Koba (play)

Koba is a dramatic play that was written in 1958–59 by Raymond Williams. It was first published in the 1966 edition of Modern Tragedy.[1] The 1979 edition of Modern Tragedy does not include it.[2]

The play involves fictitious characters, but parallels the life of Joseph Stalin. Characters include Peter, Max and George, along with Joseph - later Koba - and Jordan, based on Vladimir Lenin. It takes a mixed view of the Stalin-character:

  • LUKE: What we have really to face is how all this happened, how we became strong.
  • MARK: It was not only Koba. In many ways he made us weaker.
  • LUKE: But in other ways stronger.
  • (Act Two, Scene VII).

Raymond Williams's later thoughts on the play and the wider question of the Soviet Union can be found in Politics and Letters; Part V, Chapter 3.

References

  1. ^ Gorak, Jan (1988). The Alien Mind of Raymond Williams. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8262-0688-6. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  2. ^ Holderness, Graham (1991). "Introduction to this Edition, by Graham Holderness". Drama in Performance (Revised and Extended ed.). Milton Keynes; Philadelphia: Open University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-335-09658-9. Retrieved 17 November 2024.