Joachim Knauth

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Joachim Knauth (born January 5, 1931 in Halle (Saale) ; † in June 2019 ) was a German playwright , radio play author and essayist .

Life

The son of an engineer completed a one-year legal internship at the Buna works and began studying law at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig in 1950 . Working at the Leipzig student stage and meeting literary students led him to change his subject after two semesters . From 1951 to 1955 he studied German . During his student days he wrote his first play, the historical comedy Heinrich der Echte or Der Ketzerkönig, and submitted it to the Leipzig theaters , which recommended the work and author to the Henschel Verlag stage sales. The professional advice of the lecturers there ensured that the heretic king was able to successfully stage at the Schwerin State Theater on September 22, 1955 . At around the same time he was employed as a dramaturge at the Meissen City Theater. The Henschelverlag allowed the bond to his promising protégé not tear and secured despite professional stress alongside wrote new piece of drum and his master King that the on April 18th 1957 stages of Gera premiere was. At this point Knauth was no longer in Meißen, but, again at the instigation of the publisher, a master student of the German Academy of the Arts and dramaturgical assistant to Wolfgang Langhoff at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. This is where the comedy Who Have the Choice was created , which premiered on July 1, 1958 in the Kammerspiele of the German Theater. In 1958 he was promoted to dramaturge in the Deutsches Theater. From 1962 he only worked as a freelance writer in Berlin.

His satirical comedy The Campaign , completed in 1961 and set in the present, was added to the program in Gera in 1963. His other works for the stage waited longer for their premiere and were played less often. An exception is How the King wanted to the Moon (1967) and, in a roundabout way, the fairy tale comedy The Prince of Portugal , based on Ovid's Metamorphoses , which was created in 1968 and premiered in 1973 in the Landestheater Halle - later also the children's theater (e.g. as Puppetry ) enriched. Problems caused him his play Aretino or An Evening in Mantua about the historically documented Renaissance writer Pietro Aretino , who was able to “instill the mighty fear of his printed word”. The chief dramaturge of the stages of the city of Gera declined a performance. He believed that he could see signs of subliminal influence from "certain culture apologists of West German imperialism " in the piece . Although the play was subsequently considered in two book editions by the Henschel Verlag and was positively mentioned in the respective afterwords , it has not yet been performed in a theater. Until 1993, Joachim Knauth wrote theater-theoretical essays in magazines as well as theater plays, especially for Theater of the Time . In 1974 Knauth published the essay For example fairy tales in the New German Literature , which does not follow the common Marxist fairy tale theory. This essay was also published in the 1981 anthology Four Theater Tales and an Essay / Pieces . He also reworked some of his stage works for radio plays and created other radio plays. By Henry VIII or the heretic king (1955), there is a 1960 television broadcast recording Wolf Kaiser in the lead role. Of how the king wanted the moon (1967) there is a 1979 broadcast television recording a production of Theater of the Young Generation Dresden . In the later years of his work he also devoted himself to new translations of comedies from the English-speaking world.

Style and reception

Knauth prepared the material, almost without exception borrowed from world literature , with moralizing calculation and sharp wit. Jochen Ziller called the results " improvement pieces " in the sense of " socialist humanism " and continued: "His pieces and adaptations are pamphlets on the changeability of conditions through the change of people." Knauth justified the use of these, often very old, down to the Templates going back to antiquity with the fact that they are "enriched with the wealth of experience of generations, even millennia, with great contents and ideas, above all with ideals and with fixed structures". The fairy tales in turn offer, explained Knauth, utopian solutions for human problems , which form “the metaphorical counter-draft to contradicting reality”.

The fairy tale comedies he developed show strong traits of William Shakespeare and Ludwig Tieck . The Prince of Portugal was analyzed and rated by Helmut Ullrich, reviewer of the Neue Zeit : “ This 'fairy tale comedy' seems to be inspired by Gozzi's fairy tale pieces and those of German romanticism , even if it doesn't come close to their depth, wit and fantasy.” Ernst Schumacher brought his associations " The Emperor's New Clothes , The Little Prince , A Midsummer Night's Dream , The Magic Flute and more" to the Berliner Zeitung . His conclusion was: “A more harmless, well-meaning theater can hardly be imagined.” In the stands , Claus Cremer said: “The whole thing is a little too good and too conservative.” The daily newspaper Der Morgen wrote about the fairy tale comedy : "[...] nowhere does it strive beyond the limits of its modest and measured history - but it is written quickly, with a catchy dialogue that has an effect in its agility." Rolf-Dieter Eichler also formulated praise in the National-Zeitung , which he combined with criticism: "Knauth's text [...] knows how to characterize characters and situations with a certain degree of wit and taste, but it is not theatrically very productive." ultimately makes something appear too light and simple ”. For Ingeborg Pietzsch from Theater der Zeit , the Prince of Portugal was “an elegant, small, slim piece full of flashing irony and linguistic lacony ”.

While Nightingale the Lessing 'sche procedure enlightened intentions in parable-like to make clear form, used pieces as are the reel and his master King , Badenweiler swan song and Aretino, or an evening in Mantua at Christian Dietrich Grabbe trained. The Areteno also has another component, because its structure and initial situation are in some ways similar to the opening scene in Goethe's Torquato Tasso .

Elements by Johann Nestroy, on the other hand, play a role in Wer der Wahl haben. Regarding this farce , which is not based on any literary model , Helmut Ullrich said in the Neue Zeit : “His play cannot claim to be a comedy, it is just a series of very funny caricature scenes. [...] His great satirical talent has not yet found his own uniform style. " Alfred Maderno found in the morning that the" comedy is far too weak and flat ".

Knauths processing of womenfolk Assembly of Aristophanes also found no agreement. Liane Pfelling from the Schweriner Volkszeitung identified two unconnected levels (which, however, should be intentional analogous to Knauth's view of fairy tales), namely a real, historically concrete constellation and a fantastic one in the form of a utopian, ironic ending. “Both parts”, she sums up , “[...] do not come together to form a meaningful whole. [...] [So] the viewer had to stick to the comedic details more than to the whole comedy of the performance. "

In his radio play texts, some of which have won awards, Joachim Knauth often dealt with legends and myths , for example in Prometheus or Der Nibelungen Not .

Quote about Knauth

“All […] influences can be felt at Knauth, although by no means without restrictions: He is both an enlightener and a romantic or a classic ; he is a jester as well as a brooder, a humorist as well as an ironic and satirist; he is an esthete, but also a cheerful, ingenious moralist, in the sense of course that with him moral questions are connected with the world and vice versa. "

- Christoph Trilse : Literature of the German Democratic Republic

Awards

  • 1990: Special radio play award for Der Nibelungen Not
  • 1992: International radio play award terre des hommes for God's voice

Works

Plays (selection)

  • 1955: Henry the Eighth or The Heretic King (historical comedy)
  • 1957: The Tambour and its Lord King (play)
  • 1958: The Choice (Comedy)
  • 1960: The Mortal Gods (Comedy)
  • 1960: Badenweiler Abgesang (comedy)
  • 1961: The Campaign (satirical comedy)
  • 1964: The Soldiers (tragic comedy adaptation based on JMR Lenz )
  • 1965: The Women's People's Assembly (comedy adaptation based on Aristophanes )
  • 1966/67: Aretino or an evening in Mantua (play)
  • 1967: How the king wanted to go to the moon (fairy tale comedy)
  • 1968: The mouth hero Miles gloriosus (comedy adaptation, based on Plautus )
  • 1968: The Prince of Portugal (fairy tale comedy)
  • 1969/70: The Nightingale ( Enlightenment fairy tale with a small orchestra)
  • 1971/72: Bellebelle or The Knight Fortuné (dramaturgical fairy tale based on Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy )
  • 1975: Lysistrata (comedy adaptation based on Aristophanes)
  • 1987 (2nd version): Die Mainzer Freiheit (historical drama)
  • 1994 (?): The Savior (Comedy adaptation based on Aristophanes)
  • 1998 (?): Volpone or Der Fuchs (translation and adaptation of the Ben Jonson comedy)
  • 2000 (?): The Storm (translation of the Shakespeare play )

Radio plays (selection)

  • Aretino or An Evening in Mantua
  • God's voice
  • I want to scream
  • Jason, Medea
  • The heretic's cloak
  • The Nibelung's distress
  • Prometheus
  • Sifride Sifride
  • The mortal gods

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Günter Albrecht, Kurt Böttcher, Herbert Greiner-Mai, Paul Günter Krohn: Writers of the GDR . Fiction and non-fiction authors, translators, editors, literary scholars, critics (=  Meyers Taschenlexikon ). Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1974, Knauth, p. 281 f . (Extended text of the illustration from: Lexicon of German-language writers. From the beginnings to the present. A – K , 1967, p. 756).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f P a .: First performance on July 1st at the Kammerspiele of the Deutsches Theater: “Who has the choice” . In: BZ in the evening . No. 147 , June 28, 1958.
  3. ↑ a b H [elmut] U [llrich]: Satire on the Metternich time. Joachim Knauth's “Who Have the Choice” premiered at the Kammerspiele . In: New Time . No. 152 , July 4, 1958.
  4. ↑ Dieter Kranz : Post Comment . In: Joachim Knauth. Four theater fairy tales and an essay . Pieces. How the king wanted to go to the moon, The Prince of Portugal, The Nightingale, Bellebelle or The Knight Fortuné, For example fairy tales. Essay. With a comment by Dieter Kranz (=  dialogue ). 1st edition. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1981, p. 185-190 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Christoph Trilse: Joachim Knauth . In: Literature of the German Democratic Republic . Individual representations by a collective of authors under the direction of Hans Jürgen Geerdts and with the collaboration of Heinz Neugebauer. tape 2 . People and Knowledge, Berlin 1979.
  6. ↑ (dpa): Winking is suspicious . In: Bonner Rundschau . February 16, 1967.
  7. ↑ Christoph Funke: Afterword. Playing with history . In: Joachim Knauth. Aretino. The Mainz freedom . With an afterword by Christoph Funke (=  dialogue ). 1st edition. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-362-00417-2 , p. 123-130 .
  8. ^ All contributions by Joachim Knauth. In: theaterderzeit.de. Retrieved December 28, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Joachim Knauth: For example fairy tales . In: New German Literature . June 1974, p. 51-55 .
  10. ^ Kristin Wardetzky : Fairy tales . In: Rüdiger Steinlein, Heidi Strobel, Thomas Kramer (eds.): Handbook for children's and youth literature. SBZ / GDR. From 1945 to 1990 . JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02177-9 , Chapter 8.2 Theoretical attempts at legitimation, Sp. 562-565 .
  11. ↑ Joachim Knauth: For example fairy tales . In: Joachim Knauth. Four theater fairy tales and an essay . Pieces. How the king wanted to go to the moon, The Prince of Portugal, The Nightingale, Bellebelle or The Knight Fortuné, For example fairy tales. Essay. With a comment by Dieter Kranz (=  dialogue ). 1st edition. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1981, p. 177-184 .
  12. ^ Henry VIII or The Heretic King (1960). Television production of the historical comedy by Joachim Knauth. In: fernsehenderddr.de. Peter Flieher, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  13. ↑ How the King Wanted to the Moon (1979). TV performance of a play by Joachim Knauth. In: fernsehenderddr.de. Peter Flieher, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Jochen Ziller: Interim notification about Joachim Knauth . In: Joachim Knauth. Pieces . With an afterword by Jochen Ziller (=  dialogue ). Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1973, p. 281-298 .
  15. ↑ Helmut Ullrich: Metamorphosis of an old anecdote. “The Prince of Portugal” in the Volksbühne . In: New Time . December 9, 1986.
  16. ↑ Ernst Schumacher: Prince of Portugal with donkey ears. Fairy tale comedy in the Volksbühne . In: Berliner Zeitung . December 10, 1986.
  17. ↑ Claus Cramer: A good prince. "The Prince of Portugal". Fairy tale comedy in Berlin . In: grandstand . December 9, 1986.
  18. ↑ A leisurely fairy tale game. "The Prince of Portugal" by Knauth in the Volksbühne . In: The morning . December 9, 1986.
  19. ↑ Rolf-Dieter Eichler: How a king's son gets rid of donkey ears. Knauth's “The Prince of Portugal” in the Volksbühne . In: National newspaper . December 9, 1986.
  20. ↑ Ingeborg Pietzsch: Truth has dog ears . In: Theater of Time . No. 2/1987 , February 1987, Umschau, p. 4 .
  21. ↑ Alfred Maderno: Reaction in dim lighting. Joachim Knauth's “Who has the choice” in the Kammerspiele . In: The morning . No. 152 , July 4, 1958.
  22. ↑ Liane Pfelling: Crude-comical "women people's assembly". For the performance of Joachim Knauth's play at the Mecklenburg State Theater . In: Schweriner People's Newspaper . February 15, 1975, p. 6 .
  23. ↑ Sifrid, Sifride. A radio play by Joachim Knauth, DLR 1992. In: hoerspieleipps.net. Retrieved December 28, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Daily program on Sunday, January 29, 2017. 6:30 p.m. radio play. In: deutschlandfunkkultur.de. January 29, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2018 .
  25. ↑ a b Joachim Knauth. In: henschel-schauspiel.de. Retrieved December 28, 2018 .

literature

  • Christoph Trilse: Joachim Knauth . In: Literature of the German Democratic Republic . Individual representations by a collective of authors under the direction of Hans Jürgen Geerdts and with the collaboration of Heinz Neugebauer. tape 2 . People and Knowledge, Berlin 1979.
  • Günter Albrecht, Kurt Böttcher, Herbert Greiner-Mai , Paul Günter Krohn : writers of the GDR . Fiction and non-fiction authors, translators, editors, literary scholars, critics (=  Meyers Taschenlexikon ). Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1974, Knauth, p. 281 f . (Extended text of the illustration from: Lexicon of German-language writers. From the beginnings to the present. A – K , 1967, p. 756).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Knauth, Joachim
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German playwright, radio play author and essayist
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Halle (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH June 2019