Kjeld Abell
Encyclopedia
Kjeld Abell was a Danish playwright
and theatrical designer. Born in Ribe
, Denmark
, Abell's first designs were seen in ballet
s directed by George Balanchine
at Copenhagen
's Royal Danish Theatre
and London
's Alhambra Theatre
.
Roughly the dramatic work of Abell might be divided into three phases: a) criticism of middle class
conventions, b) fighting Nazism
and c) criticism of post-war pessimism
and urge for death. Perhaps he is the first consequent modernist among Danish playwrights with his use of a flash back Chinese box system and a growing use of symbols and parallel actions.
His first play was Melodien, der blev vœk 1935, (English translation The Melody That Got Lost, 1939). The play is an expressionistic
piece that utilizes non-verbal and unrealistic elements, undoubtedly inspired by ballet. The first production of this play was in 1935 in Copenhagen followed by a production a year later in London by the Arts Theatre
. In this play Abell describes the life of the "white-collar worker
" limited by old-fashioned conventions and it is a fantasy about the mental emancipation of “the little man”. A young, disrespectful attitude together with a both lyric and imaginative dialogue has let it remain his most popular work and some of its song lines have become classics.
Both before and during the Nazi
occupation of Denmark, Abell used his plays to protest the loss of freedom. Themes in these plays explore freedom and escapism as self-annihilation. These works include Anna Sophie Hedvig (1939, English translation 1971), a defence of violence
as a necessary mean against tyranny and a criticism of passive humanism
, beyond any doubt inspired by the Spanish Civil War
, and Dronning gaar igen (The Queen on Tour, 1943). Abell spent much of his time during the occupation in hiding due to his anti-Nazi activism. Silkeborg (1946) expresses the criticism of Danish passivity and accept of the German occupation.
Following the war many of his plays took on complex mystical
elements. These plays include Dage paa en sky ("Days on a Cloud", 1947), Den blå pekingeser ("The Blue Pekingese", 1954), Kameliadamen ("The Lady of the Camellias", 1954 - a personal version of the drama by Dumas
) and Skriget (The Scream, English translation 1961). The much debated Dage paa en Sky both takes place among the Olympic
goddesses and in the brain of a suicidal scientist, it warns against the atomic war and accuses scientists of prostituting themselves to the rulers. The even more complex Den blå pekingeser takes place in the head of a man too while his former love is threatened by death, also here the message is to break one’s isolation and to accept life. Abell died in Copenhagen.
Hailed in his prime as a fresh and humorous reformer, critic and teaser of Danish theatre and later respected for his anti-fascist attitudes Abell was after the war both accused of being a fellow traveller
and criticised for being too complicated and strained. This together with his growing disappointments with the left wing partly led to isolation. However he is probably still regarded the most important new-thinker of Danish drama of the inter-war period. In European dramatic literature he has been compared to French names like Giraudoux and Anouilh. Besides he both acted as a song writer of revues and wrote some film scripts.
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 theatrical designer. Born in Ribe
Ribe
Ribe , the oldest extant Danish town, is in southwest Jutland and has a population of 8,192 . Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding municipality, and county...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Abell's first designs were seen in ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s directed by George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
at Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
's Royal Danish Theatre
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Alhambra Theatre
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
.
Roughly the dramatic work of Abell might be divided into three phases: a) criticism of middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
conventions, b) fighting Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and c) criticism of post-war pessimism
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...
and urge for death. Perhaps he is the first consequent modernist among Danish playwrights with his use of a flash back Chinese box system and a growing use of symbols and parallel actions.
His first play was Melodien, der blev vœk 1935, (English translation The Melody That Got Lost, 1939). The play is an expressionistic
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
piece that utilizes non-verbal and unrealistic elements, undoubtedly inspired by ballet. The first production of this play was in 1935 in Copenhagen followed by a production a year later in London by the Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...
. In this play Abell describes the life of the "white-collar worker
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
" limited by old-fashioned conventions and it is a fantasy about the mental emancipation of “the little man”. A young, disrespectful attitude together with a both lyric and imaginative dialogue has let it remain his most popular work and some of its song lines have become classics.
Both before and during the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
occupation of Denmark, Abell used his plays to protest the loss of freedom. Themes in these plays explore freedom and escapism as self-annihilation. These works include Anna Sophie Hedvig (1939, English translation 1971), a defence of violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
as a necessary mean against tyranny and a criticism of passive humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, beyond any doubt inspired by the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, and Dronning gaar igen (The Queen on Tour, 1943). Abell spent much of his time during the occupation in hiding due to his anti-Nazi activism. Silkeborg (1946) expresses the criticism of Danish passivity and accept of the German occupation.
Following the war many of his plays took on complex mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
elements. These plays include Dage paa en sky ("Days on a Cloud", 1947), Den blå pekingeser ("The Blue Pekingese", 1954), Kameliadamen ("The Lady of the Camellias", 1954 - a personal version of the drama by Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
) and Skriget (The Scream, English translation 1961). The much debated Dage paa en Sky both takes place among the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
goddesses and in the brain of a suicidal scientist, it warns against the atomic war and accuses scientists of prostituting themselves to the rulers. The even more complex Den blå pekingeser takes place in the head of a man too while his former love is threatened by death, also here the message is to break one’s isolation and to accept life. Abell died in Copenhagen.
Hailed in his prime as a fresh and humorous reformer, critic and teaser of Danish theatre and later respected for his anti-fascist attitudes Abell was after the war both accused of being a fellow traveller
Fellow traveller
Fellow traveler or fellow traveller is a term referring to a person who sympathizes with the beliefs of an organization or cooperates in its activities without maintaining formal membership in that particular group...
and criticised for being too complicated and strained. This together with his growing disappointments with the left wing partly led to isolation. However he is probably still regarded the most important new-thinker of Danish drama of the inter-war period. In European dramatic literature he has been compared to French names like Giraudoux and Anouilh. Besides he both acted as a song writer of revues and wrote some film scripts.
Sources
- Banham, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Oxford University Press, 1983.
- Frederick J. Marker: Kjeld Abell. Gloucester, Mass. 1976.
- Sven Møller Kristensen: Dansk litteratur 1918-1952. 2. ed. Copenhagen, 1965 (entirely in Danish)