Tales From the Vienna Woods & Other Plays

Part of our upcoming Filmbar series

By Ödön von Horváth

Ödön von Horváth (1901-1939) is one of the most important theatre writers in the 1930s. His reputation rests largely on the four plays in this collection, which he called Volksstucke (popular plays), although he had no desire to embrace this tradition uncritically. Reflected in these plays is the sympathy for the situation of the exploited classes, as well as the concern for the way language is used for deception and self-deception. The hollow characters come across as potentially receptive to fascism. A latent brutality is unmasked, a lack of genuine feeling—all lying hidden under a veneer of facile sentimentality.

Paperback
243 pages
Ariadne Press, 2002
5.75 x 0.75 x 8.75 inches
ISBN 9781572411081
Literature, Theatre