Peter Shaffer

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Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (born May 15, 1926 in Liverpool , England , † June 6, 2016 in County Cork , Ireland ) was a British playwright of the 20th century.

Life

Peter Shaffer moved to London with his family in 1936 . From 1944 to 1946 he had to do forced labor in British coal mines as part of the Bevin Boys program , which was created during the Second World War and for which some of the conscripts were used . From 1947 he studied history , for which he received a scholarship from Cambridge University . After completing his studies ( BA 1950) he worked from 1951 to 1954 together with his brother Anthony in a public library in New York City . From 1954 he lived again in England, where he initially worked for a music publisher in London and later as a music and literary critic. From 1964 he was also on the board of directors of the National Theater in London.

Shaffer's first piece, The Salt Land , was broadcast as a radio play on the BBC in 1954 . With the publication of Five Finger Exercise (five finger exercise ), he consolidated his reputation as a playwright in 1958; In 1964 followed the play The Royal Hunt for the Sun , which was filmed in 1969 under the title The Fall of the Sun Empire . In Germany, the author was first known for his farce Komödie im Dunkeln ( Black Comedy , 1965).

For his dramas Shaffer received several awards such as the Evening Standard Award (1958) and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award (1960). His two best-known plays, Amadeus (1979) and Equus (1973), were both filmed and won the Tony Award for best play . 1993 Shaffer received from the University of Bath , the honorary doctorate in literature (Doctor of Letters) .

Shaffer lived in London and New York. He died in June 2016 at the age of 90 after a brief illness while traveling in Ireland. His twin brother Anthony Shaffer was a screenwriter.

Pieces

  • Balance of Terror (1957)
  • The Prodigal Father (1957)
  • Five Finger Exercise (1958)
  • Be careful and listen (1962)
  • The Establishment (1963)
  • The funny Roos Panto (1963)
  • The Hunt for the Sun (1964)
  • Comedy in the Dark (1965)
  • Pious Lies (1967)
  • Exercises (1970)
  • Equus (1973)
  • Amadeus (1979)
  • Jonadab (1985)
  • Laura and Lotte (1987)
  • The Gift of the Gorgon (1992)
  • With whom do I have the pleasure? (Whom Do I Have the Honor of Addressing?) (1996)

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Hans Peter Dörfel / Bärbel Dietz: Identity: Search and Crisis in Dramatic Interaction (Peter Shaffer. Equus. 1973) In: Horst Groene / Berthold Schik (Hrsg.): The modern drama in English lessons at secondary level II, foundations, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, ISBN 3-589-20743-4 , pp. 161-183

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Equus and Amadeus playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90
  2. ^ Madeleine MacMurraugh-Kavanagh: Peter Shaffer: Theater and Drama. Springer, 1998, ISBN 978-0-230-37295-5 , p. 5 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  3. ↑ Hans Peter Dörfel / Bärbel Dietz: Identity: Search and Crisis in Dramatic Interaction (Peter Shaffer. Equus. 1973) In: Horst Groene / Berthold Schik (ed.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level, foundations, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, ISBN 3-589-20743-4 , p. 181.
  4. ^ Honorary Graduates 1989 to present . In: bath.ac.uk . University of Bath . Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ Hans Peter Dörfel / Bärbel Dietz: Identity: Search and Crisis in Dramatic Interaction (Peter Shaffer. Equus. 1973) In: Horst Groene / Berthold Schik (ed.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level, foundations, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, ISBN 3-589-20743-4 , p. 181.
personal data
SURNAME Shaffer, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shaffer, Sir Peter Levin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British playwright
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool , England, UK
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 2016
Place of death County Cork , Ireland