The article analyses the play "Without Weapons" by A. and B. Strugatsky in comparison with its source material – the novella "Hard to Be a God". It examines the poetics of the titles and the system of epigraphs, and concludes that the ideological framework of the play is distinctive and differs from the original: the focus shifts from the issue of personal responsibility to the problem of forcible interference in the fate of a civilization, and the idea of "progressorism" is emphasised more strongly. The author of the article highlights the specific ways in which the motifs of the game and the mask are realised, as well as the related issue of self identification. The analysis covers the changes that affected the compositional and plot elements, the spatial temporal organisation, and the system of characters when adapting the epic text into a dramatic form. It is noted that transferring the novella’s action to the stage forced A. and B. Strugatsky to abandon a number of plotlines and characters, thereby focusing the reader’s attention on the conflict between Anton Rumata and Don Reba. The article also considers the character of Kira, who becomes one of the main characters in the play, and the associated problem of personal freedom. The author concludes that "Without Weapons", despite its distinctive ideology and substantial creative reworking, is artistically weaker than the original source, but it remains an interesting example of the authors’ dramatisation of an epic text and an important stage in the development of the Strugatsky brothers’ dramatic method.
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