle of Dziady. By depicting the spiritual realm in parallel to the world of the living, Bogoslavsky has been engaged in a certain kind of ‘Dziady’ project, one set in the contemporary theatrical and dramatic context, and yet strongly embedded in Belarusian tradition and mentality.