Arnolt Bronnen
Encyclopedia
Arnolt Bronnen was an Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 and director.

Bronnen's most famous play is the Expressionist drama Parricide (Vatermord, 1922); its première production is notable, among other things, for being that from which Bronnen's friend, the young Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...

 in an early stage of his directing career, withdrew, after being taken to hospital with malnutrition and the actors of the cast, led by Heinrich George
Heinrich George
Heinrich George , born Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz, was a German stage and film actor.He had one of his first roles in the Fritz Lang directed film Metropolis and the first film version of Berlin Alexanderplatz...

, walked out on him. According to The Cambridge Guide to Theatre, the "erotic, anti-bourgeois, black expressionism" of the play "caused a sensation" when it was eventually performed.

Bronnen also wrote Birth of Youth (Geburt der Jugend, 1922) and Die Excesse (1923). After having collaborated on film treatments and various theatrical projects together, in 1923 Bronnen and Brecht co-directed a condensed version of Pastor Ephraim Magnus (a nihilistic
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...

, Expressionist play, according to The Cambridge Guide, "stuffed with perversities
Perversion
Perversion is a concept describing those types of human behavior that are a serious deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal. Although it can refer to varying forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe sexual behaviors that are seen by an individual as abnormal,...

 and sado-masochistic
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...

 motifs
Motif (narrative)
In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative aspects such as theme or mood....

") by Hans Henny Jahnn
Hans Henny Jahnn
Hans Henny Jahnn was a German playwright, novelist, and organ-builder.As a playwright, he wrote: Pastor Ephraim Magnus , which The Cambridge Guide to Theatre describes as a nihilistic, Expressionist play "stuffed with perversities and sado-masochistic motifs"; Coronation of Richard III ;...

. Later in his life he wrote reportage plays.

Bronnen signed the Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft
Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft
The Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft was a declaration by 88 German writers and poets of their loyalty to Adolf Hitler...

, a "vow of most faithful allegiance" to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 in 1933; after the second world war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he became a communist.

Sources

  • Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. ISBN 0521434378.
  • Sacks, Glendyr. 1994. "A Brecht Calendar." In The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Ed. Peter Thomson and Glendyr Sacks. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521414466. p.xvii-xxvii.
  • Thomson, Peter
    Peter Thomson
    Peter William Thomson is an Australian professional golfer. He is best remembered for his five wins in The Open Championship.Thomson was born in Brunswick, Australia. His Open Championship wins came in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965...

    . 1994. "Brecht's Lives." In The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Ed. Peter Thomson and Glendyr Sacks. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521414466. p. 22-39.
  • Willett, John
    John Willett
    John Willett was a British translator and a scholar who is remembered for translating the work of Bertolt Brecht into English.-Early life:Willett was educated at Winchester and Christ Church, Oxford...

     and Ralph Manheim
    Ralph Manheim
    Ralph Frederick Manheim was an American translator of German and French literature, as well as occasional works from Dutch, Polish and Hungarian...

    . 1970. "Introduction." In Collected Plays: One by Bertolt Brecht. Ed. John Willett and Ralph Manheim. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry and Prose Ser. London: Methuen. ISBN 041603280X. p.vii-xvii.
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