Ben's review
Heldenplatz
by Thomas Bernhard
Ben's review
Heldenplatz by Thomas Bernhard
Ben's review
rating:
When the text of a play includes no punctuation and whose lines are divided clearly yet seemingly arbitrarily, I generally assume there is a great deal of depth in the artistry. And that it's kind of a pretentious play. That being said, one need not wade out too deep to get to the main thrust of "Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square)," and that is: Austria sucks. When I read the phrase "things are worse now that fifty years ago (i.e. when Hitler annexed Austria to Germany)," it doesn't take a scholar of theatrical literature to see that the author is no fan of the current (the play was written in 1988) Austrian government. Does Bernhard exaggerate in this play? Although the events of the last 20 years in Europe suggest to me that yes, perhaps he did somewhat, I have to profess a great deal of ignorance about the time and place that shaped this play. So, for any scholars of late-80s Austrian politics and culture (or people who just generally don't like Austria) this is the b
