Nella Bielski – författare

Goya's Last Portrait presents the artist struggling to comprehend the relationship between his life and his work. Having painted humanity at its most violent and depraved amid the horrors of war, and also depicted the vibrancy of aristocratic life, Goya faces an overwhelming question: Has he changed the world or merely caught its reflection?The Question of Geography is set in Magadan, a town in the Soviet far east, where former political prisoners, known as 'Zeks', are forced to live after serving their sentences. The play examines exile, political repression, and the psychological legacy of incarceration.These two plays, the result of a collaboration between John Berger and the actress and writer Nella Bielski, are here brought together for the first time as part of the Essential John Berger Series.

The year is 1942 and Europe is besieged by war. Germany has defeated most of Europe, is ruling France, and approaching Russia. Three lives are bound together by destiny, although by all appearances could not be further apart. In occupied Paris, Karl, a German officer, has realised that he can no longer ignore the war. An adventurer and traveller, Karl has always avoided politics for the good life, but lately he has begun to question the regime he serves. In Germany, Hans, a fellow officer and old friend of Karl's, has found a way out of the same dilemma. But he knows - with chilling certainty - that his decision can only lead to death. And in Kiev, where the fighting is at its pitch, Katia, a doctor, tries to hold onto her old life as she waits anxiously for her husband's return from one of Stalin's labour camps.