Criticism > Drama Criticism > Handke, Peter - Richard Arthur Firda (essay date 1993)
Handke, Peter - Richard Arthur Firda (essay date 1993)
Richard Arthur Firda (essay date 1993)
SOURCE: Firda, Richard Arthur. “Theatrical Experiments.” In Peter Handke, pp. 13-40. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993.
[In the following essay, Firda examines the techniques Handke uses to explore language in his plays.]
EARLY THEATER, 1966-1967
Though Peter Handke had published an experimental novel, Die Hornissen, in 1966, it was the premiere of his first play, Publikumsbeschimpfung, in that same year that established his name as an innovator in modern German theater.1 Publikumsbeschimpfung, first performed on 8 June 1966 at the leftist-oriented Theater am Turm in Frankfurt under the direction of Claus Peymann, is the first work in a collection of Sprechstücke (Language plays). The German word Sprechstücke recalls the focus in a language play on words, sentences, and language as primary reasons for writing and viewing a play.2...
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- Introduction
- Principal Works
- Criticism: General Commentary
- Criticism: Publikumsbeschimpfung (Offending The Audience)
- Criticism: Kaspar
- Criticism: Der Ritt üEber Den Bodensee (The Ride Across Lake Constance)
- Criticism: Die UnvernüNftigen Sterben Aus (They Are Dying Out)
- Criticism: Das Spiel Vom Fragen Oder (Voyage To The Sonorous Land)
- Criticism: Die Stunde Da Wir Nichts Voneinander Der WuβTen: (The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other)
- Criticism: Die Fahrt Im Einbaum Oder Das Stuck Zum Film Vom Krieg (The Canoe Trip Or The Play Of The Film Of The War)
- Further Reading
- Copyright
