Thursday, June 15, 2006

Author and Adaptor

Jenny McConnell Frederick is struck by the similarity in appearance of Rock Legend Elvis Costello and our playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig. I will let you all decide.


In the mean time here is some information about both the playwright of The Arabian Night and its American adaptor Melanie Dreyer.

The Playwright

Award-winning playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig is one of the most exciting voices in European drama. He comes from a new generation of young German playwrights that are “helping to reinvent storytelling on the German stage” (Theatre Forum) and with countless translations and productions being performed around the world, Schimmelpfennig has become one of the most produced German playwrights of his generation. His fresh storytelling techniques often use unconventional dramatic form and a sophisticated combination of comedy and drama.

Schimmelpfennig worked as a journalist in Istanbul before moving to Munich to study directing at the Otto-Falkenberg-Schule. He has worked and continues to work as a journalist, translator and dramaturg, and is currently writer in residence at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. Schimmelpfennig's widely performed plays include PUSH UP 1-3, and WOMAN FROM THE PAST, ETERNAL MARIA and LONG AGO IN MAY.

Since the premiere in Stuttgart at the Staatstheater in Feb 2001, ARABIAN NIGHT has been produced at more than fifteen venues throughout Germany and has received numerous translated productions throughout Europe, including its English-language premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

American translator Melanie Dreyer graduated from Northwestern University with an MFA in Directing, where she worked with Mary Zimmerman, Frank Galati, Tina Landau and Bob Falls. She is the former Co-Artistic Director of ShatterMask Theater, a critically acclaimed Equity theatre specializing in exploring alternatives to traditional modes of production. She specializes in the translation and direction of contemporary German plays. She is currently working toward producing bilingual productions (German and English) to tour both in the US and Germany. She works as a freelance director and runs the undergraduate performance training program at the University of Pittsburgh.

4 comments:

SAS said...

Roland is cute. Even if he is German.

DCepticon said...

Just don't mention the war.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Costello has a unique look, Yeah the glasses are close..but Elvis is Elvis

Agent X said...

Elvis Costello has better glasses and better songs, duh.

It can be ceded that Costello's command of the German language is probably not all that. Some may cite social protest or the difficulty of the German diphthong as explanations; however, sources close to the musician say it's more that he doesn't really give a shit.

The real tie-breaker, as all good forensic scientists know, is the difference in teeth. Of course, no one can match the UK/Irish reputation for dental atrocities. Shane McGowan, case in point. Since both opt for a worldly smirk instead of a toothy grin in these photos, such comparisons are impossible at this time.