kfdesign

1) The play is generally representational, as Mrs. Trotsky and Ramon do not have any awareness of the audience. This is not true of Trotsky himself, however. He turns to the audience in a couple situations and addresses them directly. These are the only moments when the performers have a direct relationship with the audience. Otherwise, their relationship is purely indirect. 2) Yes, at the moments when Trotsky turns to them, he addresses the audience in a manner that would indicate they are sitting next to him watching the events unfold. 3) The dramatic action refreshes itself every time Trotsky comes back to life. The inevitability of his death means that the dramatic question is a moot point it’s just a question of his actions until his death. 4) Mexico City. The actual scene is in a room in Trotsky’s house, probably in his studio. 5) The time of the day is mid afternoon, this is indicated by the fact that the characters discuss their upcoming dinner. 6) The set is meant to be pretty bland. There is not much on set other than a desk and a window through which the audience can see some shrubs. This is meant to indicate how normal a day it is for the characters, even though for one of them, it is their last. 7) It is sunny, and it can be assumed that it is pretty warm as it is in Mexico City. 8) Trotsky is clearly pretty wealthy, as he is one of the most important figures of the 20th century. Moreover, he has a gardener working for him, a symbol of his wealth. The gardener, Ramon, is probably lower class, working as a manual laborer in Mexico during the 40’s. 9) Trotsky is a famous Russian revolutionary who subscribed to Marxist-Leninism and Ramon is a gardener who is an undercover agent sent by Stalin to kill Trotsky. 10) Trotsky is 60 when he dies, his wife is roughly the same age and the gardener is considerably younger but it is never explicitly specified. 11) Trotsky and Mrs. Trotsky are married and Ramon is employed by them to look after their plants. 12) The focus of the play is on Trotsky but his wife plays the part of an exasperated spouse. Ramon is mainly there for further comedy. 13) Ramon enters and exists in the later versions of his death but the first few deaths take place as one French scene. 14) The only furniture really needed for the play is a desk. Everything else used it just a encyclopedia, a skull that Trotsky holds, and the main prop needed is a axe which can attach to the back of Trotsky’s hat (assuming he wears one, attaches to his head otherwise).