Miro Gavran

ALL YOUR BIRTHDAYS

(a play)

English translation of 6th version of October 2018

March 2019

The author won the „Marul“ Prize for the best modern play at the Festival of Croatian drama,
the „Marulic Days“, at Split in April 2019.

Copyright:
Miro Gavran
Dugi dol 58c, 10000 Zagreb
E-mail: miro@mirogavran.com
www.mirogavran.com
Premiere held 30 December 2018 at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb

Cast:
Director | Rene Medvešek
Text adapted by | Rene Medvešek, Jelena Kovačić
Dramaturg | Jelena Kovačić
Scenographer | Tanja Lacko
Costume Designer | Doris Kristić
Composer | Matija Antolić
Choreographer | Pravdan Devlahović
Light Designer | Aleksandar Čavlek
Video Designer | Ivan Marušić Klif
Assistant Scenographer | Andrea Lipej
Assistant Costume Designer | Ana Mikulić

MARIJAN, birthday boy | LUKA DRAGIĆ

VINKO, Marijan's father| GORAN GRGIĆ
ANICA, Marijan's mother | DARIA LORENCI FLATZ
SANJA, Marijan's sister | OLGA PAKALOVIĆ
LUKA, Marijan's grandfather | IVAN JONČIĆ
MANDA, Marijan's grandmother | VLASTA RAMLJAK
DAMIR, Marijan's son | SILVIO VOVK
PETRA, Marijan's wife | LUCA ANIĆ
BIBA, Vinko's second wife | JADRANKA ĐOKIĆ
ZORAN, Biba's son, Marijan's half-brother | KREŠIMIR MIKIĆ
BORIS, Marijan's friend | MISLAV ČAVAJDA
STELA, Helena's daughter | IVANA BOBAN
HELENA, Stela's mother | ANA BEGIĆ TAHIRI
KARMEN, Elizabeta's daughter | IVA MIHALIĆ
ELIZABETA, Karmen's mother | VANJA MATUJEC
GRGA, Elizabeta's husband | ALEN ŠALINOVIĆ

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DANKO, Marijan's friend from university | IVAN GLOWATZKY
JANA, Danko and Ena's daughter | TESA LITVAN
IVA, Stela's daughter | IVA KRALJEVIĆ
ŽELJKO, Iva's husband | IVAN COLARIĆ
DUBRAVKA, Boris's girlfriend; later his wife | IVA JERKOVIĆ
MILAN, driver | SLAVKO JURAGA
IGOR, Damir and Petra's son | TIN ROŽMAN
MAJA, Iva and Željko's daughter | ANICA KONTIĆ
Stage manager | ROKO GRBIN
Prompter | VIŠNJA KIŠ

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Characters:

MARIJAN, birthday boy

VINKO, Marijan's father
ANICA, Marijan's mother
SANJA, Marijan's sister
LUKA, Marijan's grandfather
MANDA, Marijan's grandmother
DAMIR, Marijan's son
PETRA, Marijan's wife
BIBA, Vinko's second wife
ZORAN, Biba's son, Marijan's half-brother
BORIS, Marijan's friend
STELA, Helena's daughter
HELENA, Stela's mother
KARMEN, Elizabeta's daughter
ELIZABETA, Karmen's mother
GRGA, Elizabeta's husband
DANKO, Marijan's friend from university
ENA, Danko's wife
JANA, Danko and Ena's daughter
ĐURO, neighbor, a bachelor
IVA, Stela's daughter
ŽELJKO, Iva's husband
NIKO, Sanja's boyfriend; later her husband
DUBRAVKA, Boris's girlfriend; later his wife
MILAN, driver
IGOR, Damir and Petra's son
MAJA, Iva and Željko's daughter
WAITRESS
HOSPITAL ORDERLY

4
 ACT ONE

SEQUENCE ONE (1957)

(Marijan appears on the proscenium and speaks directly to the

audience.)
MARIJAN: I was born on the seventeenth of November. My birthdays
smell of late autumn, often with a hint of the upcoming winter.
Nineteen fifty-seven, the year when I celebrated my tenth birthday
years ago, is remembered in history books as the year when the
Treaty of Rome was signed and the European Economic Community
was born; Dwight David Eisenhower began his second term as
president; Nikita Khrushchev ruled in Moscow for the fourth year in a
row; and the Soviets sent a space ship into orbit carrying a dog named
Laika, who paid with her life for that successful mission. Albert Camus
received the Nobel Prize in literature, Croatian author Vladan Desnica
published his novel The Springtimes of Ivan Galeb, the first live
coverage of a soccer match was broadcast from Maksimir Stadium in
Zagreb, which was seen by only a few because practically nobody
owned a TV set — except Comrade Bakarić, of course. Croatia was
part of the second Yugoslavia, which had abolished visas that same
year, so tourists could vacation on the Croatian coast. At the same
time, the country's borders were beginning to open for its own citizens,
who hoped one day to go to countries in the West, but as workers, not
tourists. That year, the Croatian National Theatre hosted the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which presented Titus Andronicus,

5
directed by Peter Brook, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. …
But none of that was important to a ten-year-old boy. All that was
important to me in that moment was the first television set that my
parents had bought a month earlier and my birthday party – which I
will never forget.
(Marijan sits in a child's chair on wheels, where he will continue to sit
for all of Sequence 1. His mother, Anica, enters the room.)
ANICA: Marijan, Marijan, where are you?!
MARIJAN: Here I am, Mama!
ANICA: Is your hair combed?
MARIJAN: Yes, it is.
ANICA: What about that cowlick sticking out on top?
MARIJAN: I tried to fix it, but it won't stay down.
(Marijan's mother tries to smooth down the shock of hair with a comb.
His father enters the room wearing a bright white shirt.)
VINKO: Anica!
ANICA: What is it?
VINKO: My cufflinks … I can't get them through the hole!
ANICA: Don't tell me you're going to wear a dress shirt with cufflinks
at a children's birthday party?!
VINKO: Of course! Why wouldn't I? We don't want people to think
we're poor, do we?
ANICA: But wouldn't that be overdoing it?
VINKO: We have to show ourselves in the best light … Who are her
parents?
ANICA: Doctors.
VINKO: What about that other woman – who's she? You said she's
got no husband.
ANICA: Helena?
VINKO: Yeah.

6
ANICA: She's a widow … for three years now.
VINKO: I don't like widows.
ANKICA: Why?
VINKO: They remind me of the fact that women on average live seven
years longer than men.
ANICA: Don't make jokes on her account. It's not easy to go through
life alone.
VINKO: Everybody feels sorry for widows, but no one ever puts in a
word for their husbands, who they sent to the grave.
ANICA: Vinko!
(Anica finally manages to push one cufflink through the buttonholes in
one of his cuffs.)
ANICA: There… See? The cufflink goes through the button hole
easily; you just have to hold it at an angle and push it through the
buttonhole from the other side.
VINKO: Oh, yeah …
(She puts the other cufflink on his other cuff.)
ANICA: It’s really simple.
VINKO: Now I'll know how to do it myself.
MARIJAN: Daddy, can I show the guitar you gave me to the guests?
VINKO: No. You can't show it to anyone until you learn how to play it –
but a year from now you'll know how, so you can show them at your
next …
MARIJAN: Aw, I wanted to show my friends what I got.
VINKO: No – one of the grownups is sure to ask you if you know how
to play it, and you'll make a fool of yourself.
(Marijan's six-year-old sister, Sanja, enters the room in a child's chair
on wheels. She is crying.)
SANJA: Waaah … Waaah!
ANICA: What's wrong, Sanja, what happened?!

7
SANJA: My dollie's gone. Somebody stole my dollie! Waaah!
ANICA: Nobody stole her – I put her away in the cupboard.
SANJA: Oh …
ANICA: Be nice to your brother today – it's his birthday.
SANJA: When will it be my birthday, huh?
ANICA: In the spring.
SANJA: When's it gonna be spring?
ANICA: In half a year … Listen, children – today you will have to …
SANJA: … behave politely …
MARIJAN: First let the guests help themselves to some food, and only
then can you take some …
SANJA: When are we going back to Požega?
ANICA: We're not going back.
SANJA: Why not?
ANICA: Because Daddy has a much better job here in Zagreb, and
now we have this big apartment.
SANJA: But Grandma and Grandpa are in Požega.
ANICA: Grandpa is in the hospital in Zagreb, and Grandma went to
visit him there, so, if the doctor says that Grandpa is better now, they'll
come to Marijan's birthday party, too.
SANJA: Are they going to live with us again?
VINKO: No, they won't. That's all I need.
SANJA: Why not?
VINKO: Little one, stop asking questions and do as your mother says.
If you kids don't behave, you're going to be in trouble.
SANJA: Where’s that?
VINKO: Anica, please, get her out of my sight! She can't keep quiet
even when she's drinking water. Maybe it would be best if she just
stayed in the children's room all day.
ANICA: I can't hide her from our guests.

8
(The doorbell rings.)
ANICA: There – our first guests! I'll go see who it is.
SANJA: I'll go too!
ANICA: You wait here!
SANJA: But why?
ANICA: Because I said so!
(Anica exits.)
VINKO: That cowlick of yours is still sticking out.
MARIJAN: I tried to comb it down, but it keeps on popping up.
VINKO: You should have wet it down.
(Anica and Boris, who is rolling on a child’s chair on wheels, enter the
room.)
ANICA: Hey, look who's here!
MARIJAN: Boris!
(Marijan rolls towards Boris. Boris rolls right up to Marijan, and they
bump into each other with their chairs.)
BORIS: Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Thank you!
BORIS: Will there be anything for dessert?
MARIJAN: Yes – a birthday cake!
VINKO: So this is that little friend of yours – the one you're always
talking about?
MARIJAN: Boris is the best soccer player. In the last match he made
three goals!
VINKO: That's really good – I've heard you live with your grandmother
– is that true?
BORIS: Yes, it is.
VINKO: So where are your parents?
BORIS: In Zadar. My Mom and Dad work for the port authority there.
VINKO: Oh, I see…

9
BORIS: My Dad used to work on ships a lot, that is, until he got sick.
Now he works in an office.
MARIJAN: Can I show Boris my guitar?
VINKO: All right, but don't bring it out here.
(The children go into the children's room.)
VINKO (with his voice lowered): We have to check out that story about
his parents.
ANICA: What are you talking about?
VINKO: Zadar, port authority – what if his parents are in jail
somewhere … maybe they’re political and he's trying to hide it.
ANICA: How can you say something like that!
VINKO: We have to be absolutely sure who our son is spending time
with.
ANICA: That never even occurred to me!
(The doorbell rings.)
VINKO: More guests are here.
(Milan the driver enters the room.)
MILAN: Comrade Vinko, the door was open, so I came in. Where
should I put these?
(Milan is carrying two old-fashioned shopping baskets full of
groceries.)
VINKO: Put those in the kitchen. Listen, Milan, on Tuesday I need you
to pick up my wife after work and drive her to Samobor.
MILAN: Tuesday… your wife… Samobor… At what time?
VINKO: At three-fifteen. And you have to go to Zelina to pick up that
turkey.
MILAN: Yes, sir. Can I go in the kitchen now?
VINKO: Yes.
(Milan leaves for the kitchen. Marijan and Boris enter the room.)
BORIS: I'd like to have a guitar some day, too.

10
VINKO: Everything is easier for us, now that I have a driver.
ANICA: But I'm not sure if it's all right for him to do all those errands
for you. I mean, he's your official driver, not your servant.
VINKO: Why wouldn't it be all right? It's better for him to work than
slack around in a parked car half the day.
(Milan returns from the kitchen.)
MILAN: Comrade Vinko, may I go now?
VINKO: Yes, you may go… and don't forget: on Monday come and get
me one hour earlier than usual – at seven, because you're first going
to take me to see Comrade Holjevac.
MILAN: Very well. Good-bye, sir!
VINKO: Good-bye!
(Milan exits.)
VINKO: Should I put on my jacket?
ANICA: Your jacket? In your own home?
VINKO: How about a sweater?
ANICA: No, you don't need a sweater – it isn't cold.
(The doorbell rings.)
ANICA: Guests!
(Anica exits.)
BORIS: That's a cool guitar, but I like the cowboy pistols better.
MARIJAN: I used to have a rifle, too!
BORIS: Where is it now?
MARIJAN: It broke – my sister stepped on it.
(Anica leads Helena and her daughter, Stela, who is rolling in a child's
chair on wheels, into the room.)
ANICA: This is Helena and her little Stela!
(Vinko approaches them and offers his hand to Helena.)
VINKO: Hello! Anica has told me all about you and your daughter. I'm
so glad to finally meet you.

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HELENA: The pleasure is all mine. My Stela is constantly talking
about your little Marijan… Marijan! Happy birthday! Here – this is for
you! (She offers him a present gift-wrapped in the kind of paper used
in 1957.)
MARIJAN: What's in it?
ANICA: We don't say “What’s in it?”, Marijan! We say “Thank you.”
MARIJAN: Thank you!
(Marijan impatiently unwraps his present, pulling out a knitted wool cap
with a pom-pom)
ANICA: What a nice cap. Say “thank you” to Aunt Helena.
HELENA: Do you like it?
MARIJAN: Well… It’s… nice.
ANICA: And how are you doing, Stela?
STELA: I’m fine. My fever broke yesterday. I drank a lot of tea, and
now I’m better.
ANICA: That’s nice. I’m so glad.
(The doorbell rings.)
ANICA: Excuse me. I have to get that.
(Anica exits.)
VINKO: I’m so glad our children are friends.
HELENA: They get along together, those two.
VINKO: So, where do you work?
HELENA: At the post office on Jurišićeva Street.
VINKO: So, I’ll see you at the counter when I go there to send a letter?
HELENA: I don’t work at a counter, but in an office. I’m a typist.
VINKO: I’ve always admired anyone who can type using all ten fingers
without looking.
HELENA: Oh, it’s easy, really. You can learn it in no time.
(Anica leads Grga and Elizabeta and their ten-year-old daughter
Karmen into the room. Karmen is sitting in a child’s chair on wheels.)

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ANICA: This is my husband, Vinko!
(Vinko offers his hand to Elizabeta and then to Grga.)
VINKO: I’m Vinko. Pleased to meet you!
ELIZABETA: I’m Elizabeta.
(They shake hands.)
GRGA: I’m Grga, it’s a pleasure.
VINKO: I’m Vinko, good to meet you!
(They shake hands.)
VINKO: So this is your daughter – how pretty she is! What was her
name again?
ELIZABETA: Karmen.
VINKO: A nice Spanish name. Isn’t that right?
ELIZABETA: Yes, it is.
VINKO: I think there was a movie by that name.
ELIZABETA: Not a movie, an opera.
VINKO: Oh, yeah – you might be right – I know it was something
entertaining or humorous.
GRGA: And this is the present we got for Marijan!
(Grga hands a gift-wrapped soccer ball to Marijan. Marijan
immediately removes the wrapping paper.)
MARIJAN: Hey, it’s a soccer ball!
BORIS: It’s beautiful!
MARIJAN: Thank you very much!
GRGA: We know that all boys love soccer.
VINKO: Marijan’s crazy about soccer. What can I get you to drink?
Something a bit stronger?
KARMEN: I’d like to see your TV.
ANICA: So I take it that Marijan has already told you that we bought a
television set?

13
KARMEN: That’s why I came to his birthday party – to see what your
TV looks like.
ELIZABETA: You did not come because of the television.
KARMEN: If it weren’t for the TV, I would’ve stayed at home on such a
cold day.
VINKO: We can all go see the television set, and after that we’ll have
a drink.
BORIS: My grandma says that only rich people have televisions.
VINKO: Something in the living room interferes with the picture, but
we don’t know what it is. That’s why we put it in the kids’ room. Feel
free . . . come in and see it. (Vinko, Elizabeta, Helena, Grga, Boris,
and Karmen all go into the children’s room. Anica, Marijan, Stela, and
Sanja remain in the living room.)
ANICA: Don’t you want to see the TV set?
STELA: I know what it looks like. I’ve seen the one at my uncle’s
house. He bought a television two months ago.
ANICA: Oh … I see.
(The doorbell rings.)
ANICA: Who could that be?
(Anica exits. The children remain alone in the living room.)
SANJA: Do you have a doll?
STELA: I’ve got three dolls.
SANJA: Did you bring one that we can play with?
STELA: No – dolls are for little kids. I don’t play with dolls anymore.
SANJA: That’s too bad.
STELA: Marijan, have you learned that poem by heart yet?
MARIJAN: Not yet. What about you?
STELA: I know the first two verses, but I still have to memorize the
last one.

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MARIJAN: That’s funny, I know the last one really well, but I’m still
having trouble with the first two – we can whisper to each other if we
don’t learn the whole thing by Monday.
STELA: Okay, we can try that … but we have to make sure the
teacher doesn’t hear us.
(Anica, Luka, and Manda enter the living room.)
ANICA: Grandma and Grandpa are here!
LUKA: Which one of you is ten years old today?
MANDA: Grandma’s favorite boy!
MARIJAN: Grandma, Grandpa!
(Marijan rushes to hug his Grandma and Grandpa. They kiss each
other.)
LUKA: Look how you’ve grown in just three months!
MANDA: My little Sanja, how are you? I couldn’t wait to see you.
(Manda and Luka smother Sanja with kisses.)
LUKA: So where is my son?
ANICA: He’s in the children’s room, showing our television set to the
guests.
MANDA: A television! That’s something I must see – I can’t believe
you bought a television.
ANICA: Come on, let me show you.
(Anica takes Manda into the children’s room.)
MARIJAN: Grandpa, did you bring me a present?
LUKA: Grandma has brought you all some ham and sausages. And
I’ve brought some fresh eggs.
MARIJAN: Don’t you have anything for me?
(Grandpa pulls a bisernica – a small mandoline-like instrument – out of
his backpack.)
LUKA: This is a bisernica – so you can learn how to play it.
MARIJAN: But Daddy just gave me a guitar this morning.

15
LUKA: The bisernica is better for playing our folksongs – you are
Slavonian, not American.
MARIJAN: Thank you, Grandpa.
(At that moment, Vinko comes out of the children’s room.)
VINKO: Papa, how are you?
LUKA: Now that I’ve escaped from the hospital, I’m fine.
(They hug each other.)
VINKO: You look good.
LUKA: I’m afraid I can’t say the same for you. As soon as someone
becomes a business executive, they grow older fast.
VINKO: Thanks a heap, Papa.
BORIS: I’d like to see that TV set!
MARIJAN: Come on, I can show you.
STELA: I’m coming, too.
SANJA: So am I.
BORIS: Sis, how come you’re always following us around?
SANJA: I want to play with you guys.
BORIS: But we don’t want to play with you – you’re still a little kid. You
don’t know anything. You don’t even go to school yet.
SANJA: I can count to ten.
BORIS: Do you know how to write?
SANJA: No, I don’t.
BORIS: Then everything you know is stupid.
(The children go into the children’s room.)
LUKA: Listen, I have to tell you something while you’re wife’s not
around … in the hospital there was a man whose brother works in your
factory.
VINKO: What’s his last name?

16
LUKA: I can’t remember … He was telling me all about the factory and
about the new director, who, as soon as he arrived, got involved with
the lady who runs accounting. And she’s a married woman.
VINKO: Ridiculous … people make up all kinds of stories.
LUKA: You promised me that things were going to be different from
now on. One day, some jealous husband is going to beat the crap out
of you … And what if your wife finds out?! Or her father?! – don’t forget
that without his help, without his political connections, you never would
have become a company director in Zagreb, nor would you be living in
this big apartment. He won’t be very happy if he finds out that you’ve
been cheating on his daughter. You could easily lose everything one
day.
VINKO: Come on, don’t scare me like that. I’ve only just started living
well.
LUKA: You promised me that things were going to be different from
now on. One day some jealous husband is going to beat the crap out
of you.
VINKO: That’s not going to happen, don’t worry. I know how to take
care of myself.
LUKA: I feel ashamed among my friends when I think about the kind
of man you’ve become.
VINKO: What are you talking about?
LUKA: You joined the Party, you’re a company director now – we
used to avoid such people like the plague. Your grandfather, may he
rest in peace, was in the Croatian Peasants Party, and everyone
respected him, but you – you’re a Communist! We avoided both the
Ustashe and the Partisans – both groups came into power by
revolutionary means, gun in hand … In the last free elections, the
Peasants Party got ninety percent of the votes. The majority of Croats

17
were always for the moderate traditional option, not for extremism and
violence.
VINKO: Papa … quiet … someone might hear you! In these times,
you can’t get anywhere in life without the Party. It’s simply impossible!
Without them, I could never have risen from the bottom – even a
college degree is worthless if you don’t join.
LUKA: Man, you’ve trampled all over your own beliefs.
VINKO: What beliefs – I don’t give a damn about the Party or about
socialism … I just want to do my own job, and I want my family to live
comfortably. What’s so bad about that?
LUKA: Here today, gone tomorrow. Even socialism will fail one day.
VINKO: Quiet … I shouldn’t even be hearing this! That kind of
language can get you thrown into Goli Otok prison … it can even get
you killed!
LUKA: I only talk like this to you and to your mother.
VINKO: Well, don’t even say such things to us, because you never
know who might be listening.
(Anica, Manda, Elizabeta, Grga, Sanja, and Karmen come in from the
children’s room.)
HELENA: The television is wonderful!
ELIZABETA: Too bad there’s so much snow on the screen.
ANICA: Oh, that’s just today – it’s normally much better … And this is
Vinko’s father.
LUKA: Hello everybody!
VINKO: Papa literally escaped from the hospital today just so that he
could be here for Marijan’s birthday party.
GRGA: Why were you in the hospital?
ANICA: Watch what you say to him – he’s a doctor.
LUKA: It was nothing, really – just a kidney infection – but then things
got complicated when they found a bladder infection … Now

18
everything is fine. I just have to take some medicine for three more
weeks. They wanted to keep me there until Monday, but my wife
saved me – she told the doctor that we had to be present at our
grandson’s birthday, and that if he didn’t sign my release, I would
break out of the hospital.
GRGA: What medicine did they prescribe you?
LUKA: Those little blue pills.
GRGA: Those are the best … but you should also drink herbal tea for
your bladder infection.
LUKA: That’s the first time a doctor has advised me to drink tea as a
remedy, and not just medicine.
GRGA: If you asked me, I would discontinue fifty percent of all
medicines.
ELIZABETA: Grga, you shouldn’t say such things in front of people.
GRGA: Why shouldn’t I? Even the most critical patients experience
improvement when their drug dosages are lowered – it’s just that my
colleagues don’t want to admit it.
ELIZABETA: And that’s why you’ll never become head of your
department.
GRGA: Well I don't ever need to. Let me tell you, if the patients knew
what imbeciles run our hospital departments… I feel sorry for the
patients – everyone thinks that medicines are the solution, but in many
cases, medicines are pure poison.
LUKA: What should I do, then, stop taking the pills?
ELIZABETA: There, see what you’ve just done? You’ve scared the
man with your stories.
GRGA: Not true at all – keep on taking those pills your doctor has
prescribed for you – you have to do as he says. But drink the herbal
tea as well.
ELIZABETA: Hey everyone, guess where we were yesterday!

19
 ANICA: Where?
ELIZABETA: In Ivanec. In that store where you go in and you can
take whatever you want all by yourself. And you pay for it when you go
out.
HELENA: What’s it called?
ELIZABETA: A supermarket.
MANDA: What do you mean, you take everything all by yourself?
ELIZABETA: They have baskets there. You take a basket and go to
the shelf and you take what you want to buy.
MANDA: Now I’ve heard everything.
HELENA: That’s right, I read about it in the newspaper.
MANDA: That’s ridiculous! It’s much nicer when the shopkeeper
serves you. Imagine having to look for everything on the shelves.
VINKO: Next month one of those supermarkets is going to open here
in Zagreb, too.
ELIZABETA: Really, where?
VINKO: On Ilica Street, number twenty-two.
ANICA: Hey, why don’t we go see what it looks like as soon as it
opens.
(Suddenly a thump, followed by the sound of shattering glass, can be heard
coming from the children’s room.)
ANICA: My God, what was that?!
VINKO: I’m afraid to guess!
(Vinko runs into the children’s room.)
LUKA: It sounded like someone broke a window with a hammer.
MANDA: As if a huge chandelier just fell on the floor!
LUKA: Chandelier? There’s no chandelier in the kids’ room.
(A moment later Vinko comes out of the children’s room pulling
Marijan by the ear.)
VINKO: Idiot! Fool! How could you do such a thing?!

20
MARIJAN: Ow, that hurts! Stop! I didn’t do it on purpose.
ANICA: What happened?
(Frightened, Boris and Stela come out of the children’s room after
them.)
VINKO: This son of yours is an idiot. He smashed the television with
his ball. There, that’s what happened! That television set, which cost
six times my monthly director’s salary, is now completely worthless.
Now it’s just a pile of broken glass.
ANICA: How awful! Can’t it be repaired?
VINKO: There’s nothing left to be repaired. He kicked the ball straight
into the TV, which fell off its stand, right onto the floor, screen first. The
screen shattered, together with all those parts behind it!
ELIZABETA: Didn’t I tell you not to buy him that stupid ball?!
GRGA: Hey, it’s not my fault the kid was playing soccer indoors.
ELIZABETA: We should have bought him a sweater.
GRGA: It’s easy to have good judgement after the fact.
MANDA: So I guess we won’t be watching any television today, will
we?
VINKO: Not today, or ever! (To Marijan): You’re grounded! No more
playing! No more birthday party, either. Go straight to our bedroom –
immediately! And don’t come out until the guests leave!
ANICA: Vinko, what’s wrong with you?! You can’t banish him to our
bedroom … it’s his birthday! We have guests!
VINKO: Our guests can stay, but for him, the celebration is over! And
for the next three months, no movies, no soccer practice, and no
playing with friends!
ANICA: Vinko, you can’t punish him like that on his own birthday!
VINKO: And why not?
ANICA: Who will blow out the candles when I bring out the cake?
VINKO: I’ll blow them out if I have to.

21
ANICA: You’ll blow out the candles on you own son’s birthday cake?!
VINKO: Yes, I will!
ANICA: You are one disturbed individual!
VINKO: Anica, I forbid you to undermine my authority in front of the
children, or even in front of our guests, for that matter!
ANICA: You’re doing it all by yourself, when you act like that.
MARIJAN: Daddy, won’t you at least let me have a piece of cake?
VINKO: What did I tell you? Go to our bedroom, now. And I don’t want
to hear you utter another word! But the rest of us will celebrate. So,
everyone, what do you all want to drink?
(Marijan dejectedly goes into his parents’ bedroom.)
STELA: If Marijan isn’t going to celebrate – neither am I.
VINKO: What are you going to do, then?
STELA: I’ll keep Marijan company, so he won’t be alone.
VINKO: Come back out when we cut the cake.
STELA: If he can’t have any cake, then I don’t want any, either.
VINKO: Can you believe this generation? They’re all so defiant and
stubborn! We never behaved like that towards our parents.

SEQUENCE TWO (1967)

SCENE A)
(Before us are three couples: Marijan and Stela, Boris and Sanja, and
Karmen and Danko. At a dance in Zagreb they’re playing American
hits from 1967, one after another, so that the following songs can be
heard: “Light My Fire” by the Doors, “All You Need Is Love” by the

22
Beatles, “I'm a Believer” by The Monkees, “Respect” by Aretha
Franklin, “Can't Take My Eyes off of You” by Frankie Valli, “Happy
Together” by The Turtles, “Something Stupid” by Frank and Nancy
Sinatra, and “The Letter” by The Box Tops. When faster songs are
played, then the six young people dance together wildly, and when the
music is slow, the couple who is talking moves to the front of the stage
and dances slowly, while the other two couples dance fast in the
background.)
BORIS: Listen – Marijan’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. I wanted
to give him a record as a present, but I’m not sure if he’s already
bought it.
SANJA: Say the title, and I'll tell you if he already has it.
BORIS: In Austria I was able to find “Light My Fire” by The Doors and
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin. I’d like to give him one and keep the
other for myself.
SANJA: Give him The Doors. He’s crazy about them.
BORIS: What are you doing tomorrow afternoon?
SANJA: What a stupid question – I’ll be in school then.
BORIS: My grandma’s going to Zadar for a week. I’ll have the
apartment to myself. Skip your last class and come over to my place.
SANJA: Why?
BORIS: Guess.
SANJA: No way! … You’re scaring me.
BORIS: What do you have to be afraid of? – We’ll just listen to
records.
SANJA: I don’t trust you. Just because we’ve made out together two
or three times doesn’t mean that I’ll agree to be alone with you in your
apartment.

23
BORIS: We haven’t made out together two or three times; it was four
times… Sooner or later you’ll have to discover the male universe, so
it’s better that you have that experience with me.
SANJA: I like you, but I’m not sure if I love you or not.
BORIS: Oh, come on — don’t complicate life. You know that I care
about you.
SANJA: See? You don’t love me either; you just want to get into my
pants.
BORIS: And what’s wrong with that?
SANJA: I’m sixteen years old, and you’re twenty. I would be
embarrassed to tell my girlfriends that I’m involved with a boy who’s in
his second year of college.
BORIS: You don’t have to say anything to anyone. It’ll be our little
secret … or big secret.
SANJA: You’re my brother’s best friend. Who knows if he’d like to find
out that the two of us are fooling around?
BORIS: I don’t know if I am his best friend anymore – recently, he’s
been spending more time with Danko than he has with me.
SANJA: That makes perfect logical sense — he and Danko study at
the same faculty.
BORIS: I’m not a big fan of that Danko.
SANJA: Why not?
BORIS: He’s serious, he’s uptight, and he hasn’t got any sense of
humor. Look how badly he’s dancing with Karmen.
SANJA: He looks like a pretty good dancer to me.
BORIS: Come on, come over to my place tomorrow – you won’t regret
it.
SANJA: No chance.
(All six dance together, engrossed in the music, then Danko and
Karmen move slowly into the foreground.)

24
DANKO: Are you coming to Marijan’s birthday party?
KARMEN: I’ll be there.
DANKO: I bought him “The Letter” by the Box Tops.
KARMEN: That’s a nice song.
DANKO: Ever since his father gave him that Dual stereo, he only talks
about new records … Would you like go see a movie with me
tomorrow?
KARMEN: I can’t. I’m busy.
DANKO: How about on Sunday?
KARMEN: I can’t on Sunday, either. I have a lot of studying to do.
DANKO: Even on Sunday evening?
KARMEN: I have a lot to catch up on.
DANKO: You’ve been avoiding me for months. – And I have a feeling I
know why.
KARMEN: Why?
DANKO: Because of Marijan. – But he only talks about Stela. You can
tell he’s in love by the way he looks at her.
KARMEN: That’s ridiculous! Stela and I have been best friends since
primary school. If they were together, I’d be the first one she’d tell.
DANKO: You mean that you still nurture the hope that he’ll be yours
one day?
KARMEN: Now did I ever say that?
DANKO: You’re better off if you stick with me.
KARMEN: Oh, is that so?! – Do you mind telling my why?
DANKO: So that at least I’ll be happy with my sex life, since you’ll
never be happy with yours.
KARMEN: You really say the stupidest things.
(Again the music takes over the scene, and the six of them dance
together without talking for a while, until Marijan and Stela move into
the foreground.)

25
MARIJAN: I love you.
STELA: I love you, too.
MARIJAN: I’d love to kiss you in front of everyone.
STELA: But we agreed that we’d keep it a secret until your birthday,
and when the cake is cut, then you’ll tell everyone that we’re going out
together.
MARIJAN: And I’ll also tell my parents that I don’t want to live with
them any longer, and that I want them to rent me an apartment and
that you’ll be moving in with me in a month.
STELA: Do you think your parents will agree to that?
MARIJAN: I hope they will. Our mothers are best friends. They’ll be
delighted. My Dad won’t have a problem with it, either.

SCENA B)
(Vinko sits at a table in a coffee house, drinking a beer. Đuro
approaches him.)
ĐURO: Hello, Comrade Vinko!
VINKO: Hey, Đuro! You want a beer?
ĐURO: Thanks, but I’ll pass! This heartburn has been bothering me
since this morning.
VINKO: How about something stronger?
ĐURO: Absolutely not – liquor just makes it worse. Today I’m not
going to eat or drink anything — until it dies down.
VINKO: Whatever you say … So – what’s the situation?
ĐURO: To be honest, boss – your wife is on the straight and narrow.
VINKO: Are you sure?
ĐURO: I’m certain of it. Besides spending time with her girlfriends,
there are no men in her life. You can rest assured.
VINKO: So this is all reliable and verified information?

26
ĐURO: One hundred percent!
(Vinko pulls an envelope out of his inside pocket and hands it to Đuro.)
VINKO: This is for you.
ĐURO: Thank you, Comrade Vinko … although… it feels strange for
you to pay me for this – I really didn’t dig up anything – we’ve just
been wasting time.
VINKO: Don’t worry about it … I don’t mind paying you … besides, I
like to be sure.
ĐURO: And I feel uncomfortable about keeping tabs on your wife –
we’re neighbors, after all. We know each other.
VINKO: And that’s why I value your services even more.
ĐURO: But it’s also because of you that I find it strange to be keeping
tabs on her.
VINKO: What do you mean, because of me?
ĐURO: Why are you spying on your wife? Why is it so important that
your wife is faithful, when you aren’t faithful to her?
VINKO: Đuro, you have to understand — she is the mother of my
children. It’s important to me that the mother of my children is a
woman who is upright. Now do you understand?
ĐURO: No, I don’t.
VINKO: Do you know why you don’t understand me?
ĐURO: Why?
VINKO: You can’t understand me because you are a bachelor – you
never got married, you have no children, you have no family to belong
to or to take care of. You only had your police force, until they kicked
you out and forced you into retirement.
(Silence.)
ĐURO: Although I’m not married, I look upon that institution a bit
differently than you do.

27
VINKO: I used to look upon it a lot differently, as well, but that was
before I got married.

SCENA C)
(Marijan’s birthday party is taking place. In the left half of the living
room are young Marijan, Sanja, Boris, Karmen, and Danko, while in
the right half are the older well-wishers: Vinko, Grga, Elizabeta, Luka,
and Manda. They are all having conversations, each with a glass in his
or her hand.)
ELIZABETA: We’ve planned the whole thing out – On the first day
we’ll go to Trieste, and on the second we’ll be in Opatija.
GRGA: We’ll spend the night in the hotel where they hold that music
festival. It would be so nice if you came with us.
VINKO: When?
GRGA: Next Saturday and Sunday.
VINKO: I’m afraid I’m busy.
GRGA: What a shame.
(Anica appears with a tray on which there are bits of bread with
caviar.)
ANICA: Here – help yourselves!
LUKA: What is that?
ANICA: Caviar.
MANDA: I find it a bit salty.
LUKA: I’ve already tried that once – it’s not bad before wine.
(They all take some bread with caviar.)
ELIZABETA: It’s too bad that you’re busy next weekend and can’t
come with us to Trieste and Opatija.
ANICA: Who says we’re busy? We’re free. I was planning on going to
Trieste; winter is coming, and I simply must buy some winter clothes.
VINKO: I’ll be on a business trip in Osijek.

28
ANICA: What business trip? – Cancel it; we’re going to Trieste and
Opatija!
VINKO: There’s no way I can get out of it. This was planned months
ago.
ANICA: Then I’m going alone with them to Trieste.
VINKO: You aren’t seriously considering going without me, are you?!
ANICA: What do you expect me to do when you’re away every
weekend?
(The way in which Anica says this makes everyone in the room
uncomfortable.)
GRGA: If there’s any possibility … You should cancel your trip.
(Anica goes towards the kitchen carrying the empty tray. Elizabeta
goes after her. When they are far enough away from the rest,
Elizabeta addresses Anica.)
ELIZABETA: Anica, what’s going on?
ANICA: You’d better not ask.
ELIZABETA: That tension between the two of you … what’s it all
about?
ANICA: He’s cheating on me with some slut.
ELIZABETA: Come on, I’m sure it’s not what you think! Don’t
complicate your life out of jealousy.
ANICA: This is not a question of jealousy — I have concrete proof that
he’s cheating on me.
ELIZABETA: What sort of proof?
(Anica pulls a letter out of her pocket.)
ANICA: I found this letter in his coat pocket. Just read what she wrote
to him:
“My dearest Tomcat,
I had to leave the hotel earlier, while you were still asleep. I’m so
sorry we didn’t shower together this time.

29
 You were fantastic last night. I love you!
Your passionate Pussycat”
ELIZABETA: Shit! Does he know that you suspect?
ANICA: He has no idea. I have to poke around and find out who that
is. If he figures out that I know, he’ll be more careful. You know what I
really want to do? I’d love to just push him out that window.
(The focus now shifts to the young people.)
BORIS: All right, Marijan, my old friend, can I give a toast now, so that
the official celebration can begin – birthday cake, candles, and the
rest?
MARIJAN: Wait – not all of the guests have arrived. As soon as Stela
and her mother get here, you can give a speech, if that’s what you
really want to do.
BORIS: Well, I don’t really feel like it … it’s just that your father asked
me to do it. He says that a man’s twentieth birthday is an important
day in his life and that such a celebration shouldn’t pass without a
toast and a formal speech that will be remembered for the rest of his
life.
MARIJAN: He always has to organize everything. Everything has to
be bombastic and significant.
DANKO (to Boris): I can’t wait to hear what you say in your toast.
KARMEN: Are you going to improvise, or have you learned everything
by heart?
BORIS: Neither – I have it all written down.
KARMEN: You’re not going to read it from a sheet of paper, are you?
This isn’t a funeral! Can’t you say it in your own words, you know,
spontaneously?
BORIS: Are you crazy – I can’t talk naturally in front of everyone —
what if I get confused and mess up the speech!
SANJA: We’re all friends here.

30
DANKO: Dude, you’re a nervous wreck. I’ll crack up laughing if you
start reading from a piece of paper.
BORIS: You do and I’ll kill you!
(Stela and her mother enter the room.)
BORIS: Here they are!
STELA: Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Thank you!
(Stela kisses Marijan on the cheek and hands him a gift-wrapped little
package.)
STELA: This is for you.
MARIJAN: What is it?
STELA: You’ll see when you open it.
HELENA: Happy birthday, Marijan! Here, this one is from me!
(Helena kisses Marijan in the cheek and hands him a gift-wrapped
package the size of a large book.)
MARIJAN: Thank you very much. I have to open it right away to see
what I got.
ANICA: We started to worry that you might not come.
(Marijan opens Stela’s little gift and pulls a little music box out of the
wrapping.)
MARIJAN: It’s beautiful.
(He starts turning the little crank on the music box and the sound of
Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the Four Seasons cycle can be heard.)
STELA: I’m glad you like it.
ANICA (to Helena): Would you like to come with us this weekend to
Trieste and Opatija?
HELENA: Who do you mean, with us?
ANICA: With Grga and Elizabeta.
HELENA: I don’t know about this weekend – I have a lot of typing to
do.

31
(At this moment, Marijan is unwrapping the book that Helena has just
given him.)
SANJA: What did you get?
MARIJAN: It’s that book by Ranko Marinković — “Cyclops”.
HELENA: Everybody is talking about that novel. It’s won all kinds of
awards, so I thought … Anyway, Stela told me you don’t have that
book.
MARIJAN: That's right, we don’t. Thank you so much.
HELENA: I wrote something for the occasion inside.
(Marijan turns over one page, and then another, and reads Helena’s
dedication to himself.)
ANICA: Are we permitted to know what it says?
MARIJAN: Here – go ahead and read it, I’d be embarrassed to read it
out loud. It’s beautifully written.
(Anica takes the book from her son, reads it, and turns white.)
ANICA: I can’t believe it! This is impossible!
MARIJAN: Mama, what’s wrong?!
ANICA: What a fool I am!
ELIZABETA: What is it, Anica?
(Anica takes out the letter that she found in her husband’s coat and
compares it to the dedication in the book. Then she shows both texts
to Elizabeta.)
ANICA: Look – it’s the same handwriting!
ELIZABETA: Mother of God, you’re right!
MARIJAN: What are you talking about?
HELENA: What is this all about?
ANICA: “My dearest Tomcat, I had to leave the hotel earlier, while you
were still asleep. … Your passionate Pussycat.
(Helena turns white.)
HELENA: I, I … I … I don’t know … I …

32
ANICA: Get…your…ass out of my house! And you’d better hope I
never see you again!
HELENA: This is some kind of misunderstanding … I … a mistake …
This is all a mistake.
ANICA: I said – get out!
(Everyone turns to look at them.)
VINKO: What’s wrong?
ANICA: I’ve just discovered who your passionate Pussycat is. Now I
know why you’ve been taking business trips every weekend —
because of that slut!
HELENA: I, am not—
ANICA: You are not - what?!
(Anica goes towards Helena’s face, ready to scratch her with her
fingernails.)
HELENA: Ow … my face … She’s scratched my face!
ANICA: There you go, there you go!
(Anica punches Helena several times in the head.)
HELENA: Noooo!
(Vinko runs up to protect Helena, but Anica slaps him in the face.)
ANICA: You disgusting pig!
(Anica again starts to attack Helena, who screams.)
MARIJAN: Mama, don’t! Stop!
ELIZABETA: Anica, stop it!
(There is a scuffle – Elizabeta, Marijan, and Grga stand between Anica
and Helena.)
HELENA: We’re leaving. Stela, let’s go!
(Helena and Stela go towards the door.)
MARIJAN: Stela, stop. Don’t go!
(Helena and Stela leave. Marijan goes after them.)
VINKO: What do you think you’re doing? Have you lost your mind?!

33
ANICA: You’ve got a lot of nerve asking me if I’ve lost my mind! You
cheat on me with my best friend, and you ask me if I’ve gone crazy?!
You’re a shit of a man! That’s what you are – an ordinary piece of shit!
VINKO: Don’t talk to me like that in front of these people!
ANICA: You know what? Fuck you and your polite behavior! It’s over
between us. Forever! I’m leaving you; I’m leaving you for good!
(Anica goes into her room and slams the door behind her.)
MANDA: Vinko? What is going on here, son? Do something, or you’ll
end up without a wife!
VINKO: What can I do with a madwoman? It’s obvious she’s gone
crazy.
MANDA: Do you mean you’re going to let her go, just like that?
VINKO: Well, of course not … I guess.
(An agonizing silence ensues.)
DANKO: I’m going to go see where Marijan is.
(As if Danko has given them an excellent idea for how to extract
themselves from this uncomfortable situation, Karmen and Boris
accept this as their intention as well.)
KARMEN: I’m going with you.
BORIS: Yes, we have to find him.
(Karmen, Boris, and Danko exit without greeting the rest.)
LUKA: Do something, son!
VINKO: What can I do?
(Anica comes out of her room carrying a travel bag and wearing an
autumn trenchcoat. She is walking hurriedly towards the door of the
apartment.
VINKO: Where do you think you’re going?
ANICA: I’m going to my parents’ – I’ll see you in court!
VINKO: Wait a minute! Stop!

34
(Anica leaves the apartment without stopping and slams the door for
the second time.)
MANDA: Well, go after her!
VINKO: I’m not about to go running after that crazy woman until she
cools off.
MANDA: She could very well hurt herself, in that state.
VINKO: No … she wouldn’t do that.
MANDA: you mustn’t be so nonchalant about this. Sanja, let’s you and
I go after her!
VINKO: You don’t even know in which direction she’s gone.
MANDA: Either to the bus terminal or the train station. Let’s go!
(Manda and Sanja start towards the door.)
GRGA: Listen, man, we have to go now, too. If you need anything –
just call me.
ELIZABETA: If I get a call from Anica, what should I tell her?
VINKO: Uh tell her … tell her I’m sorry and that she misunderstood
everything, that nothing happened … Say something along those lines
… now that she has proof – whatever you say won’t be of much help,
anyway.
(Elizabeta and Grga leave the apartment in silence. Vinko and his
father, Luka, are left alone. There is a long silence. Vinko goes to the
table, takes a glass of wine, and downs it in one gulp.)
LUKA: I knew it would come to this sooner or later.
VINKO: It’s easy to spit out words of wisdom now. I’m under pressure
seven days a week. No one knows how things are for me at work, or
what it’s like for me at home. Plus I’m under pressure from the
Committee. I’m the one who carries the burden for the family and for
the company. I’ve been director for ten years, and I haven’t taken one
day of vacation time for seven years straight. And if I take time off, I
know that one of my closest colleagues will stab me in the back.

35
LUKA: None of that gives you the right to be unfaithful to your wife.
VINKO: Everything I did was so that she and the kids would be happy,
so that they would have everything, so that they would have a future. I
provided them with travel, a cottage by the sea, a car that others can
only dream of … everything they wanted, I gave them everything.
VINKO: What are you talking about, man?! – Your family is falling
apart right before your eyes, yet even now all you can think about are
your job, your new car, and your new summer house. You’re
surrounded by emotionally wounded people, and you don’t even notice
it. What you’ve done to your own wife – it’s disgraceful!
VINKO: Papa, whose side are you on? You’re my father, not hers.
(Marijan enters the room. He looks dejected, pensive. He is staring
into space.)
VINKO: Did you manage to talk to Helena … to Stela?
MARIJAN: It’s over. Everything is finished. Stela doesn’t want to have
anything to do with me … This is horrible! … Dad, is it true that you
were involved with Aunt Helena?
VINKO: I can’t talk to you about that.
MARIJAN: You’ve ruined everything. You’ve ruined everything I ever
wanted.
VINKO: What are you telling me?
MARIJAN: You were always like that. Everything always had to be the
way you wanted it.
VINKO: I did everything so that you would all be happy. You live better
than ninety-nine percent of the boys in Croatia, and yet – you are
unhappy and unsatisfied. Even though you have everything.
MARIJAN: I don’t have anything anymore! Nothing at all! I’m
disgusted by you and by this life!
VINKO: You’d better watch how you talk to me, young man! I will not
allow you to use that tone with me! I am your father.

36
MARIJAN: It’s as if you’re not my father at all.
LUKA: Children, don’t let this go any further, or you might say things
to each other that you’ll regret tomorrow. You both need to calm
down. Marijan, try to go easy on your father for now. Even parents
have the right to make mistakes, and they should sometimes be
forgiven … And you, Vinko, you should go after your wife and,
somehow, try to straighten out everything that just happened. Try to
patch things up. Everyone makes mistakes, but only those who admit
their mistakes — and want to make up for them — can get another
chance.
VINKO: Papa, please, I’m not in grade school anymore! – I’ve had
enough of your lectures! If I had lived by your rules, we would be
starving today.

SEQUENCE THREE (1977)

SCENE A)
(Zoran, who is five years old in this scene, is sitting in a child’s chair on
wheels. The song “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees is playing on the
radio. The music gradually stops. In Zoran’s hand is an old-fashioned
toy car, the kind that were in style in 1977. He is mimicking the sound
of a car accelerating.)
ZORAN: Brrrrum… brrrrum… brrrrum!
(His mother, Biba, enters the room. She is a young woman, thirty-five
years of age.)
BIBA: Zoran, can you please be a little more quiet?
ZORAN: Brrrrum!
BIBA: Did you hear me?
ZORAN: I’m playing, Mama.

37
BIBA: I have a headache. I need a little bit of peace and quiet.
ZORAN: Why do you always want peace and quiet?
BIBA: Because in these five years, since you were born, I haven’t had
even one day of peace or quiet.
ZORAN: I think quiet is boring.
BIBA: Listen, boy – your brother is celebrating his thirtieth birthday
today. His friends are coming, and there will be lots of guests … today
you have to be good, and you have to do as you’re told. Y’hear me?
ZORAN: Marijan is not my brother. He’s my half-brother.
BIBA: It’s almost the same thing.
ZORAN: When he came to get me at nursery school yesterday, that
new teacher thought he was my Daddy, and when Daddy drove me
there one time, the lady who cooks for us there asked me, “Is that your
grandfather?”
BIBA: Your Daddy’s a little bit older, but he’s good-looking!
ZORAN: He looks like he’s my grandpa.
BIBA: Don’t you ever say that in front of him.
(Vinko enters the room from the bathroom. He is putting on his shirt.)
VINKO: What are you two talking about?
BIBA: Oh, nothing … about nursery school.
(Silence)
BIBA: I’d rather that you hadn’t invited her.
VINKO: I didn’t invite her of my own will – That was Marijan’s one
condition.
BIBA: Marijan’s one condition?!
VINKO: That’s right. He told me right out that he would agree to
celebrate his birthday here only if his mother would be at the party, as
well.
BIBA: Oh yeah, and you accepted that condition with open arms,
didn’t you?

38
VINKO: Well, what else could I do? It’s important to me that we all get
together as a family at least once or twice a year.
BIBA: It would be easier for me to take little Zoran out to the park and
stay there until the party’s over.
VINKO: Don’t be silly. Why would you run away from our home?! You
are my legal wife; your place is here, by my side.
BIBA: I know, but … this is still the birthday of your son from your first
marriage.
(Sanja arrives.)
SANJA: Hi, everyone! Hey, where’s Marijan? I was afraid I would be
late for the party, and look – the birthday boy hasn’t even arrived!
VINKO: He went out with his wife and their son to Maksimir Park for a
stroll and a cup of coffee. It’s such a beautiful day. They were joined
by Danko and his wife and Boris and his girlfriend.
(The telephone rings.)
SANJA: Have you brought the cake from the pastry shop?
BIBA: Yes, we have.
SANJA: And – how is it?
BIBA: Huge. It’s very pretty.
SANJA: I’m going to take a look.
(Sanja goes into the kitchen.)
VINKO: They shouldn’t have decorated it with whipped cream.
BIBA: Why not?
VINKO: Marijan doesn’t like whipped cream.
BIBA: You could have told me that.
VINKO: I forgot.
BIBA: You forget everything that’s important.
(The doorbell rings.)
VINKO: Come on in, it’s open!
(Anica enters the room. In her hand is a gift-wrapped present.)

39
ANICA: Hi!
VINKO: Hi!
ANICA: Where’s Marijan?
VINKO: In Maksimir Park.
ANICA: Oh, I see.
VINKO: Let me introduce you two – Biba, this is Anica, Anica, this is
Biba.
(The two women shake hands.)
BIBA: It’s nice to meet you. I’m Biba.
ANICA: I’m Anica.
(Confused silence)
VINKO: I’m glad you came.
ANICA: I had to – because of Marijan.
(Silence. Anica points at Zoran.)
ANICA: So this is your little one?
VINKO: Zoran. That’s his name, Zoran.
(Anica goes over to Zoran.)
BIBA: Shake hands with the nice lady.
(Zoran puts his hands under his armpits in protest.
VINKO: What are you doing, Zoran?
BIBA: Be polite and introduce yourself, like we taught you.
(Zoran shakes his head demonstratively from side to side.)
ANICA: It’s okay, leave the child alone. How old is he?
BIBA: He turned five a month ago.
ANICA: He’s big for his age.
(Sanja comes in from the kitchen.)
SANJA: Mama, you’re here!
ANICA: Hi, sweetie!
(the mother and daughter kiss, clearly glad to see each other.)
SANJA: How are you?

40
ANICA: Good … And your boyfriend? Where is he?
SANJA: He’s always running a little late.
(Anica finally puts down her present, which she has been holding in
her left hand, together with her handbag, on the table.)
SANJA: I’m so glad you came to the party … You haven’t been here
in ten years … exactly ten years.
ANICA: Yep, that’s right
(The telephone rings.)
SANJA: I’ll get it – I’m sure it’s someone who wants to wish Marijan a
happy birthday.
(Sanja picks up the receiver.)
SANJA: Hello … Grandma, this is Sanja … What?!… When?!… My
God, that’s terrible!!!… You didn’t tell us he was in the hospital … Just
a second, he’s right here. Daddy, I can’t believe it … Grandpa just
died. It’s Grandma on the phone.
VINKO: Grandpa? – but that’s impossible! I was talking to him about
Marijan’s birthday only yesterday!
(Vinko takes the receiver from Sanja.)
VINKO: Mama, how?! … When?! … You should have called me last
night … I’m leaving for Požega in half an hour – I’ll take care of
everything … Hang in there, Mama … There’s no sense crying … You
know how Papa said, when he went to the hospital last time, that he
had lived enough for two people … Okay, Mama – take care, I’ll be
there as soon as I can.
(He hangs up the phone.)
VINKO: Last night he felt sick, so the ambulance squad took him off to
the hospital. This morning he felt a little better … He died half an hour
ago.
ANICA: How awful! He was such a good man.
BIBA: What now?

41
VINKO: Their neighbor is keeping Mama company … I have to go to
Požega. I have to organize the funeral … What a coincidence – my
father dies on my son’s birthday – terrible. It will be hard for Marijan
when he finds out, and he’s got guests coming – this is his thirtieth
birthday, after all. Perhaps it would be best if we don’t tell him until
after the party’s over … Or – you all tell him, because I have to hit the
road.
BIBA: What should we tell Marijan and his guests … why would you
go off on a trip so suddenly?
VINKO: It’s best if you say that they called me urgently from the
Committee or the Executive Council, that they sent me to Osijek with a
delegation.
SANJA: It’s stupid to lie.
VINKO: If you tell them now that Grandpa died, then you’ll ruin
everything for them. The funeral will probably be the day after
tomorrow. Biba, first find someone who can take care of the boy, and
then come out to Požega tomorrow with Sanja.
BIBA: All right. Or should I take him along with me to Grandpa’s
funeral?
BIBA: It would be better if you didn’t – he might do something
inappropriate.
ZORAN: I want to go to the funeral. Take me too.
VINKO: You be quiet, now! I have to call my driver.
(He walks towards the telephone, but at that moment Marijan and
Karmen enter, laughing out loud. Marijan is pushing a baby stroller.
Danko and his wife, Ena, who is eight months pregnant, enter behind
them, followed by Boris.)
MARIJAN: Hi everybody! Mama, you came!
ANICA: Yes – here I am.
DANKO: Hello!

42
KARMEN: The little guy loved it in Maksimir; he really enjoyed this
sunny day and the fresh air.
ENA: I hope our daughter will enjoy walks in the fresh air, one day,
too.
KARMEN: Of course she will, you’ll see … babies love walks in
nature.
MARIJAN: Dad, this will be a day to remember as being very
important, very special.
DANKO: We’ve agreed upon something extremely important for our
future.
MARIJAN: I think it will make you happy when you hear what it is.
VINKO: Tell me, I’m all ears.
MARIJAN: I’m giving my notice at my company, Danko’s giving notice
at the Institute, and we are opening up our own architectural firm.
VINKO: Have you two lost your senses – are you telling me you’re
going to give up your secure paychecks and become private
entrepreneurs?!
MARIJAN: Dad, it’s better that we work for ourselves than for others.
VINKO: And you expect me to provide you with jobs through my
connections?
MARIJAN: Not at all – we’ll do that ourselves!
DANKO: But uh, we won’t complain if you recommend us to people
who make the decisions.
VINKO: One has a little child, and the other is going to become a
father next month, and both want to quit their secure jobs and embark
on an uncertain adventure! And what do your wives have to say about
this?
KARMEN: Let them try … it’s better if they make an attempt than if
they spend their whole lives regretting that they never even tried.
VINKO: You’re always so supportive of him.

43
KARMEN: And he’s supportive of me – Marijan is the best husband in
the world.
ENA: These two were excellent students; even at the university
everyone knew they would bring in innovative, modern ideas.
VINKO: I think it’s a bad idea.
MARIJAN: Mama, you haven’t wished me a happy birthday.
ANICA: I’m sorry, son. My mind was wandering. Happy birthday!
(Anica kisses her son.)
MARIJAN: Thank you!
BORIS: Come on, everyone. Somebody should put on a record. Let’s
hear some music. Hey, this is a birthday party, not a funeral! Right?
Let’s have some fun. Sanja, where are the records?
SANJA: Yeah, okay – but slow down with the records and music. Let’s
all have a drink first, and then—
ZORAN: I want to go to the funeral.
MARIJAN: What funeral?
VINKO: Don’t listen to the kid – he doesn’t know what he’s talking
about.
ZORAN: I don’t want to stay in Zagreb. I want to go with you to the
funeral in Požega.
KARMEN: To whose funeral?
ZORAN: To Grandpa Luka’s funeral.
KARMEN: Grandpa Luka is alive … He really is talking nonsense.
ZORAN: He’s not alive! They’re going to his funeral, and they won’t let
me go.
MARIJAN: Who has been filling his head with such silly ideas?!
BORIS: Come on, Sanja, bring in some records. I want to hear some
music!
SANJA: Boris, will you knock it off about the records?
BORIS: We can’t celebrate without music!

44
SANJA: We can, and we will!
BORIS: Why?
ZORAN: I want to go to the funeral!
VINKO: That’s enough, Zoran! Excuse me everyone, but I have to
leave … business calls.
MARIJAN: Today?! But … today’s my birthday.
SANJA: Daddy, this is stupid! – Tell him!
MARIJAN: Tell me what?
SANJA: Grandma just called … Grandpa died.
MARIJAN: Oh God, did he really?!
VINKO: He died half an hour ago.
SANJA: Daddy didn’t want us to say anything about it until after the
birthday party; he didn’t want to ruin your celebration.
DANKO: I’m so sorry.
BORIS: So am I.
ENA: My condolences … to all of you.
MARIJAN: And Grandma … How is she doing?
VINKO: You can imagine how she’s doing. She’s having a hard time.
She’s in shock.
KARMEN: How did it happen?
SANJA: Last night he felt ill – an ambulance took him to the hospital
… He died half an hour ago.
MARIJAN: I have to go to Požega too, right away!
VINKO: Maybe it would be better if you went tomorrow. Today’s your
birthday.
MARIJAN: Dad, what is wrong with you?! You know how much I loved
Grandpa, and you wanted to keep it a secret that he died, and now
your trying to talk me out of going to Požega! Stop protecting me from
life — I’m not a child! Stop treating me like one!

45
SCENE B)
(Half an hour later. Sanja is alone in the living room. She is cleaning
up the table. The doorbell rings.)
SANJA: It’s open.
(Boris enters.)
BORIS: Excuse me, I forgot my overcoat. In all that commotion, when
everyone was leaving, I forgot to take it … It got so warm outside that I
forgot I was wearing it earlier.
SANJA: Feel free to take it and leave.
BORIS: I wanted to talk with you for a bit.
SANJA: I’m not in the mood for conversation … Especially with you,
and especially today.
BORIS: Why do you always act like that with me?
SANJA: Because your presence brings up painful memories.
BORIS: Even after ten years?
SANJA: Even after ten years.
BORIS: If I’m at fault for anything – then I’m sorry.
SANJA: Your “I’m sorry” no longer has any meaning whatsoever.
Besides, you have your girlfriend, your beloved Dubravka, and I have
my boyfriend – this conversation is redundant.
BORIS: As you may have noticed, I didn’t bring my girlfriend to
Marijan’s birthday party, and I see that you didn’t bring your boyfriend,
either.
SANJA: He’ll be here any minute.
BORIS: Are you making that up?
SANJA: No.
BORIS: You know that I’ve always …
SANJA: Stop it!
(Silence.)
BORIS: Do you hate me?

46
SANJA: Like no one has ever hated anyone.
BORIS: Well, I’d rather hatred than indifference.
SANJA: Go ahead, comfort yourself.
(The doorbell rings.)
SANJA: It’s open!
(Niko enters.)
NIKO: Hi, honey!
SANJA: Hi!
NIKO: Where’s Marijan, where’s everybody else?
SANJA: Our grandfather died an hour ago. They all went to Požega,
and I’m going tomorrow.
NIKO: I’m so sorry. So, no birthday party?
SANJA: We’ll have to eat the cake alone – it would be a shame to
throw it out … This is Boris, Marijan’s friend, and this is my boyfriend,
Niko.
(Boris and Niko shake hands.)
BORIS: It’s a pleasure!
NIKO: Same here!
SANJA: Boris was just leaving – he forgot his overcoat, so he came
back to get it.
BORIS: That’s right – I was just leaving.
NIKO: He can have some cake with us.
SANJA: He doesn’t like desserts.
BORIS: Actually, I do like desserts, but … I really do have to go.
Good-bye!
NIKO: Good-bye!
(Boris exits.)
NIKO: You loved your Grandpa, didn’t you?

47
SANJA: Yes, I did. He was a wonderful man. He was what you might
call “old school” – reliable and trustworthy. There are fewer and fewer
of his kind.
(Šutnja.)
NIKO: Have you given my proposal some thought?
SANJA: Now is not the time for this, honey.
NIKO: You promised me that you would tell me your decision by the
end of the week.
SANJA: I love you, but I don’t want to marry you.
NIKO: We’ve known each other for three years, and we’ve been going
out together for a year. You say that you love me, but you don’t want
to marry me?! What am I supposed to think about you?!
SANJA: Think whatever you want.
NIKO: Is there some problem about me?
SANJA: No, I have no problem with you. The problem is in me.
NIKO: You mean – you aren’t sure about your feelings for me.
SANJA: I’m sure; in fact, I have no doubts at all.
NIKO: But still you turned down my marriage proposal a month ago.
And you’re refusing my proposal of a week ago, as well. Is that right?
SANJA: That’s right.
NIKO: Fine … If I propose to you again in a year, or in two years, will
you turn me down then, too?
SANJA: Yes! Even then I will refuse.
NIKO: What about in five years?
SANJA: In five years, as well.
NIKO: Wait – are you telling me that you have no intention of ever
marrying me?
SANJA: Exactly! If you are looking for a wife, then you’re wasting your
time with me.
NIKO: Are you joking?

48
SANJA: I’ve never been more serious.
NIKO: Do you have something against marriage as an institution?
SANJA: No, I don’t.
NIKO: Then why don’t you want to get married?
SANJA: Because I am no good for marriage.
NIKO: Please tell me why!
SANJA: I’d rather not.
NIKO: I’m sorry – I am your boyfriend, and I just found out that my
girlfriend has no intention of ever getting married. I think I deserve at
least a short explanation.
SANJA: If I reveal the reason – you’ll break up with me. It will ruin all
the beautiful things that have happened in the last few years. That’s
why it’s better that you no longer insist that I answer you.
NIKO: For Christ’s sake, Sanja, you can’t talk to me like that. I think I
deserve three sentences that will help me understand.
(A long silence ensues. Sanja takes a deep breath.)
SANJA: When I was sixteen years old, I was in a relationship with this
guy … with my very first boyfriend. He was four years older than me.
No one knew that something was going on between us. We kept it a
secret. I got pregnant. Mama took me to see a gynecologist, and when
she confirmed our suspicions, we decided that I would have an
abortion. In short, everything went wrong. Instead of one day in the
hospital, I was there for ten days, and then … they had to … They told
me that I would never become a mother. I can’t give birth to a baby. I
love you too much for you to make you promise yourself to me – and
deprive you of the chance of becoming a father one day.
(A long silence. Niko pulls out a little box containing a ring from an
inside pocket and offers it to Sanja.)

49
NIKO: I dreamt about having children with you one day … I can
imagine life without children, but I can’t imagine life without you.
Please, marry me and be my wife.
(Sanja hugs him tightly in a sign of consent.)

SEQUENCE FOUR (1987)

SCENE A)
(Vinko is sitting in the living room, reading Vjesnik, a Zagreb
newspaper. “Da te ne volim” [If I didn’t love you] sung by the band
Novi Fosili is playing on the radio. Sanja enters from the kitchen and
changes to another radio station. Now we hear Whitney Houston’s
1987 hit “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”.)
VINKO: Sanja, could you please turn off the radio? I need a little bit of
peace and quiet.
(Sanja turns off radio. Marijan enters the living room.)
MARIJAN: Have you seen the paper?
VINKO: I’m reading it now, for the tenth time.
MARIJAN: It’s terrible! What does it mean?
VINKO: It means that they want to frame me. Some people are
planning to take me down, and I think I know who they are. All that
information about how my company does business, about imports and
exports, about interpersonal relations – only somebody on the inside
could know all that.
SANJA: What’s it all about?
MARIJAN: They attacked Dad in the papers, accusing him of not
running his company well – And now the workers are protesting, and
everything is as bad as it can get.
SANJA: Is it serious?

50
VINKO: Yes. I have to report to the City Committee on Mesnička
Street so they can haul me over the coals. But Stipe will stand on my
side. Stipe has a lot of authority and he respects me. And today I have
to go to Rijeka.
MARIJAN: I can cancel my birthday party if you want.
VINKO: Under no condition – that would be a sign to people who know
us that we are worried or upset by what they wrote about me in the
papers. We have to act as if everything is normal. By the way, your
partner Darko asked me to ask around to see how things are going
with that project in Peščenica. Tell him that four members of the
commission promised me that they would vote for your firm’s project,
and since there are seven people on the commission, you have a
majority, it’s practically a done deal.
MARIJAN: Excellent! It’s really a good project.

SCENE B)
(Four days later, Marijan’s birthday party is taking place in the living
room. “La Bamba” by Los Lobos is playing on the stereo. In the living
room we see two ten-year-old children on little chairs on wheels:
Marijan and Karmen’s son Damir, and Danko and Ena’s daughter
Jana. The two of them are in the foreground, while in the background,
in semi-darkness, we see Sanja and Niko on the left side of the stage,
while on the right side are Marijan and Karmen; Danko and Ena; and
Boris and Dubravka, who is in her seventh month of pregnancy; as
well as fifteen-year-old Zoran, Marijan’s half-brother, who seems older,
so he no longer sits in a chair on wheels but is standing, like the
adults, but is wearing more youthful clothing. First, we hear the
children’s dialogue.)
DAMIR: I’m so glad that you came to my Dad’s birthday party.
JANA: I love birthdays. What kind of cake will it be?

51
DAMIR: Chocolate.
JANA: I can hardly wait.
DAMIR: On Sunday I’m going to see a movie with my Dad at Cinema
Zagreb.
JANA: What are you going to see?
DAMIR: Beverly Hills Cop II.
JANA: I’d like to go, too – I love Eddie Murphy, but I doubt my Dad
would want us to go with you and your Dad to the movies.
DAMIR: Why not?
JANA: My Dad says he’s sick and tired of being with your Dad for five
days a week at the architectural studio and that over the weekend he
wants a rest from your Dad and from his drafting table.
DAMIR: Well, maybe he’ll at least let you come with us.
JANA: No, he won’t.
(The children roll on their chairs into the background, while the
spotlights zoom in on the adults.)
DANKO: This wine isn’t bad. Where is it from?
MARIJAN: The island of Hvar.
KARMEN: Shall we cut the cake?
MARIJAN: We can’t until Dad gets here. He’ll get angry if we go
ahead without him.
KARMEN: He said he would get here by five, and now it’s almost
eight. We can’t wait for him any longer. God knows how long that
meeting at the City Committee will last.
DANKO: The fact that it’s lasting so long means that it’s very
important. I read both of those newspaper articles, the one in Vjesnik
and the one in Večernji list. A neighbor of mine reads Borba. He says
they attacked your father in that newspaper, too. If they eject him from
politics, it will mean trouble for our firm. Everyone will avoid us. It
would be better if the firm was registered only in my name.

52
BORIS: Come on, Danko, don’t bury the man while he’s still alive.
Wait and see how the situation develops.
DANKO: It doesn’t look good to me.
MARIJAN: Dad could hardly wait for today’s meeting. I’m convinced
that everything will be cleared up and that the attacks against him will
stop. Every member of the City Committee who he talked to one-on-
one promised that they would stand by him. His company is one of few
in this country that has had no losses and that has grown steadily.
That will be his best protection.
BORIS: Do you think that’ll make a difference?
MARIJAN: It should.
DUBRAVKA: Honey, get me another glass of wine.
BORIS: Dubravka, you’re pregnant, it might not be good for you. And
it’s not good for the baby, either.
DUBRAVKA: Hey, don’t you lecture me – I’m in the seventh month of
pregnancy — in that period babies are already developed and for them
it’s no longer important what the mother eats or drinks – they’re
protected by the amniotic fluid.
BORIS: It’s not really that safe, that’s why you should—
DUBRAVKA: Hey, are you going to give me that wine, or do I have to
go get the glass myself?
BORIS: Okay, I’ll go fetch it for you. Calm down.
DUBRAVKA: Don’t tell me to calm down! The problem with marrying a
man eight years older than you is that he thinks he can tell you what’s
what; he thinks he can lecture you; he thinks he’s always right.
(Boris offers her a glass of red wine.)
BORIS: Here!
DUBRAVKA: Thank you!
ENA: How have you been holding up since you got pregnant?
DUBRAVKA: All right, for the most part.

53
BORIS: How come everyone asks women how they’ve been holding
up during pregnancy, but no one ever asks the husband how he’s
been holding up during his wife’s pregnancy?
DANKO: Tell me, then – how have you been holding up during
Dubravka’s pregnancy?
BORIS: It’s been tough. She’s been hysterical and irritable since day
one. Come to think of it, she was like that even before she got
pregnant.
DUBRAVKA: One more comment like that, and I’m going home!
BORIS: Come on … I was joking.
DUBRAVKA: You can joke like that with your Mom, but not with me.
You get all bent out of shape about a glass of wine, but you never stop
to think about how the fact that you smoke in our apartment, and that
we live in a cloud of smoke, could hurt the baby. – Your false concern
for the health of our baby is more than irritating, just as irritating as that
so-called humor of yours that only you laugh at. But when I make fun
of you just a little and tell people how fearless you are with other
people, while in front of your boss you act like a little mouse – you
wouldn’t dare ask for a day off when I have to go for a check-up at the
doctor’s. You’re always willing to make a joke about someone else’s
shortcomings, but you can never see how pathetic and funny you look
to other people. You act so cool and superior, but only to hide your
true miserable character. Not only do you count my drinks, but you
also push me onto the bathroom scale as if I’m some calf, and not
your wife – how is it that you can’t understand what it’s like to be a
pregnant woman, you limited asshole?!
(Everyone is uncomfortable – brief silence.)
ZORAN: Hey, people, let’s have some cake!
SANJA: Wait until Daddy arrives.
NIKO: I have to leave in fifteen minutes.

54
SANJA: You have to go?
NIKO: I have to.
SANJA: Where?
NIKO: I’ve got work to do.
SANJA: You didn’t mention anything about this when you came to the
birthday party. Yesterday you promised me that you would stay until
the end of the party. You could have kept your word for a change.
Today at least.
NIKO: I came just as I promised, and I did the socializing and the
dinner … but if you’re all planning to wait for your father until midnight,
I can’t keep you company for that.
SANJA: Our father gave you a job. I just thought I would remind you,
just in case you’d forgotten.
NIKO: You remind me of that fact every single day; how could I
forget?
SANJA: Does that mean that you have only fifteen more minutes for
our family get-together?
NIKO: That’s right.
SANJA: Then you’d might as well be on your way right now – you
don’t have to honor us with your presence for those fifteen minutes.
NIKO: So now you’re telling me to leave?
SANJA: I don’t give a damn if you go or if you stay – do whatever you
please!
NIKO: Then I’m going! Bye everybody! Marijan, happy birthday once
again!
MARIJAN: Thanks.
(Niko leaves.)
JANA: Mama, when are we going to have some cake?
ENA: Wait, just a little bit longer.
DAMIR: I’d like some cake, too!

55
MARIJAN: We’ll cut the cake as soon as Grandpa arrives.
(Karmen pulls Sanja to the side and speaks to her quietly.)
KARMEN: What was all that with Niko?
SANJA: It’s not important.
KARMEN: Tell me! I have to know.
SANJA: It’s over between us.
KARMEN: What are you saying?
SANJA: He’s been involved with some college girl for a year now. I
found out that she’s pregnant.
KARMEN: Are you sure?
SANJA: He doesn’t deny it anymore.
KARMEN: How far is she along?
SANJA: Five months – she was living in a dormitory, but he’s since
rented an apartment for her.
KARMEN: That’s terrible!
SANJA: I knew it would come to this sooner or later. It’s logical for a
man to want to have his own child.
KARMEN: So … what will you do now?
SANJA: Nothing. I’ll wait for him to leave me and move in with her … I
was hoping that we would all be together for Marijan’s birthday at least
this time. But as you can see, it didn’t happen because of Daddy.
(Vinko enters the room. He appears to be completely confused, as if
he has lost everything in the world. He forgets to take off his hat, and
he doesn’t even greet anyone.)
MARIJAN: Dad, at last! Everybody’s been waiting for you. Have
something to eat, and then we can cut the cake.
VINKO: You didn’t have to wait for me – I don’t even feel like eating.
MARIJAN: How was it?
VINKO: Bad – they gave me a warning before expulsion from the
League of Communists.

56
MARIJAN: But why?
VINKO: I have no idea – because I resisted the criticism of my
Comrades, because I respect subjective views more than objective
views, and similar bullshit.
MARIJAN: Did Stipe defend you?
VINKO: Stipe was the first to attack me. He said that I had lost my
orientation long ago, that I behave like a Western company director. In
short, he forced me to resign from my position as director and to hand
in a request for retirement on Monday.
MARIJAN: You, retired?!
DANKO: Did they say anything about our project by any chance?
VINKO: Yes, they did. It didn’t go through. It’s been decided that the
job will go to an architectural institute in Rijeka. Their team will win the
competition. It’s not official yet, but that’s what they’ve decided.
DANKO: Damn! I knew it!
MARIJAN: What a shame. We worked for months on that.
VINKO: Oh, yes – Happy birthday, son.
MARIJAN: Thanks, Dad.
VINKO (to Zoran): What present did you bring for your brother?
ZORAN: Mama sent a bottle of wine.
VINKO: That’s a nice present, if the wine is chosen well. How is your
sister, does she still have the chicken pox?
ZORAN: No, not anymore.
VINKO: What about Mama? How is your mother?
ZORAN: She’s okay, she made up with her husband.
VINKO: Poor man. She used to fight with me every other day, too,
when we were married. Tell her I said hello, and say hi to that husband
of hers, too.
ZORAN: I will, Dad.
(Marijan offers Vinko a glass of wine.)

57
MARIJAN: Here you are.
VINKO: Thank you. … Cheers, son, happy birthday! There goes your
youth.
ZORAN: I have a present for Marijan, too.
VINKO: How nice … let’s see it.
(Out of a canvas bag that he has over his shoulder, Zoran pulls an old
“Tito’s baton,” the kind that used to get passed from pupil to pupil in
schools during the annual relay in honor of Marshal Tito’s birthday. It
was probably bought at a flea market. Zoran hands it to Marijan)
ZORAN: Dear comrade and brother Marijan, take this baton in my
name and in the name of all our nations and nationalities.
(Everyone is in shock.)
VINKO: You idiot! Are you out of your mind?! Drunken fool! You’ve
been drinking again! You and your crazy mother!
ZORAN: Why are you yelling? – Don’t you think it’s a good joke?!
Comrade Vinko, we swear to you that we shall not stray from your
path – except into an abyss.
VINKO: Throw that thing into the trash, while no one is looking;
otherwise you’ll get a smack in front of everyone. Idiot! And then
march yourself out of here!
MARIJAN: Dad, please … He’s just a kid … He’s only fifteen years
old.
VINKO: Don’t you meddle – he’ll end up in a reformatory if he
continues like this. I should have been tougher on you, too, for that
matter. Then you would have known how to get through life, and not
like this! Zoran – go on home! Now!
MARIJAN: Dad, this is my birthday party, so don’t drive my guests
away!
VINKO: And I bought you this apartment!

58
MARIJAN: But now it’s mine, and I won’t allow you to throw out my
brother in that way. We waited for you for two hours, like a pharaoh.
But now that you’re acting like this, I’m sorry that we waited for you at
all.
VINKO: Then good-bye! And make sure that I never see you again,
you arrogant and rude young man!
(Vinko exits and angrily slams the door behind him.)

SCENE B)
(The following week. Anica is reading the weekly magazine Studio in
her own apartment. Someone knocks at the door.)
ANICA: Come in.
(Vinko enters the apartment.)
VINKO: Hi!
ANICA: What brings you here?
VINKO: I thought I’d stop by … I’d like to talk to you.
ANICA: I didn’t know that you had my address.
VINKO: Marijan told me where you live.
ANICA: I have to go to the dentist’s in about ten minutes.
VINKO: I won’t be long … I just want to tell you something.
ANICA: The man I’m living with just went out to the store … He should
be back any minute.
VINKO: So you’ve found someone else?
ANICA: Yes.
VINKO: I don’t believe it … You and I …
ANICA: Say it.
VINKO: We never should have broken up.
ANICA: You should have thought of that earlier. I read in the paper
that you resigned for health-related reasons. … Is it something
serious?

59
VINKO: I’m in perfect health. They forced me to say that. So it
wouldn’t look like they had removed me.
ANICA: So now you’re retired?
VINKO: That’s right.
ANICA: That’s not such a bad thing – but you’ll need to join a library.
There’s nothing better than a good book when a person starts to get
bored. Is Milan waiting for you outside?
VINKO: Are you kidding? They took my driver as well as my car. I
came here on foot.
ANICA: See? At least you’ve learned how to walk.
VINKO: I’m sorry that you didn’t come to Marijan’s birthday party last
week.
ANICA: I wished him a happy birthday and sent him a present. It’s not
easy for me to go back to that house.
VINKO: That was your house, too. Not only do I live there, but our
children, as well. We also had some beautiful moments there.
ANICA: My memories of our marriage don’t conjure up such wonderful
emotions. Why did you come here, anyway?
VINKO: I wanted to tell you … if you ever need– if you ever want to
talk or go to a movie or drink a cup of coffee with me, feel free to call.
ANICA: Are you out of your mind?!?
VINKO: Why?
ANICA: It took me three years to get over you, to stop thinking about
you, to put my life back together after our divorce. And now you come
here and invite me out for a cup of coffee! What is wrong with you?!
VINKO: I just want you to know that I’m not the same man I was
before.
ANICA: Nor am I the same woman I was before. At sixty-plus, no one
is the same as before.
(Đuro enters the room.)

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ĐURO: Oho – what have we here? The neighbor’s stopped by for a
visit?!
VINKO: Đuro … so it’s you?!? … I had no idea that you two …
ĐURO: For years now. You’re not very well informed, Comrade Vinko,
you obviously no longer have the good and reliable sources that you
once had in the past.
VINKO: Who would have thought it? My ex-wife and my neighbor. So
that’s why I rarely see you in the neighborhood.
ĐURO: I find it much nicer here. I finally have a warm family home.
And for all that I have you to thank, Comrade Vinko. If you hadn’t left
Anica and flown into another marriage, I would not be the happy man I
am today. You are my benefactor. Anica, did you offer this man a
drink?
ANICA: No – when he heard that I have to go to the dentist’s, he said
he wouldn’t stay long. You know, Vinko no longer has a car or driver.
ĐURO: Those comrades burned you pretty badly, I must say. That
happened to me once, too, but I was much younger, so it didn’t hit me
so hard. In the beginning you’re just in shock, but later on you realize
that you’re better off when you don’t have to deal with people who are
always ready to stab you in the back.
ANICA: I have to go – the dentist awaits. Do you want a lift?
VINKO: No thanks. I can walk.
ĐURO: If you ever need my services again in the future – I’m here. If
you’d like me to spy on some woman while you’re with your lovers, I’ll
do the job professionally and with discretion.
ANICA: Đuro, from now on you can only spy on me while I’m in the
shower. I wouldn’t want you to fall in love with some other woman
while spying on her.
ĐURO: Don’t worry! Having you is enough for a lifetime.

61
 END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO

SEQUENCE FIVE (1997)

(In a cafe we see Marijan in a dark sports jacket, reading a newspaper

[Večernji list]. There is a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. In
the background, the song “Barbie Girl,” by the pop group Aqua, is just
finishing. The next song is “Ako me nosiš na duši” [If you carry me on
your soul] by Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni. A few moments later, Boris
enters the cafe and glances to the left and to the right, as if he is
looking for someone. When he spots Marijan, he walks over to his
table.)
BORIS: Hi!
(Marijan puts down his paper.)
MARIJAN: Hi! What brings you here?
BORIS: I called you at home several times yesterday and the day
before. I left two messages on your answering machine, but you didn’t
answer, and then I remembered that you used to like to drink coffee
here.
MARIJAN: Is it something important?
BORIS: I just wanted to talk to you. I practically haven’t seen you
since the funeral – It’s been three months, man – except that time
when we met in passing on Ilica Street.

62
MARIJAN: Well … I need a little more time … I just don’t feel like
socializing.
BORIS: You can’t run away from people forever. It’s not good for you.
MARIJAN: I’m not running away. I’m just not ready …
BORIS: You have to start spending time with people, on a daily basis
… Over the past two years, she wasn’t the only one who suffered. You
suffered with her. You have to think about your health.
(Silence.)
MARIJAN: The worst is in the morning when I wake up. We always
used to argue over who would be first in the bathroom. Now I miss
those squabbles. Now, the bathroom is never occupied, and I simply
don’t feel like taking that first step into the bathroom or into the new
day. That’s how it is for me every single day.
BORIS: Tomorrow, the guys and I are going to the game. You want to
come with us?
MARIJAN: I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on a soccer game.
(Silence.)
BORIS: Do you even know what day it is?
MARIJAN: I know. I was hoping that you’d forgotten.
BORIS: Happy fiftieth birthday.
(Boris offers his hand to his friend, and Marijan reluctantly shakes
hands with him.)
MARIJAN: Thank you, although I’m not celebrating.
BORIS: Hey, I’ve been to all of your birthday parties since your tenth
birthday! Did you really think I would miss this one?
MARIJAN: You are impossible to get rid of.
(Boris takes a small gift-wrapped box out of his bag.)
MARIJAN: What’s that?
BORIS: It’s a Nokia 8110 cell phone – they call it the “Banana”.

63
MARIJAN: That’s not for me. I can’t imagine being able to be called at
every moment. Those things are total nonsense. That’s what those
young businessmen are always talking on. They’re just a passing fad.
BORIS: Dude, in three or four years everybody is going to have one,
even kids. This is the future.
MARIJAN: You think I don’t know why you bought it for me?
BORIS: Why?
MARIJAN: So that I’m available, so you can always check to see
where I am.
BORIS: Well, for that reason, too – a cell phone is a good aid in the
fight against depression. If you’re communicating with people, you’re
already in a better state, it makes you feel better.
MARIJAN: This is an expensive toy. You must have paid half a
month’s pay for it, right?
BORIS: Hey – it’s nothing like that TV set I broke when we were
kicking around that ball in your room on your tenth birthday. Man, my
heart stopped when I saw your father running into the room. He was
furious and in shock when he saw the shattered TV screen. And you
took the blame without a moment’s hesitation. I knew right then that
you were the best guy in the world and that we would be friends for
life. I never bought you any expensive presents, so let this make up for
that TV.
MARIJAN: Man, all those birthdays. While Mama was still alive, and
when Dad was still in good health, I had to celebrate. They never let
me get out of it. When I look back at all those parties, I get the feeling
that that life belonged to someone else, and not me.
BORIS: Hey, one day, you’ll get back on …
MARIJAN: No, no – everything is gone forever, everything that ever
meant something to me is behind me. Everything that had any value to
me … there’s nothing left of it all.

64
BORIS: You cannot talk like that – you have a twenty-year-old son,
and he needs you even more, now that he’s lost his mother.
MARIJAN: He’s made of different material – he has a girlfriend, so
he’s focused on her. When I try to talk about Karmen – he changes the
subject. He says that we mustn’t burden ourselves with the past. But
what am I left with besides the past and memories? Our children can’t
understand us.
BORIS: You can’t imagine what I could tell you about my restless ten-
year-old son who drives me up the wall. Ever since his crazy mother
ran away to India, to “find herself”, I’ve had to be both his father and
his mother.
MARIJAN: Have you received any news about her?
BORIS: None at all. I tried to locate her again through our embassy,
but with no luck. It’s been three years now; I’m not even sure if she’s
still alive. Frankly, I don’t miss her anymore, but it’s hard when my son
asks me when Mama’s coming home. Once a month I write him a
letter in which she tells him that she loves him, but that she still won’t
be able to come back to Croatia for a while. In those letters, I write
about how beautiful India is, about the local customs, about the food,
and about the different languages they speak there.
MARIJAN: How do you know about all that?
BORIS: By reading the encyclopedia or National Geographic, and I
just copy it from there. It’s better if he thinks his mother loves him and
that she’s thinking about him.
MARIJAN: I’m not so sure it’s good to lie to the boy.
BORIS: Well, what should I do, then? Tell him the truth? Should I tell
him about our last conversation, when she told me that our son was
our biggest mistake, that he had stifled her “spiritual development” and
that because of him she had spent the seven most boring years in her
life? Should I tell her that?

65
MARIJAN: No, you can’t do that, either.
(Silence.)
BORIS: A month ago I went to visit your father at his retirement home.
MARIJAN: Don’t tell me: He refused to see you, didn’t he?
BORIS: He sent me a letter via the receptionist.
MARIJAN: And in the letter he wrote that he didn’t want you to see
him in his current state, that he wanted you to remember him how he
once was.
BORIS: How did you know?
MARIJAN: Over the last three years I’ve received twenty such letters,
and so have my sister and my son. He doesn’t want any contact even
with us.
BORIS: Why?
MARIJAN: Because after his stroke, he lost the ability to speak – his
right hand is paralyzed, and he can barely use his right one. He’s
ashamed of himself in that state.
BORIS: He wrote me that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with
your friends, that he cursed you forever. What happened between the
two of you that infuriated him so much? I know the two of you had a
strained relationship, but his behavior is a bit over the top.
MARIJAN: When Karmen died, I invited him to the funeral, making
sure that he had transportation and two hospital orderlies, but he didn’t
come. I got angry about that, so the next day I wrote him that any
normal person would have come to his daughter-in-law’s burial, that
he should have been by my side in that moment, that he had been
self-centered his whole life, that everything always had to be the way
he wanted it, and that at least this once he could have done something
the way I wanted it.
BORIS: And how did he react?

66
MARIJAN: He sent back and even angrier letter – he cursed me and
my family for three generations and wrote that he never wants to even
hear about me, that he was sorry that he had ever had a son. It was
just terrible!
BORIS: Does Danko ever contact you?
MARIJAN: Are you kidding? Not once since we each went our
separate ways. … He’s a good architect, but he always wanted to
expand the business, you know, to do the biggest projects, while I’m
happier like this – I’m my own boss, I design small family houses, and
I don’t have to deal with any big systems, or with politicians, for that
matter.
BORIS: And you earn less?
MARIJAN: And I earn less … But I don’t depend upon anyone else.
BORIS: Marijan, why do you defend him, when you and I both know
that he pushed you out of your firm, and he did it when your wife was
sick? Why did you transfer all ownership to him and allow him to make
all the decisions? I learned all of this from your bookkeeper. He
stabbed you in the back.
MARIJAN: That’s not exactly how it was – he couldn’t rely upon me
because I was constantly going to the hospital with Karmen. Simply
put: It’s my fault for not being a true partner at that time.
BORIS: That was despicable on his part. When you started the
company, your father helped out. But Danko conveniently forgot all
that.
(Silence.)
MARIJAN: You know what?
BORIS: What?
MARIJAN: Thanks for the present … And thanks for coming today.
BORIS: Hey … I just wanted to see you and make sure that you’re all
right.

67
MARIJAN: Yes … well … I’m okay. When you have a friend, whether
you want to or not, you’ve got to be okay. If not for yourself, then for
your friend – so that you won’t let him down.
(Damir enters the cafe and joins them.)
DAMIR: Dad, hi! Hi, Uncle Boris!
BORIS: Hi, Damir!
DAMIR: Happy birthday, Dad!
MARIJAN: What have we here – If anyone else shows up, I’ll have to
find a new cafe! You could have waited until I came home to wish me
well.
DAMIR: Actually, I’m not coming home tonight – maybe not even until
the end of the week. … I’m going to stay at Marina’s place – her
parents went to visit relatives in Split.
BORIS: Tell me, that girl of yours – Marina – is she a blonde or a
brunette?
DAMIR: She has black hair.
BORIS: Careful – black-haired women are possessive.
DAMIR: Really? According to scientific research?
BORIS: No, no – personal experience – an investigation carried out by
yours truly!
DAMIR: Dad, I have great news: I called the Rector’s office … they’ve
finished counting all the votes from all the faculties … I’ve been
elected president of the student body of the University of Zagreb!
BORIS: Oho … congratulations!
MARIJAN: That’s nice, but … maybe it would be better if you stuck to
your studies and avoided such a big responsibility. You’re barely
twenty.
DAMIR: Dad, this is an opportunity for me to distinguish myself. The
rector of the university has asked me to come talk to him in his office
tomorrow. And you’re partially responsible for my being elected.

68
MARIJAN: How so?
DAMIR: In my CV I wrote that my father was a valiant defender in the
Homeland War.
MARIJAN: What do you mean, “defender”? They called me up and
put me in a little room in the Ministry of Defense with five other
architects, and we drew up plans for an army base that was never
even built in the end. All that’s left is a cornerstone. I never spent even
one day on the front, and the only time I saw any Chetniks was on
television!
DAMIR: Don’t say that in public – you’ll ruin my CV, because there it
says that my father was a valiant defender of Croatia. And that’s how it
has to stay – that story opens doors for me.
MARIJAN: Now that’s overdoing it – I’m embarrassed by the thought
of you telling that to someone who knows the truth.
DAMIR: Forget about the truth – If you are able to help your son get
ahead in life, then do it!
(A hospital orderly in a white coat enters the cafe, pushing Vinko, now
a very old man, in a wheelchair. His right hand is paralyzed from a
stroke, and his left hand looks slightly twisted.)
MARIJAN: Dad, is that really you!?!?
ORDERLY: Hello – Mr. Vinko insisted that I take him here. He claims
it’s your fiftieth birthday – is this true?
MARIJAN: It’s true, very true.
ORDERLY: In these past three years, not once has he said that he
would like to leave the home and its courtyard. But yesterday he wrote
me that he must come and wish you a happy birthday and say his
good-byes.
MARIJAN: Say his good-byes?!
BORIS: Mr. Vinko, I was just talking about you a few minutes ago.
DAMIR: Grandpa, I haven’t seen you in such a long time!

69
MARIJAN: How are you, Dad?
(Vinko cannot speak; instead, waving his left arm, he hands the
orderly an envelope, which the orderly gives to Marijan.)
MARIJAN: What’s this?
ORDERLY: His message for you.
(Marijan attempts to read the letter, but he isn’t able to decipher it.)
MARIJAN: Unfortunately, I can’t make out what it says.
ORDERLY: His handwriting has recently become crooked and broken,
but I usually succeed in deciphering it, somehow. If you’ll allow me, I
can . . .
MARIJAN: Of course.
(Marijan hands the letter to the orderly.)
ORDERLY (reading): Dea… dearr… dear son… Ha… ha… happy
fiftieth birthday… you… mu… must celebrate it.
MARIJAN: Thank you, Dad … I’m not celebrating, but look, Boris and
Damir have come to wish me well – and now you’re here, too … And I
didn’t expect anybody to come.
(Vinko hands another envelope to the orderly.)
ORDERLY: Here you are!
(The orderly hands it to Marijan. Marijan takes a letter out of the
envelope.)
MARIJAN: I can’t read this one, either … Please help me!
(The orderly takes the letter and stares at it for some time.)
ORDERLY (reading): Dea … dear son … F… for… forgive me for
everything …
MARIJAN: There’s nothing for me to forgive – you were always … the
way you thought you were supposed to be.
(Vinko gives a third envelope to the orderly, who offers it to Marijan.
Marijan doesn’t take it, but addresses the orderly.)
MARIJAN: You read it, please!

70
(The orderly opens the envelope and starts reading the letter.)
ORDERLY (reading): Li… li… life is a… hu… hu… huge… Life is a
huge… pi… pile of shit. Life is a huge pile of shit… but… but… it’s
worth living! … You… You were… you were always a better man than
I was… That’s why I came to… to… to celebrate your b... birthday.
MARIJAN: Dad, can I celebrate my birthday just the way I want? –
without a party?
(Vinko shakes his head, as if to say that he can’t.)
MARIJAN: Dear old Dad … my dear old Dad …
(Marijan approaches his father and gently hugs him. At that moment,
the orderly sprinkles Marijan and Vinko with confetti from a little box
and starts to shout.)
ORDERLY: Happy birthday!!!
MARIJAN: What are you doing?!
ORDERLY: Your father wrote me that, if you hugged him, I was
supposed to do all this and present you with this gift!
(The orderly hands Marijan a bottle wrapped up as a present.)
MARIJAN: What is it?
ORDERLY: Champagne – and top notch at that!
BORIS: What about glasses?
ORDERLY: I brought along champagne glasses; he made sure of
that, too!
MARIJAN: Oh God – we’re even going to get drunk!
BORIS: Just like old times.

71
 SEQUENCE SIX (2007)

SCENE A)
(Ten years later, we see Marijan in the same cafe as in the previous
scene. Now he is wearing a light-colored sports jacket and is texting
on his cell phone. On the radio we hear Beyonce singing
“Irreplaceable”. Jana enters the cafe. She is looking for someone.
When she spots Marijan, she walks over to him.)
JANA: Hi!
MARIJAN: Hi! What are you doing in this place?
JANA: You once mentioned that you like to come here.
MARIJAN: You could have called.
JANA: I could have, but then it wouldn’t be a surprise.
(She takes a small gift-wrapped present tied with a silver ribbon out of
her purse.)
JANA: Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Who told you?
JANA: Your Facebook page.
MARIJAN: Since I’ve been on Facebook, I’ve lost all my privacy.
JANA: Well, I’m really happy that I found out when your birthday is
and that I can be with you today.
MARIJAN: It’s been ten years since I stopped celebrating my birthday.
JANA: That’s stupid. Everything should be celebrated … Aren’t you
going to take a look at what I bought you?
MARIJAN: Of course I will.
(Marijan unwraps his present and takes a leather wallet out of the
box.)
MARIJAN: Look at that – a wallet!
JANA: The one you’re using now has started to fall apart.
MARIJAN: So, you noticed? This one’s really nice.

72
JANA: Don’t I deserve at least a kiss?
MARIJAN: Do you really want people to know that you’re in a
relationship with a man who’s twice your age? Imagine what your
family would say if they found out that the two of us are involved; what
if my son and daughter-in-law found out?
JANA: None of the people we know are here.
MARIJAN: People who know me hang out here.
JANA: I’d like to travel with you to China or Japan, so that I don’t have
to think about whether someone will recognize us in the street.
MARIJAN: With my luck, even there we’d run into someone we know
from Zagreb.
JANA: Well, so what?
MARIJAN: I wouldn’t feel comfortable if people found out that I was in
a relationship with the daughter of my former partner.
JANA: You haven’t had any contact with my father in years, anyway.
But most importantly for your conscience, it was I who seduced you,
and not the other way around.
MARIJAN: No one would believe that.
JANA: But it’s true. After my boyfriend dumped me, I started thinking
about you. I had always liked you as a teenager: you were in my
forbidden dreams. I dialed your number and asked you if you still had
that book on the history of German architecture … I happened to
remember that my father had given it to you as a present thirteen or
fourteen years earlier, when he had returned from a symposium in
Frankfurt.
MARIJAN: This thing between us has no future.
JANA: While I was with younger guys, I had a future, but the present
wasn’t so pleasant. Now the present is so beautiful that I don’t worry
about the future. You’re a great guy, but you have one fault.
MARIJAN: And what’s that?

73
JANA: You’ve never invited me to your apartment. Not once.
MARIJAN: How can I invite you to my apartment when both my sister
and my son have apartments in the same house, and both of them
know you?
JANA: You mean, they’re at home today?
MARIJAN: Today they’re at the seaside, and tomorrow, as well.
They’ll be spending the weekend in Crikvenica.
JANA: In other words, you can invite me to your home this evening.
MARIJAN: Obviously, I have no choice.
JANA: Finally … I will do everything I can to make this birthday
unforgettable for you.
MARIJAN: What a modest promise. I can see that you are in an
exceptionally good mood today.
JANA: That’s because I’ve made a decision about America.
MARIJAN: You mean, you’ve accepted the offer?
JANA: No. On Monday I’m going in for an interview; I’m going to tell
them that I’m not interested after all.
MARIJAN: But why? You invested so much into getting a job in New
York. Why would you want to turn them down?
JANA: Because of you.
MARIJAN: That’s stupid, you can’t miss such an opportunity.
JANA: If I go – that will be the end of it for the two of us.
MARIJAN: Jana, we are two completely different worlds. You want to
travel, to go everywhere on the globe, while travelling and people just
get on my nerves. I’m happiest when I’m at home or in this cafe. You
like to go out at eleven, but I’m already sleepy and ready for bed at
ten. It’s only a matter of time before we will start to get on each other’s
nerves.
JANA: Maybe so, but tonight you surely won’t be getting on my
nerves, nor vice versa. Let’s go to your apartment.

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MARIJAN: Let’s go! … But promise me you’ll think again about going
to America. I wouldn’t want you to kick yourself later on for missing this
opportunity.
JANA: Won’t you miss me if I go?
MARIJAN: I would definitely miss you, but people my age are used to
farewells and know they are a necessity.
JANA: Now you’re really starting to sound like a sixty-year-old man …
I forbid you do be like that tonight.

SCENE B)
(Later that same evening. We are now in the living room of Marijan’s
apartment. The following people are present: Marijan’s sister Sanja;
his son Damir and daughter-in-law Petra; Iva and her husband Željko;
and Zoran. Petra is six months pregnant, and Iva is seven months
pregnant. Zoran and Damir are hanging paper birthday decorations
throughout the living room, while Sanja blows up balloons. Zoran is
shabbily dressed, like a vagrant.)
DAMIR: Dad will really be surprised when he sees all this – he’s going
to pass out.
SANJA: He’ll definitely be shocked.
DAMIR: If we had asked him, he never would have agreed to a party.
ZORAN: Are you all sure that he’s coming home tonight? Do you think
he could have gone to a movie or got together with some friends?
SANJA: As a rule, he comes home fifteen minutes before the Evening
News starts on TV. He never misses that show. As soon as we hear
his car, we’ll turn off the lights.
ŽELJKO: I’ve never taken part in a surprise birthday party before.
IVA: When I was studying, I organized one for my roommate. When
she saw us, she was so happy that she burst out crying. It was so
touching.

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ŽELJKO: And we even have two pregnant women tonight – Pregnant
women are supposed to bring good luck.
IVA: I’m afraid that in the first few months, when I was throwing up all
the time, I didn’t bring anybody good luck, especially those two taxi
drivers.
PETRA: I only felt nauseous in my third month, for about two weeks,
so I started taking breathing exercises, and one day the nausea just
stopped.
IVA: The fact that it stopped might not have been connected with your
breathing exercises.
PETRA: If I get pregnant again, I’m going to do the breathing
exercises again.
(Zoran and Sanja move away from the rest and start talking.)
ZORAN: Sanja, I have to ask you something, but I don’t want the
others to hear.
SANJA: Ask what you like, but I’m not giving you any money. I’m not
going to finance your drug habit.
ZORAN: I don’t have a habit. I smoke grass now and then, but that’s
for medical reasons. How can you treat me like that? I stopped
shooting up a long time ago. That story is finished.
SANJA: What did you want to ask me?
ZORAN: I wanted to ask … You know how my studies have lasted a
few years longer than usual … Mama doesn’t want to give me money
anymore, until I finish my third year.
SANJA: You studied law for five years, you studied economics for five
years, and now you’ve studied at the Faculty of Education for five
years!
ZORAN: That’s because I never really wanted to become a teacher.
That Faculty of Education makes me sick; it’s not for me. Now If I had
enrolled in the Music Academy, then I’d be an outstanding student.

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SANJA: What did you want to ask me?
ZORAN: I’m starting a band. This time I’ll be the boss. I’m sure that
we’ll be able to earn good money by playing in clubs.
SANJA: What happened to that old band of yours?
ZORAN: I left them. I couldn’t play that turbo folk anymore – you know
how I prefer urban music.
SANJA: So what’s that got to do with me?
ZORAN: I have to buy a new electric guitar. I’ll also need some money
to print posters, to have an internet page made for the band … Can
you lend me about ten thousand kunas? I’ll return it to you as soon as
business gets rolling.
SANJA: What’s wrong with that guitar that you’ve been playing until
now?
ZORAN: Some idiot — one of the guys in the band — put it down on
the road when we were unloading, and then the driver put the van in
reverse and drove right over it. Totally destroyed it. That’s why I need
money for a new guitar. Get it?
SANJA: You never paid me back last summer, when I lent you three
thousand so you could go to the coast.
ZORAN: I’ll pay that back, too, as soon as the money starts coming in.
SANJA: Ten thousand won’t be enough for all that.
ZORAN: Marijan promised to chip in with some cash, and so did
Damir. But without your help, I won’t be able to carry out my plan. I’m
starting a good phase right now.
SANJA: You’re starting a good phase?
ZORAN: That’s right.
SANJA: You’re so full of shit. You lie whenever you open your mouth.
ZORAN: What do you mean?
SANJA: First of all: you say you’re almost done with your third year,
but in fact you never got past year two before they threw you out. I

77
found that out from Professor Težak at the Faculty of Education.
You’re lying to your mother, telling her that you’re still studying.
Secondly: you didn’t break up with your band for artistic reasons. It
was the other band members who kicked you out because you ruined
their tour of Dalmatia. In Vodice you overdosed and almost died, and
just before that you sold your guitar in order to buy heroin. You’re not
on grass – you’re on the needle. You make me sick, and I’m furious at
Damir for even inviting you to Marijan’s birthday party. I saw you when
you took that silver saucer out of the china cabinet, and now you’re
going to discreetly put it right back where you found it. And if any one
of our guests is missing so much as five kunas, I will personally report
you to the police.
ZORAN: What a spy you are … a real snake. I ask you for a little loan,
and you dump a bucket of shit on my head.
SANJA: I’ve lent you money ten times by now, and you’ve never
returned even one kuna. The next time I lend any money, it will be to
to the institution that takes you in for rehab.
ZORAN: No way! I’ll never allow anyone to subject me to that torture
again.
SANJA: Then you can just die like a dog, because you deserve it.
(Boris enters the room.)
BORIS: Good evening!
DAMIR: Good evening. We’ve been waiting for you.
BORIS: I was afraid that I wouldn’t get here on time. So, Marijan
hasn’t come home yet?
DAMIR: Not yet.
(Boris pulls Damir to the side so the others can’t hear them.)
BORIS: Listen – I’ve known you since you were in diapers; you know
how much I like you … Is it true that you’ve joined the Croatian
Democratic Union?

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DAMIR: Yes … it’s true.
BORIS: You joined them as a student, when Tuđman was still alive. …
Then, as soon as Račan came to power, you crossed over to the
Social Democrats, and now you’re in the CDU again – you can’t keep
on swinging like that from right to left to right like a broken pendulum
on an old clock.
DAMIR: Now, when the polling predicts that Sanader will surely win a
second term in office, when even left-leaning journalists are praising
him for his progressive pro-European path, it would be stupid not to be
progressive. It’s good for all of us.
BORIS: Listen, kid – only consistent people sleep peacefully – shifty
characters are never happy, even when they build a career. Take your
father as a model, rather than those who trample over corpses.
DAMIR: Boris, you’re wrong … life is not so simple … a man who
wants to succeed has to be flexible.
BORIS: I’ve told you what I think, and you – as you wish. If you ask
me, keep away from politics and stick to your profession. Politics is for
geniuses and for fools, and I guarantee that you are not a genius …
(The sound of a car parking in front of the house can be heard.)
ZORAN: Hey everybody, that’s Marijan’s car!
DAMIR: Turn off the light!
(Petra turns off the light. Everyone is in the dark.)
SANJA: Be quiet. When he comes in and turns on the light, it’s
important that at that moment we all sing “Happy Birthday” together.
ZORAN: Maybe it would be best if we all shout “Happy birthday!” first
and then sing the song together.
DAMIR: You’re right. First we’ll shout “Happy birthday!” and then we’ll
sing the song.
ZORAN: We’ll shout the greeting in Croatian, and we’ll sing the song
in English, right?

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DAMIR: Of course!
PETRA: I hear steps. Quiet, shhhhhh!
(Marijan’s steps can be heard, as well as the sound of the door
opening. Marijan and Jana enter the living room. As soon as Marijan
flips on the light switch, everyone shouts …)
EVERYONE: Happy birthday!
(Only in that moment does everyone in the room realize that Marijan is
not alone. Jana and Marijan are truly surprised, and only Zoran sings
“Happy Birthday”.)
ZORAN: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday
dear…
(Zoran suddenly realizes the awkwardness of the situation and stops
singing. Seeing Marijan together with Jana makes everyone feel
uncomfortable.)
DAMIR: Dad… you … uhm…
MARIJAN: I thought you all… when did you… you really startled me!
DAMIR: We all wanted to wish you… Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Thank you!
ZORAN: We wanted to surprise you, and look … you surprised us as
well.
MARIJAN: I… we… Jana asked me if she could borrow a book, and
we ran into each other on the street … She asked if I had the book,
and I told her I did … isn’t that right, Jana?
JANA: Yeah… right… we just happened to run into each other …, and
I really needed that book.
SANJA: And what book is that?
MARIJAN: What do you mean, which book?
SANJA: What book did you come here to get? I’d like to know the title
of the book that you want to lend to Jana.

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MARIJAN: Oh, right… that book… its title … the books title is… Jana,
remind me what the title is…
JANA: The title is… it’s “The History of German Architecture”.
SANJA: That’s that big black book that I noticed wasn’t on the shelf a
few days ago. I asked you where it was, and you said you’d lent it to
some young architect.
MARIJAN: Oh, really… Oh, yes, that’s right! I’m sorry, Jana, Sanja
just reminded me that it’s not here. I forgot that I’d already lent that
book to someone else.
JANA: Then I’ve come here in vain.
ZORAN: But you haven’t come in vain – it’s his birthday. You can
celebrate it with us. Sanja and Damir have prepared plenty of food,
cake, drinks. It’s the man’s sixtieth birthday, and that has to be
celebrated, so the more the merrier.
DAMIR: Dad, let me introduce you. This is Iva. She has been working
in my office for a year now. And this is her husband.
(They shake hands.)
MARIJAN: I’m Marijan.
IVA: I’m Iva. Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Thank you!
ŽELJKO: I’m Željko.
MARIJAN: Pleased to meet you.
BORIS: Happy birthday, old boy.
MARIJAN: Thank you!
(Boris turns to Jana.)
BORIS: How are your parents?
JANA: They’re doing well. Actually, Mama had some trouble with her
lungs last year. It was a fairly serious infection, but now she’s all right.
BORIS: Give them my best. I haven’t seen them in a long time.

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JANA: I will. I’ll tell them you said hello… Excuse me, but I… If that
book that I came for isn’t here – and it isn’t – then I’d better be on my
way. I have to go home.
BORIS: Do you still work at that institute?
JANA: I do, but … I just got a job offer in New York … On Monday I’m
going in for a conference to discuss the specifics of my contract. I’ll be
moving there soon.
BORIS: Congratulations!
MARIJAN: Now that’s a good decision. For you that’s a very good
decision.
SANJA: Why don’t you have a bite to eat with us, have a drink… and
help us celebrate Marijan’s sixtieth?
JANA: No, I’m kind of in a hurry. There are a lot of things that I have
to get done before I leave for America. When you move that far away,
you have to decide which things are necessary to take on the plane,
and what to send there by ship. … Good-bye everyone, and have a
good time!
(Jana practically flees from the embarrassing situation in which she
found herself.)
ZORAN: People, now we can start with the food. Man, am I hungry!.
(Zoran lifts the plastic wrap from the trays of food and starts to eat.)
DAMIR: Hey Zoran – bon appetit! Help yourselves, everyone ... dig in.
(Everyone approaches the food, while Sanja and Marijan separate
from the rest and have a conversation with lowered voices at the front
of the stage.)
SANJA: You could have told me.
MARIJAN: What could I have told you?
SANJA: You could have told me that you’re fooling around with that
kid.
MARIJAN: That just ended. As you heard, she’s leaving for America.

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SANJA: So what. You could have boasted about it.
MARIJAN: And you could have told me that you were organizing a
surprise party. You know I have a weak heart.
SANJA: You have a stronger heart than many of your generation.
Happy birthday!
MARIJAN: Thanks.
(She kisses him on the cheek.)
SANJA: Let’s get a bite to eat while there’s still something left.
MARIJAN: Let’s go.
(Iva approaches Marijan.)
IVA: When I told Mama that I was going to your birthday party, she
told me to send you her best. You once went to primary school
together.
MARIJAN: And what’s your mother’s name?
IVA: Stela.
MARIJAN: Stela! – Lord, we haven’t seen each other in ages. You
look a lot like her.
IVA: Everyone tells me that.
MARIJAN: How is she?
IVA: Not bad… Except… Recently she has been dedicating all her
time to taking care of my father.
MARIJAN: Is it something serious?
IVA: His condition is very bad, unfortunately. He has been in bed for
two years, now. He’s really faded away in the last three months. It’s
gotten to the point where he barely recognizes us anymore. The
doctors say he doesn’t have much time left.
MARIJAN: I’m so sorry. Say hello to your mother. And … if you don’t
mind, give her my business card. I’d love to hear from her … when
she’s able.
(Marijan offers Iva his business card, and she takes it.)

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IVA: Okay, I’ll convey your greetings to her. Everything is so confused
in our family right now, what with my father’s condition and my
pregnancy and all. Frankly, I came to your birthday party tonight just
so that I could forget my personal reality for a moment, yet that’s what
I end up talking to you about.
MARIJAN: Sometimes we have a period in life when it’s hard to deal
with what’s happening to us. It’s important to try to live as if everything
is ordinary.
IVA: That’s exactly what I’m trying to learn to do.
(Sanja and Boris separate from the rest to talk.)
BORIS: I’m glad that you organized this party, and I’m glad you two
invited me.
SANJA: We didn’t invite you. It was Damir who invited you.
(Brief silence.)
BORIS: Oh, I thought the two of you agreed upon it.
SANJA: Yeah, well, we didn’t!
BORIS: I was really happy that I would see you again after all this
time.
SANJA: I’m sorry, but the feeling’s not mutual.
(Silence.)
SANJA: Why so quiet? Don’t you have something to say?
BORIS: What can I say after years of your insults and contempt. You
won’t even accept ordinary, polite communication.
SANJA: You know quite well what the cause of my behavior is.
BORIS: That’s just it, neither do I know, nor do I understand. And I’ll
tell you, it’s no picnic being in a room where someone hates me.
That’s why I’m going to leave this birthday party, so that this evening
will be less painful for both of us. If you wanted to hurt me and drive
me away from this place, well then you’ve succeeded. Congratulations
and good-bye!

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(Boris goes toward the door of the apartment.)
SANJA: Wait a minute, stop!
(Boris stops.)
SANJA: Aren’t you going to stay, for Marijan’s sake?
BORIS: No.
(Boris goes toward the exit again.)
SANJA: Why are you making a scene? If I’m just as you described
right now, why do you have to be like that, too? Come on – please
stay tonight – for my brother’s sake.
(Boris and goes back to where Sanja is standing.)
BORIS: I will stay only on one condition.
SANJA: What’s the condition?
BORIS: That you dance with me.
(Silence.)
SANJA: You’re joking! You’re crazy!
BORIS: I’m not joking. And I really must be crazy if I want to dance
with a woman who returns my love with hatred.
(Silence.)
BORIS: So… should I go, or should I stay?
(Silence. We hear Zoran’s voice in the background.)
ZORAN: People, it’s time for some music; it’s time to dance!
(A sentimental song starts playing. Boris approaches Sanja, and the
two start to dance. After a few seconds, Sanja stops and slaps him in
the face. The music grows quiet. Everyone is looking at them.)
SANJA: That’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a girl … I can’t take
this any longer, I just can’t take it anymore … You goddamned
shameless, arrogant …
BORIS: What are you trying to say to me?
SANJA: I’m trying to tell you … that I no longer have the strength to
fight against myself, I don’t have the strength to hate you anymore …

85
(Boris gently pulls her toward him, and in the next moment they kiss)
MARIJAN: Can anyone here tell me what’s going on? Can somebody
explain?
BORIS: Your sister has just stopped hating me.
MARIJAN: Are you joking? – Then why did she slap you back then?
SANJA: Can we cool it with the tough questions?
(The music starts to play again. Sanja and Boris start dancing. Then
Petra and Damir, and Iva and Željko start dancing as well.)

SEQUENCE SEVEN (2017)

SCENE A)
(Stela and Marijan enter the cafe, followed by ten-year-old Igor,
Marijan's grandson, and ten-year-old Maja, Stela's granddaughter,
“driving” chairs on wheels. The radio plays Mia Dimšić’s song “Život
nije siv” [Life is not gray].)
MARIJAN: We can have a drink here.
IGOR: Grandpa, you promised to take me to Maksimir park.
MARIJAN: I did, but it started to rain.
MAJA: Grandma, and you promised me to take me to the Zoo today.
STELA: We can’t go to the Zoo in the rain.
MAJA: And when the rain stops, can we go then?
STELA: Then we’ll go to the Zoo. Now we’ll have a drink here.
(A waitress approaches.)
WAITRESS: Can I help you?
MARIJAN: Stela, what would you like to drink?
STELA: A small espresso.
MARIJAN: Maja, Igor – what about you two?
MAJA: I’ll have an orange juice.

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IGOR: And I’ll have an elderberry juice.
WAITRESS: Last week we opened a playroom for the kids, the
children can play there, it’s right over there, in the next room. We have
big-screen computers and simulators for driving cars, ships and space
ships … I can serve them their juices in there.
IGOR: I want to try the airplane simulator.
MAJA: I’ll try the racecar simulator.
MARIJAN: I didn’t know you had a playroom here. Kids, go and play
and when you get bored, come back here with us. Miss, I’ll have a
green tea.
WAITRESS: Certainly.
(The waitress takes the children to the playroom.)
MARIJAN: I couldn’t say this in front of the children … you’re so
beautiful today – your hair-do, your dress. You’re simply radiant!
STELA: You like this dress?!
MARIJAN: A lot, it suits you very well.
STELA: I had a feeling that you might like it.
MARIJAN: That color looks good on you, too.
(Silence.)
STELA: My family said they’ll be coming to your birthday.
MARIJAN: My son and my daughter-in-law will be there, and so will
Sanja and Boris … Tomorrow my half-brother will be arriving from
Spain, too. He’s coming just because it’s my birthday. I didn’t plan to
celebrate, but my son said, “Dad, your seventieth birthday is no joke.
You have to celebrate it.”
STELA: Definitely, you should have a party. Every day is a gift; at our
age we should celebrate every morning … So, seventy in just three
days!
MARIJAN: That’s right! It seems unreal to me to be almost seventy. I
don’t feel that old.

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STELA: That’s because the soul doesn’t age. In two months I’ll also
know how it feels to be seventy.
(Marijan takes an envelope out of an inside pocket of his coat and puts
it on the table.)
STELA: What is that?
MARIJAN: Guess!
STELA: You didn’t buy tickets for Malta, did you?
MARIJAN: Yes I did – I bought plane tickets for our “honeymoon”.
(The waitress comes back carrying a tray.)
WAITRESS: Here you are!
(She puts a cup of tea in front of Marijan and a coffee in front of Stela.)
MARIJAN: Thank you.
STELA: Can I get some milk, please?
WAITRESS: Just a moment.
(The waitress leaves.)
STELA: I thought you were joking when you suggested that we go to
Malta.
MARIJAN: I’m always serious when it comes to promises. You’ll like it
there. Did you know that on Malta they drive on the left-hand side of
the road like in England?
STELA: I didn’t know that.
MARIJAN: Boris says it’s an unusual country. A mixture of East and
West – he’s been there several times.
STELA: So, we can’t go back now?
MARIJAN: No, we can’t – I confirmed the wedding date and the
tickets are bought. Even if we wanted to, we couldn’t back down.
STELA: I’m a bit scared.
MARIJAN: Of what?

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STELA: What will my daughter say when she finds out that I’m
marrying you, and how is your son going to react? They don’t even
suspect.
MARIJAN: They know that we spend time together occasionally.
STELA: We should have told them …
MARIJAN: We’ll tell them together when we all get together at my
birthday party. Damir has even asked me once or twice: “Dad, you’re
not going to live alone till the end of your life, are you?”
STELA: My daughter has also told me that I’d be better off if I were
not alone … But, when they find out … who knows what they’ll say.
(Silence.)
STELA: You see … I’ve known you were special since your tenth
birthday, when Boris knocked over your TV and you took the blame.
How brave you were! You protected a friend and took your father’s
anger upon yourself.
MARIJAN: And you refused to celebrate without me. You didn’t want
me to be alone. That was brave, too …
(Marijan pulled a music box out of the inner pocket of his jacket.)
MARIJAN: Look.
STELA: What is this?
MARIJAN: It’s the present you gave me fifty years ago.
(Marijan turns the crank and Vivaldi’s “Spring” from the Four Seasons
cycle begins to play.)
STELA: Is it possible that you kept it?
MARIJAN: Did you have any doubts?

SCENE B)
(We are in Marijan’s living room, his seventieth birthday party is
underway. Besides the guest of honor, the others present are Sanja,
Boris, Damir, Petra, Iva, Željka, Zoran, Stela, the children on chairs on

89
wheels, Igor, and Maja. Stela, Iva, and Željko are in the foreground;
Zoran is telling them his life story.
ZORAN: Exactly seven years ago, I was in a detox program for the
third time in Vinogradska hospital. I went down to fifty kilos live weight,
the pain in my body was beyond endurance. And it all started
innocently. A few drinks when partying, then pills, then grass. In three
years, I was addicted to heroin. In four years, I was selling off my
things. I even screwed up our summer gig. Then I was kicked out of
the band. And music was everything to me in the world. My third time
in the hospital, some medical technician tried to get me into God. I felt
like punching him. To me, Jesus was just a character from Christmas
stories. I was in pain, and the guy wouldn’t stop talking about Jesus
saving me. I was given more and more methadone … And falling
deeper and deeper into a bad state. After I left the hospital, I went to
see Yellow. My boy Yellow had the best dope in town. If there was
anybody in the world who could help me, it would have been him. His
mom opened the door for me. She was wearing black. When I asked
her about him, she just said, “the funeral was last Wednesday.” Right
then I burst into tears and totally fell apart. The poor woman, who had
lost her son a week ago, had to comfort me. I was barely able to
breath … Until you lose somebody you’re close to, you don’t get what
death is. You understand, and yet you don’t understand. Yellow was a
legend, we’d been through everything together. I would look at his
mom, at her face, which showed all the shit she’d been through
because of him. Suddenly, she was fifteen years older. Some of his
stuff was still around the house, packed nicely so that she could take it
somewhere … And then I realized it could have been me. Seriously. It
was as if I had died, and there were some of my things left after me
which would be taken away soon, to charity or to the trash. I cried. And
half an hour later I was heading to Kaptol. To the church. I don’t even

90
know how. Those were not my footsteps. I was just dragging my feet,
thinking about everything that that technician had told me about faith. I
didn’t have a clue that I’d actually remembered every word he told me.
I had about hundred kunas in my pocket, and I don’t know how, but I
went into one of those bookstores on Kaptol where they sell religious
stuff. Like a sick dog who’s wandering around the woods, sniffing the
plants in search of the one that will cure him, I was going through the
books looking for the one that could save me, or that would give me
the hope that I could be cured, and that I too could put my faith in God.
Providence brought me to the book “Our God is a Mighty God” by
Father James Manjackal. I read those hundred pages by three o’clock
in the morning. And all I found inside the cover was hope. All paths are
wrong – only one of them does not lead to the graveyard. I started to
understand life, which is so much more than one fix and nirvana
before the next craving. The next day, I bought a copy of the New
Testament and started going to church regularly. I began to pray,
feeling that life is not just on the surface … But from that initial
enthusiasm I fell quickly into temptation, when one evening I stole my
sister’s winter coat and sold it for nothing, just to buy a bit of a brown
liquid which I boiled in a bottle cap. Her beautiful coat for nothing. After
that, I felt even worse. I wasn’t able to look my sister in the eye, my
mother wouldn’t even talk to me, my faith had deflated in a second …
Three weeks later, I went to hear a talk on communes where addicts
are treated. A young priest named Matej, who had just returned from
Spain, led the discussion. With him were three ex-addicts who had
experienced life in a commune. When the lecture was finished, I
approached the priest and told him, “Father, I have to go to a
commune right away, or I will die.” He smiled and said: “It’s not that
simple. Only a few meet the requirements, and the selection takes a
long time.” I spilled my guts to him, saying that I hadn’t taken any

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drugs for three weeks, and that I was reading the New Testament from
dawn to dusk. I told him that I shiver from the desire to stick a needle
up my vein and that it makes me sick. The priest then told me: “Show
me your left and your right arm.” I knew what he was looking for – I
rolled up my sleeves, first the left one, then the right. He looked at my
wounded veins, my butchered arms and said: “All right – I’ll give you a
chance, but you’ll have to sleep in our monastery tonight.” For the next
few days, he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. I passed the test. In the
commune, I worked in fields, cleaned toilets, groomed cows and
horses, did the most difficult construction work, and prayed every day.
I touched heaven and hell there, enchanting moments and steep
descents. I went through the worst possible physical crisis, my body
was twisted with pain. There were moments when I felt I was
disintegrating, decaying like a corpse, moments when I thought I
wouldn’t live another day. The only support I had were my prayers and
the cold iron cross around my neck – they were my only protection
against the cruel demons … It was there that I met Marija. She was a
volunteer, trying to help us, the desperate ones. I fell in love with her
the moment I saw her, but I didn’t dare admit my affection to her for a
long time, a whole year, knowing that I wasn’t worthy of her as an
addict … It wasn’t until I’d been in the commune for two years that I
was sure I was cured and ready to go back to the outside world,
without fear that I would reach out for drugs again … When I was
ready to go home to Croatia, the supervisor of the commune
approached me and asked, “Would you like to stay here and help the
new arrivals?” I didn’t answer him right away. The next day I said to
Marija that I was ready to stay in the commune, only if the idea of us
staying together would make her happy. She smiled and conceded
that she was the one who had suggested to the supervisor that he

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should offer me the chance to stay and work in the commune. We got
married three months later.
(The light broadens from the group listening to Zoran’s confession to
include all of the guests in the background. Marijan walks up to Zoran
and gives him a hug.)
MARIJAN: I’m so proud of my brother.
ZORAN: It wasn’t always like that … You suffered so much because
of me that I’m embarrassed to think about it.
MARIJAN: Thank God that was ages ago.
(The light focusses on Boris, Damir, Sanja, and Petra.)
SANJA: That little cottage of ours in Zagorje, it’s practically isolated.
BORIS: The closest house is more than a kilometer away from us.
SANJA: Imagine– we went to bed the first night after we bought the
house – and as we were falling asleep, we heard some rattling and
deep breathing under the window. Boris jumped out of bed, sure that it
was some drunk person under our window.
BORIS: It sounded like a person panting, almost like someone
choking. It was a dark night with no moon, just past midnight.
I took the biggest kitchen knife I could find and a flashlight, and I
opened the window slightly. I pointed the flashlight at the place the
rattle was coming from and what I saw was – a hedgehog. An ordinary
hedgehog!
(Igor rides “drives” up to Petra in his chair on wheels.)
IGOR: Mama, can I take Maja to the balcony and show her the
fireworks you bought for the celebration?
PETRA: Sush, don’t let Grandpa hear you. The fireworks are
supposed to be a surprise. He can’t see them until we cut the cake.
Then we’ll put on a little light show for him.
MAJA: And when will we cut the cake?

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PETRA: In ten minutes. You interrupted me in the middle of my
conversation.
(Spotlights focus on Željko and Iva. Željko is pouring wine into a glass.
He’s drunk.)
IVA: Željko, please stop! You’ve had enough for tonight!
ŽELJKO: I’ve barely started. It’s a birthday party, only once in a
lifetime does a person celebrate his seventieth birthday!
(The spotlights widen to include the entire living room, and now
everyone can hear drunken Željko having a fight with his wife.)
IVA: Please, control yourself!
ŽELJKO: Why should I control myself when you’ve been out of control
for a long time.
IVA: Please, not so loud – put down that!
ŽELJKO: No, I won’t!
(Željko drains his glass and starts pouring himself another.)
IVA: That’s enough! Now stop!
ŽELJKO: Don’t be a bore, woman! Let me drink, let me do what I
want, at least tonight!
IVA: Please, don’t make a scene in front of everyone!
ŽELJKO: What are you talking about? What fucking scene? Fuck off
and leave me alone!
PETRA: Željko, it would be a good idea to listen to your wife now and
then.
ŽELJKO: Petra, considering the circumstances, you should be on my
side, not hers.
PETRA: What circumstances?
ŽELJKO: You know what I’m talking about.
PETRA: I have no idea what you’re talking about. I think you’ve had
enough to drink and it would be for the best if you lie down a little.

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ŽELJKO: Considering the fact that your husband and my wife are
cheating on us, I think you should back me up, and not my whore of a
wife.
PETRA: I beg your pardon?! What did you just say? What makes you
think that they are being unfaithful to us?
ŽELJKO: Everybody at Croatian Electric is talking about their affair,
about that symposium at Plitvice Lakes. Why do you think they didn’t
bring either of us along?
PETRA: Because spouses were not invited.
ŽELJKO: That’s what I thought, too. Until I met Enes. Enes brought
his wife to Plitvice Lakes, and Sandra took Franjo along. Whoever
wanted to take his partner did so, except for your husband and my
wife, so that they could fuck each other all they wanted, while we
stayed at home taking care of the children.
DAMIR: That’s insane, I don’t know what you’re talking about!
PETRA: Damir, is it true that other people from your firm took their
spouses?
DAMIR: I have no idea.
PETRA: You have no idea, and when I told you that I’d like to go with
you to Plitvice, you told me that the manager wouldn’t let anyone take
their spouse along – so that the participants of the symposium could
concentrate better. Now I see what you were concentrated on.
DAMIR: The man is drunk and he’s talking nonsense. If I, as the head
of my department, had taken my wife, everybody would have held it
against me.
ŽELJKO: Fuck, I’m drunk!
IVA: Don’t be vulgar. Let’s go home.
PETRA: Iva, it is true that spouses were allowed at Plitvice?
IVA: Well … I …
PETRA: Is it, or not?

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IVA: Why is that so important now?
PETRA: So they were allowed! You slut!
(Petra lunges at Iva, Damir grabs her at the last moment, Iva strikes
back.)
DAMIR: What’s wrong with you? Calm down!
(Petra screams and breaks free and lunges at Iva again, Iva screams,
but Damir manages to grab Petra before she reaches Iva with her
hands.)
IVA: Crazy woman, lunatic! Let’s get away from here! Maja, come on!
Let’s go, Mama! Somebody should call the police!
(Damir struggles with Petra. Petra is screaming as she hits him in the
head and back. Iva, Maja, and Stela leave the apartment. At one point,
Petra hits Damir three times in a row, Damir hits her once in return,
Petra stops in shock and starts screaming again.)
PETRA: Did you see that? He hit me! What a bully! He hits his wife! I’ll
bring you to court, I promise!
ŽELJKO: And I’ll be your witness. I solemnly declare that I’ll testify in
your name. I’ll testify that your husband attacked you and slapped you
in the face.
PETRA: What the hell are you still doing here, you drunk!? Go home
and take care of your horny wife!
ŽELJKO: Nice, and this is the thanks I get! You stupid fool, if it were
not for me, you would have never figured it out, you imbecile!
DAMIR: Watch it, Željko. Another word and I’ll punch you in the face!
(Damir lunges at Željko, and Željko grabs a bottle from the table and
swings it at him.)
ŽELJKO: Try it, and I’ll smash your head!
(Zoran and Marijan get between Željko and Damir.)
ZORAN: Stop it, guys!
MARIJAN: Please, stop all this!

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(Igor “drives” up to Marijan in his chair on wheels.)
IGOR: Grandpa, when will we have cake, and when will the fireworks
start?

SCENE C)
(Stela is sitting in the cafe. The radio is playing the song “Srce za
vodiča” [The Heart as a Guide] by Petar Grašo and Hana Huljić.
Marijan appears at the door and goes to her table.)
STELA: Hi!
MARIJAN: Hi! … You’re early.
STELA: I couldn’t wait to escape from my house.
(Silence.)
STELA: How is the situation at your place?
MARIJAN: Horrible! Petra wants a divorce, they both yell at each
other and swear a lot. Like in a medieval beer hall.
STELA: It’s pretty much the same at our house. If Željko wasn’t
unemployed right now, I’m sure he’d have left Iva and moved out. He’s
killing himself with alcohol, but he can’t drink. He starts vomiting as
soon as he starts drinking … Are your kids really going to get
divorced?
MARIJAN: I don’t think so. I’ve heard Petra telling Damir to move to
another company, to Končar, so that he won’t see your daughter every
day at work. I guess that means that she plans to stay with him.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t care where he worked.
(Silence.)
STELA: So, this is the second time that they’ve ruined our plans.
Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be for us.
MARIJAN: We should have told them at the beginning of the party
what our plans were. If we had done that, the evening would have
ended differently.

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STELA: Something like this would have happened between them
sooner or later anyway … Did you return the plane tickets?
MARIJAN: They can’t be returned. They’re non-refundable … My
whole life I’ve always bought plane tickets ten percent more
expensive, so that if I cancelled them I would get a refund. This was
the first time I didn’t do that, and look what happened. The tickets will
simply go to waste.
(Silence.)
STELA: We have to be near them, to help them weather the storm.
MARIJAN: I don’t think they’ll separate, but this state of war may last
for some time.
STELA: Since the day before yesterday, you are not welcome any
more in my family, and I’m less than welcome in yours. It means that
we should break up.
MARIJAN: Then this is our last date.
STELA: The last one.
MARIJAN: We have to think about our families and forget about
ourselves and our feelings.
STELA: That’s what responsible and mature people do … Yet, I’ve
had such a nice time with you in the past few months.
MARIJAN: And I with you … What do we do now?
(Silence.)
STELA: If you don’t mind, I’d like to stay here by myself a little – I
don’t feel like going home – and I can’t talk to you as if everything was
normal!
MARIJAN: All right … Take care!
STELA: Farewell!
MARIJAN: Did you say “Farewell”?
STELA: What else could I say?

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(Marijan leaves the coffee bar. Stela remains alone. She takes a sip of
coffee … In a few moments, Marijan comes back and goes to Stela’s
table.)
MARIJAN: Listen … I’ve never cheated on anyone. I was a good
husband to my late wife, I was a thoughtful son to my father and my
mother, I was even a caring father to my son … But … it’s almost as if
I was not important to myself throughout my life … everybody else was
more important, and I was always in a background … I’ve been fond of
you since we were ten years old. We are not going to break up.
STELA: But … if our children find out that we’re together, they’ll be
mad, they’d hold it against us.
MARIJAN: They don’t need to know.
STELA: What are you trying to say?
MARIJAN: We’ll go on our “honeymoon” to Malta.
STELA: “Honeymoon” makes sense only after a wedding.
MARIJAN: That’s right – first the wedding, then the “honeymoon”.
STELA: You just said a few minutes ago that they would mind if they
found out we were married.
MARIJAN: They won’t find out … at least for a couple of months, until
what happened the day before yesterday becomes the vague past.
STELA: I guess “secret love is the sweetest kind”.
MARIJAN: That’s right – “secret love is the sweetist kind”.
(They smile and kiss each other. The music from the beginning of the
scene starts playing again. A waitress approaches them carrying two
chairs on wheels for children. She gives one to Marijan, the other to
Stela. The waitress leaves, and Marijan and Stela sit down on those
chairs. At that moment they become ten-year-old children.)
STELA: I could hardly wait for your tenth birthday party. Will you show
me that TV?

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MARIJAN: Sure, I’ll show you the TV. But just so that you know – I’ve
been looking forward to seeing you at my birthday party, too. And I’m
so happy when I go to school every day, knowing that I’ll see you
there. You’re the prettiest girl in the class.
STELA: And you’re my favorite out of all the boys.

THE END

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