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Conversation at Night With a Despised Character
Conversation at Night With a Despised Character
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Author: Friedrich Durrenmatt Translated by: Robert MacDonald Publisher: Dramatic Publishing Format: Softcover # of Pages: 23 Pub. Date: 2008 ISBN-10: 0871297906 ISBN-13: 9780871297907 Cast Size: 2 male
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About
the Play:
Conversation at Night With a Despised Character is a
full-length drama by Friedrich Durrenmatt,
translated by Robert David MacDonald. This macabre thriller involves
murder, intrigue, and a conversation between an outspoken writer in an authoritarian state and the assassin sent by the government to quiet him. Confronted
in his own study, the writer attempts to defend his freedom of
expression in the face of the assassin's advocacy of the status quo.
Conversation at Night With a Despised Character is a two-hander between a prominent liberal writer in an unnamed European
dictatorship and the state assassin assigned to kill the man. A
window pane breaks sharply on the darkened stage, and a man who has
been sitting quietly in his living room at midnight says to an
invisible intruder in a calm, firm voice, "Please come in."
For this man has long awaited the visitor, knowing he would come
sooner or later but not knowing in what disguise he would appear. The
intruder presents himself as the secret executioner for the ruler of
their authoritarian state. The macabre theme has overtones of such perceptiveness and
even humour that it can stand as one of Durrenmatt's most interesting
achievements.
Conversation at Night started out as a German radio play in
1952 and transferred to the Munich stage the same year. The stage
version premiered in London in 1966. For television, the play was
translated by Robert David MacDonald and broadcast on BBC-2 in 1969, starring two of Britain's greatest actors, Sir John
Gielgud as the victim and Sir Alec Guinness as
his executioner, with the latter giving his first full television
performance.
Cast: 2 male
What people say:
"[Gielgud's
character] could be prominent in any country today....Although
Dürrenmatt wrote this play over a decade ago, it emerges as a very
timely piece at a moment when man's basic freedoms are being
challenged more than ever before." — Radio Times
"Thank God I had my panic pills in my purse for reassurance; ... Conversation at Night With a Despised Character is a claustrophobic nightmare. But ultimately, that's a good thing ... Durrenmatt's
analysis applies perfectly to an increasing number of sinister and
covert government actions...." — Georgia Straight
About the Playwright:
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990) was a leading post-war
Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose
plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The
politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas,
philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire. Over 20
of his plays have been adapted into films and TV series.
Robert David MacDonald (1929-2004) was a Scottish was a
playwright, director, musician, translator and occasional actor, who
found the centre of his life's work as co-director of the Glasgow
Citizens' Theatre for more than 30 years. He produced more than 60
translations of plays and operas, and wrote 14 new works for the
company, as well as directing some 50 productions and acting in a
score of others. During his time as co-director, the theatre launched
the careers of actors as diverse as Rupert Everett, Pierce Brosnan,
Gary Oldman, Tim Roth, Helen Baxendale and Ciaran Hinds, and also
brought established figures such as Glenda Jackson.
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Friedrich Durrenmatt, adapted by Maurice Valency
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