The dragon (drama)
The Dragon is a three-act fairy tale in parabolic form , written in 1943 by the Russian author Evgeny Lwowitsch Schwarz under the impression of the Leningrad blockade . It treats the interplay of tyranny and servile subservient spirit like a parable. It was thus a time-critical text that satirically attacked Hitler's German National Socialism as well as the Stalinist dictatorships of Eastern Europe. The piece was first performed in Nowa Huta in 1961 .
In 1963 it was produced as a radio play on Saarländischer Rundfunk, and in 1965 as a television play directed by Hans Dieter Schwarze with Robert Graf in the title role and Klaus Schwarzkopf as the cat.
Benno Besson's production at the Deutsches Theater
In 1965 Benno Besson created a legendary production at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin with Rolf Ludwig in the leading role and Eberhard Esche as the dragon slayer Lanzelot . The premiere of this GDR premiere in the translation by Günter Jäniche and with the incidental music by Reiner Bredemeyer took place on Sunday, March 21, 1965. Horst Sagt created the imaginative stage design with magical costumes. The highlight was the terrifying appearance of the three-headed kite itself, which with a wingspan of 11.5 meters filled the entire stage and was created in Eduard Fischer's workshop .
As early as January 1966, the Deutsches Theater gave this performance in Bonn, canceled a guest appearance at the Berlin Theatertreffen in West Berlin for May "for technical reasons", but was then very courteous to West German visitors in the east June of the same year in Paris with six (!) Performances at the Festival des Théâtre des Nations enormous success. The theater magazine Theater heute , which appeared in West Berlin at the time , explained the outstanding ensemble performance under Benno Besson's direction for the 1965 performance. After around 90 performances, Besson and S nearly changed the final image: the vision of a post-dragon slayer order as a shining foil of an affluent society .
The production was performed 580 times and was on the program until the summer of 1981. There is no film or video recording of this performance. Only the DEFA weekly newsreel Der Augenzeuge contains a two-minute sound film compilation of central scenes between Lancelot, Elsa and the dragon in issue 27 of 1966.
In 1971, Insel-Verlag Anton Kippenberg, Leipzig published volume no. 953 of the Insel-Bücherei with Horst Sagert's stage sets and figurines of the staging on 21 color panels.
occupation
Der Drache (Original: Drakon ), fairytale comedy in three acts by Evgeni Schwarz; German: Günter Jäniche, Henschel-Verlag, Berlin, stage version of the Deutsches Theater, director: Benno Besson; Stage design and costumes: Horst SAGES; Costume sculptures dragon and donkey: Eduard Fischer; Music: Reiner Bredemeyer ; Dramaturges: Karl-Heinz Müller and Martin Linzer ; Pantomime: Brigitte Soubeyran ; Costume design: Christine Stromberg; Sound recordings: Hans Rudnik; Masks: Herbert Zensch; Graphics of the program: Horst Hussel
The dragon : Rolf Ludwig / Peter Aust ; Lancelot : Eberhard Esche / Edgar Harter; Charlesmagne, archivist : Dieter Franke / Erhard Marggraf; Elsa, his daughter : Katharina Lind / Ursula Karusseit / Cox Habbema / Ursula Staack ; Mayor : Horst Drinda ; Heinrich, his son : Peter Dommisch / Dieter Mann ; Mariechen, tomcat : Johannes Maus / Walter Lendrich ; Anna, Elsa's friend : Barbara Adolph ; Erna, Elsa's friend : Bärbel Bolle u. v. a.
Premiere: Sunday, March 21, 1965 (in addition to the respective premiere cast, the subsequent casts of the main roles are also mentioned.)
Individual evidence
- ^ Lothar Lang: Stage sets and figurines for "The Dragon" by Horst Sübers in: 100 Years of the Deutsches Theater Berlin 1883-1983 , p. 293, Henschelverlag Berlin 1986
- ^ Product of theater work - Benno Besson in Forum 11/1965 , Berlin / GDR
- ↑ documented in: Dieter Kranz : Berlin-Weltstadt des Theater , Berliner Rundfunk, March 25, 1965, radio broadcast with approx. 20 minutes of scenes from the dress rehearsal as well as interviews, total duration: 45 minutes
- ↑ Berliner Zeitung of January 30, 1966
- ↑ Le Figaro , June 16, 1966, Jean-Jacques Gautier: How pleasant and sweet it is to praise the play - About the guest performance of the German Theater in the Théâtre National de l'Odéon, Paris
- ↑ Dieter Kranz: Guest of Benno Besson , Berliner Rundfunk, July 10, 1966
- ↑ Ch. Hasche, T. Schölling, J. Fiebach : Theater in der DDR - Chronik und Positions , Henschelverlag Berlin 1994, p. 52