List: Stage Plays

Cover of Die Physiker.

Die Physiker

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt · published 1962 · read 2007-02-01

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Satirical stage play, in a Swiss asylum for the insane. The three inmates think they are Newton, Einstein and Moebius. Or so the initial story goes – there's much more to it than that. The murder mystery is just window dressing – the real questions are about ethics in science and the self-destructive tendencies of humanity, and are mostly informed by atom bombs and the cold war. It's dusty, dated – but still packs a punch though – never underestimate Dürrenmatt. He plays dirty and does it well.

Cover of The Visit.

The Visit

by Friedrich Dürrenmatt · published 1962 · read 2009-01-01

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Dürrenmatt will always punch you in the face. This time he's talking about corruptability and the corruption brought about by wealth. It's the terrifying story of a man sold out by his entire community for the promise of wealth. It's about ethics and justice and avarice. I loved it. Seeing it on stage when I was 17 was transformative.

Cover of Draußen vor der Tür.

Draußen vor der Tür

by Wolfgang Borchert · published 1947 · read 2007-06-01

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Borchert's most famous piece – because he died the year it was published, aged 26, of a fever contracted during WW2. We lost a good one that day. This play has the subtitle "A play that no theatre wants to play and that no audience wants to see". It's about a WW2 soldier who comes home after spending three years as a war prisoner. He finds a changed world that doesn't need him, doesn't want him, and certainly won't take any responsibility for him.

Cover of The Good Woman of Setzuan.

The Good Woman of Setzuan

by Bertolt Brecht · published 1953 · read 2011-02-01

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Brecht telling you about circumstances forcing people into immoral deeds. It's peak communist Brecht, and thus unreadable and overall very annoying.

Cover of The Threepenny Opera.

The Threepenny Opera

by Bertolt Brecht · published 1928 · read 2011-04-01

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

One of the last pieces from before Brecht abandoned fun and good poems, and turned to political education.

Cover of Waiting for Godot.

Waiting for Godot

by Samuel Beckett · published 1952 · last read 2010-04-07

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Waiting for Godot showed me how free literature was, and the things a determined author can do with and through (and arguably to) a group of actors. I like it for this learning impact, a lot.

Cover of Die Räuber.

Die Räuber

by Friedrich Schiller · published 1781 · read 2006-03-01

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Criticising society by telling a tale of bandits, as one does.

Cover of Maria Stuart.

Maria Stuart

by Friedrich Schiller · published 1800 · read 2008-02-01

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Honestly, I don't remember much of this one except that I started out interested (Mary, after all, has a quite dramatic story to her name) and ended up bored.

Cover of Wilhelm Tell.

Wilhelm Tell

by Friedrich Schiller · published 1804 · read 2009-12-01

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Wilhelm Tell might be Schiller's most enjoyable drama, but also his most generic one. That's probably a compliment, seeing as it wasn't generic then, and only became so due to its own popularity?

Cover of Nathan der Weise.

Nathan der Weise

by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing · published 1779 · read 2010-11-01

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Lessing was a good critic, but at best a middling author. His theatre is nearly Brecht-ian in its desire to hit you repeatedly over the head with the metaphor until you're sure to get it.

Cover of Iphigenie auf Tauris.

Iphigenie auf Tauris

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · published 1786 · read 2007-09-01

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Read because the title sounded so intriguing. The plot requires you to understand some of the most convoluted absurd Greek family soap drama first. Iphigenie starts out as bored and frustrated, which felt very relatable. The rest is more of "people talk about people and hilariously don't know who they are", ad infinitum. Plus a lot of hamletian waffling between duty and inclination – ugh, really.

Cover of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

by John Tiffany · published 2016 · read 2016-08-08

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

I'm very much not impressed by this bood.

Cover of Kabale und Liebe.

Kabale und Liebe

by Friedrich Schiller · published 1784 · read 2006-02-01

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Schiller at his worst, arguably. I had to read this in school, and I had read it beforehand, and at no point in time I could seem to care.