Simon Stephens adapts Max Frisch's drama that explores how moral lethargy can invite evil in - even encouraging you to give it a warm blanket and a nice dinner.
Max Frisch (1911-1991) was a playwright and novelist who, together with his Swiss compatriot Dürrenmatt, is considered one of the most important postwar playwrights writing in German. Frisch originally studied philology and art at university, before abandoning his studies to become a journalist. After serving in the Swiss army during the Second World War, he took up architecture and pursued this profession until the 1950s, when he became a full-time writer. Frisch had written his first play at the age of 16, but having rejected his early work, it was not until 1944 that he returned to writing plays, with
Santa Cruz. His second play,
Now They Are Singing Again (1945), took its inspiration from Brecht, dealing as it does with the moral responsibility for war. This Brechtian theme was continued in his next two plays,
The Chinese Wall (1946) and
When the War Was Over (1949). With the romantic comedy
Don Juan, or the Love of Geometry (1953) Frisch offers a new interpretation of the mythical character of the Great Lover. As a result of his increasing disenchantment with what he considered Swiss complacency in the face of mounting totalitarianism and fascism, Frisch wrote two of his most important plays.
Biedermann und die Brandstifter (
The Fire-raisers, written in 1958 as a radio play), satirizes the moral lethargy of the self-satisfied middle classes. This powerful play was seen in London at the Royal Court Theatre in 1961, and in New York (as
The Firebugs) in 1963. It was closely followed by
Andorra (1961), his most disturbing and controversial play, in which Frisch exposed and explored antisemitism. Frisch's blending of fantasy with brutal reality owes much to the work of Brecht and Thornton Wilder, both of whom influenced the playwright in his early years. His later plays, like
Biography (1968) and
Triptych (1979), continue to use the device of the modern morality play as a means of exploring the place of humanity in a difficult world.
Simon Stephens began his theatrical career in the literary department of the Royal Court Theatre, where he ran its Young Writers' Programme. His plays for theatre include
Bluebird (Royal Court Theatre)
Herons (Royal Court Theatre, 2001);
Port (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, 2002);
One Minute (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, 2003 and Bush Theatre, London, 2004);
Christmas (Bush Theatre, 2004);
Country Music (Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 2004);
On the Shore of the Wide World (Royal Exchange Theatre and National Theatre, London, 2005);
Motortown (Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, 2006);
Pornography (Tricycle Theatre, London, 2009);
Harper Regan (National Theatre, 2008);
Sea Wall (Bush Theatre, 2009);
Heaven (Traverse Theatre, 2009);
Punk Rock (Lyric Hammersmith, London, 2009);
The Trial of Ubu (Essen Schauspielhaus/Toneelgroep Amsterdam, 2010);
A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (co-written with David Eldridge and Robert Holman; Lyric Hammersmith, London, 2010);
Wastwater (Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, 2011);
Morning (Lyric Hammersmith, 2012); an adaptation of
A Doll's House (Young Vic, 2012); an adaptation of
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre, 2012);
Blindsided (Royal Exchange, 2014); and
Birdland (Royal Court, 2014). His radio plays include
Five Letters Home to Elizabeth (BBC Radio 4, 2001) and
Digging (BBC Radio 4, 2003). Awards include the Pearson Award for Best New Play, 2001, for
Port; Olivier Award for Best New Play for
On the Shore of the Wide World, 2005; and for
Motortown German critics in Theater Heute's annual poll voted him Best Foreign Playwright, 2007. His adaptation of
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Play.
Chris Thorpe is a writer and performer from Manchester, where he has an ongoing association with the Royal Exchange Theatre - work for them includes There Has Possibly Been An Incident and The Mysteries. Other theatre work includes Victory Condition and The Milk of Human Kindness for the Royal Court, Chorus for the Gate Theatre and Hannah, Beowulf and one of Aesop's Fables for the Unicorn. He also has ongoing collaborations with Rachel Chavkin produced by China Plate (Confrmation/Status), Lucy Ellinson (TORYCORE), Portugal's malavoadora (Overdrama/House-Garden/Dead End/Your Best Guess) and Hannah Jane Walker (The Oh Fuck Moment/I Wish I Was Lonely) Chris was a founder member of Unlimited Theatre, is an Associate of Live Art/Theatre company Third Angel and has worked frequently with Forest Fringe. Chris also collaborates with Rachel Bagshaw, writing the award-winning The Shape of the Pain, recently adapted for BBC as Where I Go (When I Can't Be Where I Am). He has also worked as a translator, most frequently with Serbian playwright Ugljesa Sajtinac and Belarus Free Theatre. His short film for the Royal Court and the Financial Times about the climate crisis, What Do You Want Me To Say? was released in September 2019.
Current work includes the Methuen Climate Commission for the Royal Court, Dying for mala voadora and the National Theatre of Portugal, Tell Me, for HOME Manchester, co-written with Yusra Warsama, a new piece for Nationaltheater Mannheim in collaboration with Javaad Alipoor, Hold Out Your Hand, a play for young performers produced by Scottish company Wonder Fools and the Traverse Theatre, and A Family Business, his next collaboration with Rachel Chavkin. He also works closely with the National Student Drama Festival.
