Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Swiss playwright, novelist and short-story writer. Born 5 January, 1921. Died 14 December, 1990
Stage Works
- Komdie (Comedy). Play. Written 1943.
- Der Doppelgnger (The Double). Radio
play. Written 1946. Published 1961.
- Es steht geschrieben (It
Is Written). Tragedy. Written 1947. Published 1947. Produced Zurich,
Schauspielhaus, Apr. 19, 1947. Early version of Die Wiedertufer.
- Der Blinde (The
Blind Man). Parable play, or martyr drama. Written 1948. Published
1960 as A Drama. Produced Basel, Stadttheater, Jan.
10, 1948.
- Romulus der Grosse (Romulus the Great). Comedy,
4 acts. First version written 1949; second version 1957; third version
1961. Published 1957, 1961. Produced Basel, Stadttheater, Apr. 25,
1949.
- Die
Ehe des Herrn Mississippi (The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi). Comedy,
2 parts. First version: Written 1951. Published 1952. Produced
Munich, Kammerspiele, Mar. 26, 1952. Second version: Written 1956.
Published 1957. Third version: Written 1969.
- Der Prozess um des Esels
Schatten (The Trial about the Donkey's Shadow). Radio
play. Written 1951. Publised 1958. Based on Christoph Martin Wieland's Die
Abderiten.
- Nchtliches Gesprch mit einem verachteten
Menschen (Nocturnal Conversation). Radio play; later a
stage drama, 1 act. Written 1952. Published 1961. Produced Munich,
Kammerspiele, July 26, 1952, as Nchtlicher Besuch (Nocturnal
Visit).
- Stranitzky und der Nationalheld (Stranitzky
and the National Hero). Radio play. Written 1952. Published 1961.
Produced 1952.
- Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon
(An Angel Comes to Babylon). Symbolic comedy, 3 acts. First
version: Written 1953. Published 1954. Produced Munich, Kammerspiele, Dec.
22, 1953; Zurich, Schauspielhaus, 1953-1954. Second version: Written
1957. Published 1957.
- Herkules und der Stall des Augias (Hercules
and the Augean Stables). Radio play, 1 act. Written 1954. Published
1959. Produced 1959. Rewritten as a stage comedy, 1 act, 1962.
Produced Zurich, Mar. 20, 1963.
- Das Unternehmen der Wega (Operation Wega). Radio
play. Written 1954. Published 1958. Produced 1955.
- Die Panne (Traps). Radio play. Written 1956. Published
1956.
- Abendstunde im Sptherbst (An Evening
Hour in Late Autumn). Radio play. Written 1956. Published
1959. Produced Berlin, Renaissance-theater, Nov. 19, 1959, in a
stage adaptation.
- Der Besuch
der alten Dame (The Visit). Parable, or tragicomedy, 3 acts. Written 1956. Published 1956. Produced Zurich, Schauspielhaus, Jan. 29, 1956.
Original title: Komdie der Hochkonjunktur (Comedy
of Business Prosperity).
- Frank der Fnfte. Oper einer Privatbank (Frank
the Fifth, Opera of a Private Bank). Musical. Written 1959. New
ending written 1960. Second version: Written 1964. Produced Zurich,
Schauspielhaus, Mar. 19, 1959. Music: Paul Burkhard. Published 1960.
- Die Physiker(The Physicists). Comedy,
2 acts. Written 1961. Published 1962. Produced Zurich, Feb. 20, 1962.
- Der Meteor (The Meteor). Comedy, 2 acts. Written
1966. Produced Zurich, Jan. 20, 1966. Published 1966.
- Die Wiedertufer (The Anabaptists). Comedy,
2 parts. Published 1967. Produced Zurich, Schauspielhaus, Mar. 16,
1967. New version of Es steht geschrieben
- Play Strindberg. Play. Written
1968. Published 1969. Produced Basel, Feb. 8, 1969. (Adaptation). Based
on August Strindberg's The
Dance of Death.
- Knig Johann (King
John). Play. Written 1968. Published 1968. Produced Basel, Sept.
18, 1968. (Adaptation). Based on William Shakespeare's King John.
- Titus Andronicus. Comedy.
Written 1969. Published 1970. Produced Dsseldorf, Schauspielhaus,
Dec. 12, 1970. (Adaptation). Based on William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.
- Urfaust. Play. Published 1970. Produced
Zurich, Oct. 20, 1970. (Adaptation). Based on Johann Wolfgang
von Goethes Urfaust.
- Portrt eines Planeten (Portrait of a
Planet). Play. Published 1970. Produced Dsseldorf, Kleines Haus,
Nov. 27, 1970; "Zurich version" produced at the Schauspielhaus,
Mar. 28, 1971.
- Der Mitmacher (The Conformer). Play. Written 1972.
Published 1976. Produced Zurich, Mar. 8, 1973.
- Die Frist (The Deadline). Play. Written
1977. Published 1977. Produced Zurich, Schauspielhaus, Oct. 6, 1977.
CRITICISM
- H. Bnziger, Frisch und Drrenmatt, Bern, 1962,
1971 (6);
- E. Brock-Sulzer, Friedrich Drrenmatt: Stationen seines Werkes, Zurich,
1964;
- G. E. Wellwarth, The Theater of Protest and Paradox, New
York, 1964;
- U. Jenny, Friedrich Drrenmatt, Velber, 1965
(English translation: Drrenmatt. A Study of His Plays, London,
1978);
- M. B. Peppard, Friedrich Drrenmatt, New York, 1969;
- A. Arnold, Friedrich Drrenmatt, New York, 1972;
- K. J.
Fickert, To Heaven and Back: The New Morality in the Plays of Friedrich Drrenmatt, Lexington,
1972;
- U. Profitlich, Friedrich Drrenmatt, Lexington,
1972;
- U. Profitlich, Friedrich Drrenmatt: Komdienbegriff
und Komdienstruktur, Stuttgart, 1973;
- Friedrich Drrenmatt: Studien
zu seinem Werk, ed. by G. P. Knapp, Heidelberg, 1976;
- H. Mayer, ber Friedrich Drrenmatt und Max
Frisch, Pfullingen, 1977;
- T. Tiusanen, Drrenmatt: A Study
in Plays, Prose, Theory, Princeton, 1977.
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