TROTSKY AND FRIENDS

January, 1913. The setting: Café Central, Vienna, Austria.

Leon Trotsky struggles to finish a manuscript before its deadline and is interrupted by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, whose bitter feuding and brazen rivalry show no sign of abating.

Vladimir Lenin, keen to push on with his plans for the revolution while suffering from a venereal disease, introduces Leon to an ambitious Joseph Stalin and an impressionable Tito. The four quarrel and compete unceasingly.

With the arrival of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, the composer Alma Mahler and a penniless artist, Leon’s desire for a produc- tive writing session and enjoyable dinner quickly descends into farce, with the group’s interactions, arguments and celebrations helping to shape their own lives… and the future of humanity.

‘Watch out for more work from Brendan Black…’ – Weekend Notes

Written and directed by Brendan Black

Performed by Vlady T, Lawrie Fildes, Chris Gaffney, Tommy Kay, Matthew Parker, Marcus Cain, Colin Donald, Milijana Cancar, Tasha Sanders and David Todman

Image by Brendan Black