Plays

by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Denis M. Calandra (Translation)

Plays by one of Germany’s most important post-war artists. The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant ; Katzelmacher ; Garbage , the City, and Death ; Bremen Freedom ; Blood on the Cat’s Neck ; Pre-Paradise Sorry Now .

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Germany

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1991

About the author

German film director, screenwriter, and actor. He was one of the most important figures in the New German Cinema. Being one of the most representative of modernism in cinema, he filmed more than forty film in his 16 years career and also signed scripts and plays that later have been used by others directors.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who wrote a play called Garbage, The City, and Death is super ok with me. Fassbinder is the king of German cinema after the late and great Fritz Lang. He also wrote plays of course. This man could do anything. Wear leopard-skin jackets and look uber-cool. This 'Dallas' lovin' man could do no wrong in my eyes. I love Fassbinder. Why don't you?

[Eric Cartier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brecht had a great influence on Fassbinder. Most of the characters in these plays are pods to be filled by actors willing to self-consciously comment on themselves and their situations through distanced attitudes and gestures. Fassbinder is notable as a writer and director (for film and the stage) because his women think. "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant," "Bremen Freedom" and "Blood on the Cat's Neck" are particularly good plays.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder is one of my favorite filmmakers, but this collection of plays was my first taste of his theater work. He turned two of these plays, "Katzelmacher" and "The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant," into two of his strongest films, but the other plays were new to me. I'm such a fan of Fassbinder's organization of visual space, his use of mirrors and other reflecting surfaces in some of the most difficult to achieve and most expressive shots in film, his gliding camera, his use of music, and the faces, movements, and performances of his acting troupe that having only words on a page was an entirely different, and occasionally less pleasurable, way to engage with his work, particularly because these are some of his bleakest, most fatalistic pieces. Though presented non-chronologically, this collection, if placed in the order the plays were written, parallels his film career in that it moves from distanced, avant-garde, Brechtian experiments to more overtly emotional character-based melodrama and social satire. Recommended for Fassbinder fans but maybe not the best place to take that first plunge into his insanely prolific and awesomely rewarding life's work.

[Alex Siladi · Rating 4 out of 5]

bitter tears of petra van kant is genius and the movie too

[Bea De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very,very good.He really saw trough people's acts right down to the fear,the ugliness,the raw loneliness and desire.You could see on films of his intervieuws how sensitive and intelligent his eyes were.And how he was constantly surprised and dissapointed about the dumb questions and remarks were fired at him.Such a wonderfull ge⁵nius he was .One of the truly great movie directors.Too bad i was born too late to have´ever seen the plays he did at the antitheater which must have been a very stimulating ,creative place.His politics were always at the right place;the left;championing the downtrodden and those who were stymied and discriminated against..-He never followed some of his old friends down on the path of armed revolution,captivity and later death-.Nobody really believed in the simultaneous suicide of most R.A.F. members in prison-He had more important things to do;making his films and his plays.A legacy for the ages we are all thankfull for.
I never understood why one of his plays got so controversial;there was no antisemitisl in his work at all;ever;it was only one of the more evil characters speaking;not the author of the play.Five stars.

[Luis Mures · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting reading some of Fassbinder's incredible plays that were later adapted into masterfully crafted films. You can truly see his genius beforehand. This compilation allows to grasp some of his recurrent themes and portayal of misery in his characters that I'm so fond of. Despite, there's also some lesser writings that were difficult to get through.

[Dave Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite play: Garbage, The City, and Death.

[Brett Waytuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe summer is not the best time to attempt to read German experimental theatre