Tankred Dorst | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1925-12-19)19 December 1925 |
| Died | 1 June 2017(2017-06-01) (aged 91) Berlin |
| Occupation(s) | Playwright, storyteller |
| Awards | Georg Büchner Prize |
Tankred Dorst (19 December 1925 – 1 June 2017) was a Germanplaywright andstoryteller.
Dorst lived and worked inMunich.[1] His farces, parables, one-act-plays and adaptations were inspired by the theatre of the absurd and the works ofIonesco,Giraudoux andBeckett. His monumental dramaMerlin oder das wüste Land, which was premiered in 1981 inDüsseldorf, has been compared toGoethe'sFaust. Some critics see it as the first major drama of the 1980s. In his tribute to Tankred Dorst on the occasion of the conferment of theGeorg Büchner Prize in 1990,Georg Hensel remarked that Dorst's plays all have a direct connection to the present: "For 30 years Dorst's plays have responded to the great transformations. He has always been a companion to the times."
Dorst first directed theRing of the Nibelung inBayreuth in 2006.
Tankred Dorst was born inOberlind inThuringia, Germany.[2]
Conscripted into the German army as a pupil at the age of 17, he was soon captured and incarcerated as aprisoner of war.[2] Until 1947 he remained in British and American hands. By the time he was released from war captivity, his birthplace had become part of the Soviet sector of Germany. He met his family in West Germany and completed his schooling. In 1950 he began studying German literature, art history and theatre inBamberg and Munich.[3][4] Through the 1950s he wrote his first plays for themarionette theatreDas Kleine Spiel, (some together with composerWilhelm Killmayer). After breaking off his studies, he worked in various capacities in theatre, film, radio and publishing houses.
His first major plays were performed in 1960 inLübeck,Mannheim andHeidelberg. Since then, his plays have been performed in the whole world. Dorst's work has been recognized with many prizes and distinctions, including theGerhart Hauptmann Prize (1964), Prize of the City ofFlorence (1970),Literature Prize of the Bayerische Akademie der Künste (1983),Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis (1989),Georg Büchner Prize (1990),E.T.A. Hoffmann Prize (1996) and the city ofZürich'sMax Frisch Prize (1998). In 2006, he was awarded theSamuel Bogumil Linde Prize. He was awarded theEuropean Prize for Literature (2008). Dorst held visiting professorships at universities in Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Dorst died on 1 June 2017 in Berlin.[2]
