Resumo de Requiem - Leonid Andreyev

The Russian Symbolist playwright Leonid Andreyev?s play, Requiem shows a manager?s final preparations for a single benefit performance commissioned by a mysterious patron. The illustrious patron?s identity is concealed behind a black mask. This character is enveloped in mystery; he has made a series of bizarre stipulations for the production: the play must be produced in a spot on the outskirts of the capital isolated from society; the performance must have no live spectators, only wooden puppets created for the production serve in their place. The patron himself, the only live spectator, solely wishes to attend the final moments of the production, when the drama has come to its climax.
The manager discovers that The Man in the Mask might have a more ominous intent. As the evening unfolds, it dawns on The Manager that everything he has created for this benefit performance evolves into a celebration of his own death. The doleful music and cadaverous performers all echo The Manager?s loss of his own family, and, perhaps, of his very reason. The production ends with the suicide of the hero; however, as Andreyev?s Requiem draws to its finish, The Manager is left alone to confront his own mask and discover his inner self. The curtain lowers on the man still standing, but the fate of Requiem?s hero remains as inevitable for us as that of any tragic hero, indeed, as inevitable as the fate of all of mankind.
At the beginning of the play, the lights come up on a replica of a theatre. On one side, there is a small stage on which the actors perform; on the other, the backstage area appears equally visible to the audience. The bright light, ?lends itself to loud speech, measured and precise movement.?<1> However, no one appears to be watching the action. The stage directions specify that: ?there are no spectators in the small theatre.?<1> The audience is made up of puppets. These dead wooden figures exist on a stage that invites action and life, and, as such, the life-like quality of the puppets becomes apparent; the lighting accentuates the illusion of life in these mute spectators:
Striking against the flat figures, the sounds of loud speech also came back to the stage, it seems that the puppets are talking, laughing, even crying.<1>

A magical world is created and extinguished by the use of lighting. The Artist is rendered God-like by his ability to animate and extinguish life simply by raising and lowering the lights.
With such an introduction, we become aware of the Director and the Artist who are carrying on a quiet conversation. We discover that the action takes place the night before a benefit performance. The Artist, agitated and excited, apologizes for intruding upon The Director on such a ?desolate? night, but cannot contain his excitement over the self-described ?amazing figures, created by (his) brush.?<1> With his enthusiasm and expectation, the Artist introduces us to the world of the play. As the lights rise on the action, we find what we think is a typical stage scene; the Artist cajoles the Director in order to put some last minute touches on his work. From this discussion, we sense a feeling of anticipation and excitement about the upcoming performance. The characters provoke the audience?s interest by making broad hints about the illustrious patron and the strange requests he has commissioned. The Artist also questions his mysterious identity:
Artist: Why does His Highness wear a black mask?
Director: All Europe knows his face, and he does not want to be recognized.<1>

Already there is introduced an aura of mystery and unease about the upcoming performance.

The universe of Andreyev?s Requiem is described in the stage directions as ?a void.? The theatre is on the second floor of a ?dead house? in the middle of a wilderness of forest and night. Similar to a medieval casstle securing itself from marauders, this ghost house encases itself in a stone wall to offer protection from the forest and ?deepest night.? As the Manager states, ?There are human beings out there somewhere, (he points with his hand indefinitely) but on either side there is wilderness and night.?<1> As a black hole?the ultimate void?rips apart atoms in space, so night is a marauder, an interloper attempting to rob the characters of their peace. However, even a protection as fortified as the Wall of China has weak points, and, as The Manager in Requiem discovers, ?night penetrates even through the stones.?<1>

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