THE OVERCOAT

$5.40 – $15.00

Written in 1977 The Overcoat is a stage adaptation of Gogol’s great novella, acknowledged by Russian writers who followed him to be a masterpiece.

Hibberd has interlarded his comico-tragic dramatization with several songs – about cities in general, the intention being to make the metropolis of St Petersburg have a universal dimension. The wretched central character is here called ‘Kak’; the other characters are all grotesques, who treat him abominably. He has, nevertheless, a sweetish revenge at the end, but is still without the overcoat for which he saved across a decade (in order to propel the sadsack up into a better class of society). A production requires a composer and some singers.

The music for the original production was written by Martin Friedel. Australian plays may be able to provide copies of this music but the composer's permission should be sought before requesting it.

APT