Werner Schwab
Encyclopedia
Werner Schwab was an Austria
n playwright
and visual artist.
From 1978 to 1982 he studied sculpture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna
. During the 1980s he worked as a sculptor and woodcutter.
Schwab's first play Die Präsidentinnen was produced at the Theater im Künstlerhaus
in Vienna in 1990. Between then and his death four years later he wrote sixteen plays, eight of which were produced during his lifetime, making his career one of the briefest, most spectacular and most controversial in contemporary German-language theatre
.
Schwab's work tends to be extremely scatological, full of images of surreal violence and degradation, and his texts exploit the German language
's capacity for neologism to a remarkable degree; they are also firmly within a native Austrian tradition of Black comedy
. He is very difficult to translate, but amongst English-language dramatists, certain stylistic parallels might be drawn between his work and that of Steven Berkoff
and Enda Walsh
.
Schwab was a heavy drinker who was said to have written his plays late at night while listening to loud music (particularly the band Einstürzende Neubauten
, whom he was friends with). His body was found on New Year's Day 1994.
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 visual artist.
From 1978 to 1982 he studied sculpture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. During the 1980s he worked as a sculptor and woodcutter.
Schwab's first play Die Präsidentinnen was produced at the Theater im Künstlerhaus
Vienna Künstlerhaus
The Vienna Künstlerhaus is an art exhibition building in Vienna. It is located on Karlsplatz near the Ringstraße, next to the Musikverein....
in Vienna in 1990. Between then and his death four years later he wrote sixteen plays, eight of which were produced during his lifetime, making his career one of the briefest, most spectacular and most controversial in contemporary German-language theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
Schwab's work tends to be extremely scatological, full of images of surreal violence and degradation, and his texts exploit the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
's capacity for neologism to a remarkable degree; they are also firmly within a native Austrian tradition of Black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
. He is very difficult to translate, but amongst English-language dramatists, certain stylistic parallels might be drawn between his work and that of Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
and Enda Walsh
Enda Walsh
Enda Walsh is an Irish playwright born in Dublin and currently living in London. Walsh attended the same secondary school where both Roddy Doyle and Paul Mercier taught. Having written for the Dublin Youth Theatre, he moved to Cork where he wrote Fishy Tales for the Graffiti Theatre Company,...
.
Schwab was a heavy drinker who was said to have written his plays late at night while listening to loud music (particularly the band Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, whom he was friends with). His body was found on New Year's Day 1994.
Plays
- Die Präsidentinnen. 1990.
- Übergewicht, unwichtig: Unform. Ein europäisches Abendmahl. 1991.
- Volksvernichtung oder meine Leber ist sinnlos. 1991.
- Mein Hundemund. 1992.
- Mesaillance aber wir ficken uns prächtig. 1992.
- Der Himmel mein Lieb meine sterbende Beute. 1992.
- Offene Gruben und offene Fenster. Ein Fall von Ersprechen. 1992.
- Pornogeographie. Sieben Gerüchte. 1993.
- Endlich tot, endlich keine Luft mehr. 1994.
- Mariedl/Antiklima(x). 1994.
- Mein Brustkorb: Mein Helm. 1994.
- Troilluswahn und Cressidatheater. 1995.
- Eskalation ordinär. Ein Schwitzkastenschwank in sieben Affekten. 1995.
Books by Werner Schwab
- Fäkaliendramen. (Droschl, 1991) ISBN 3-85420-221-0
- Königskomödien. (Droschl, 1992) ISBN 3-85420-289-X
- Dramen III. (Droschl, 1994) ISBN 3-85420-391-8
- Holy Mothers, translation by Meredith Oakes of Die Präsidentinnen (Oberon, 1999) ISBN 1-84002-113-6
- An Anthology of Plays, translated by Michael Mitchell (Ariadne Press, 1999) ISBN 1-57241-064-7
- People Annihilation or my Liver is Sick, translated by Michael Roloff [Ariadne Press] U.S. Premiere, Chicago, Trap Door Theater, 2005