Tankred Dorst - Biography, Major works

Playwright, born in Sonneburg, Thüringen, C Germany. He served in World War 2 and was a prisoner-of-war. He studied German and drama and began a literary career in 1960. After initial work writing for a puppet theatre in Munich, he achieved international acclaim for his anti-war play Große Schmährede an der Stadtmauer (1962), followed by Toller (1968) and Merlin oder das wüste Land (1981). His socially critical writing, which has been compared with that of Dürrenmatt, includes adaptations for television and radio, librettos, translations of Molière and O'Casey, and a saga of middle-class life written with his wife, Ursula Ehler. In 1990 he received the Georg-Büchner-Preis.

Tankred Dorst (born December 12, 1925) is a German playwright and storyteller.

Tankred Dorst currently lives and works in Munich. In his tribute to Tankred Dorst on the occasion of the conferment of the Georg Büchner Prize in 1990, Georg Hensel remarked, that Dorst's plays all have a direct connection to the present:

For 30 years Dorst's plays have responded to the great transformations.

Biography

Tankred Dorst was born in Sonneberg/Thuringia. After breaking off his studies, he worked in various capacities in film, radio and publishing houses. His first major plays were performed in 1960 in Lübeck, Mannheim and Heidelberg. From this time on till today his plays have been performed in the whole world. Tankred Dorst's work has been recognized with many prizes and distinctions, including the Gerhart Hauptmann Prize (1964), Prize of the City of Florence (1970), Literature Prize of the Bayerische Akademie der Künste (1983), Mülheim Playwright's Prize (1989), Georg Büchner Prize (1990), ETA Hoffmann Prize (1996) and the city of Zurich's Max Frisch Prize (1998). Tankred Dorst held resp.

Major works

Die Kurve (1960) Toller (1968) Rotmord (1969, television film adaptation of Toller produced in collaboration with Peter Zadek) Sand (1971, television film directed by Peter Palitzsch) Eiszeit (1973) Die Villa (1976) Klaras Mutter (1978, television film ) Mosch (1980, television film adaptation) Merlin oder das wüste Land (1981) Eisenhans (1982, movie adaptation) Parzival (1987) Korbes (1988) Karlos (1990) Herr Paul (1994) Die Legende vom armen Heinrich (1997) Kupsch (2001, monologue) Die Freude am Leben (2001) Othoon (2002)