Largo desolato is a play by Václav Havel

Václav Havel

Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

. It is about a political writer, Leopold Nettles (originally in Czech Kopřiva), who fears being sent back into prison. During the play, Leopold faces extreme pressure from his wife, two members of what appears to be the secret police, among others. The English translation of this play is by Tom Stoppard

Tom Stoppard

Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...

, himself born in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, and received its world premiere in Bristol, England, in 1986.

Characters

Leopold Nettles (Kopřiva) – a former professor and occasional philosopher/writer who became the hero of a movement

Edward – a friend of Leopold

Suzana – the relationship between Leopold and Suzana is questionable at best

Lucy – Leopold's lover

Marguerite – a philosophy student who goes to Leopold for counsel

Two Sidneys – workers from the mill, meant to represent the opinions of the common man

Two chaps – men sent by the government to have Leopold rescind his writing, later drop all charges (for now)

Plot

Leopold Nettles, a political writer and philosopher, fears being sent back into prison. He hides in his home afraid that the police will come and arrest him. Over the course of the play, various people, including the secret police, visit him. The secret police warn him about an essay he has written and tell him that the possible consequences can be avoided by changing his name. Leopold asks for more time to consider, which they grant him, but Leopold ultimately seems to become lost to his own madness. The play features significant repetition of lines, adding to the subjective sense of Leopold's experience.