The Blue Room
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| - | '''Arthur Schnitzler''' ([[May 15]], [[1862]] - [[October 21]], [[1931]]) was an [[Austrian writer]] and doctor. His best known works are ''[[Dream Story]]'' and ''[[La Ronde (play)|La Ronde]]''. He was [[List of authors banned during the Third Reich|banned during Nazi Germany]] and [[The Burning of the Books|his works publicly burnt]]. | ||
| - | ==Biography== | + | '''''The Blue Room''''' is a 1998 [[Play (theatre)|play]] by [[David Hare (dramatist)|David Hare]], adapted from ''Der Reigen'' written by [[Arthur Schnitzler]] (1862–1931), and more usually known as ''[[La Ronde (play)|La Ronde]]''. |
| - | Schnitzler (1862-1931), the son of a prominent Jewish laryngologist, was born in [[Vienna]] and began studying medicine at the [[University of Vienna]] in [[1879]]. He received his doctorate of medicine in [[1885]] and worked in Vienna's General Hospital, but ultimately abandoned medicine in favour of writing. | + | ==Schnitzler's play== |
| + | Having completed the play in 1900 Schnitzler did not intend it to be performed, even calling the series of scenes 'unprintable', he intended them to be read by friends. The play was too sexually explicit to be performed at the time. Subsequently it was read and then performed in private. Its first public performance in 1921, under the now accepted title ''Reigen'', was closed down by the Vienna police—Schnitzler was prosecuted for obscenity. | ||
| - | His works were often controversial, both for their frank [[description of sexuality]] ([[Sigmund Freud]], in a letter to Schnitzler, confessed "I have gained the impression that you have learned through intuition — though actually as a result of sensitive introspection — everything that I have had to unearth by laborious work on other persons") as well as for the strong stand against [[anti-Semitism]] represented by works such as [[Professor Bernhardi]] and [[Der Weg ins Freie]]. (Interestingly, however, although Schnitzler was himself Jewish, "Professor Bernhardi" is the only one of his works with a clearly-identified Jewish protagonist; in the second, the hero has many Jewish friends, but is a non-Jew himself.) Schnitzler was branded as a pornographer after the release of his play ''Reigen'', and his works were later cited as an example of "Jewish filth" by [[Adolf Hitler]]. (''Reigen'' was made into a French language film in 1950 by the German-born director Max Ophuls under the title ''[[La Ronde]]''. The film achieved considerable success in the English-speaking world, with the result that Schnitzler's play is better known there under the French title Ophuls used.) In response to an interviewer who asked Schnitzler what he thought about the critical view that his works all seemed to treat the same subjects, he replied, "I write of love and death. What other subjects are there?" | + | ''Reigen'' was meant as a dramatic expose of the decadence of the Austrian society. Schnitzler, being a doctor approached the decadence of society from a medical point of view, studying the journey of [[Syphilis]] through all classes of society. The title ''Reigen'' would be best translated as 'round-dance' or 'roundelay'. This refers to the daisy chain of sexual encounters, which also determines the format of the play. It is divided into ten scenes and each scene holds two characters (always male and female) and their sexual encounter. The following scene contains one character of the previous scene and a new one. A has sex with B, B has sex with C and so on; until in the tenth scene the circle closes with J having sex with A. |
| - | Despite his seriousness of purpose, Schnitzler frequently approaches the [[bedroom farce]] in his plays (and had an infamous affair with one of his actresses, [[Adele Sandrock]]). ''Professor Bernhardi'', a play about a Jewish doctor who turns away a Catholic priest in order to spare a patient realization that she is on the point of death, and who as a result is forced out of the cooperative clinic he helped found and given two months in jail, is his only major dramatic work without a sexual theme. | + | ==Hare's adaptation== |
| + | Hare's adaptation transfers the action from Vienna to 'one of the great cities of the world, in the present day'. The characters change accordingly, the soldier becomes a cab driver, the parlour maid becomes an ''au pair'', etc... | ||
| - | A member of the avant garde group [[Young Vienna]] (''Jung Wien''), Schnitzler toyed with formal as well as social conventions. With his 1900 short story "Lieutenant Gustl," he was the first to write German fiction in [[Stream of consciousness writing|stream-of-consciousness]] narration. ("Lieutenant Gustl"'s unflattering portrait of its protagonist and of the army's obsessive code of formal honor caused Schnitzler to be stripped of his commission as a reserve officer in the medical corps — something that must be seen against the rising tide of [[anti-semitism]] of the time.) He specialized in shorter works like novellas and one-act plays, and in short short stories like "The Green Tie" (''Die grüne Krawatte'') he showed himself to be one of the early masters of [[microfiction]]. However he wrote two full-length novels, [["Der Weg ins Freie"]] a novel about a talented but not very motivated young composer that gives a brilliant description of a segment of pre-World War I Viennese society, and the artistically less satisfactory ''[[Therese]]''. | + | Hare's major difference from the original piece is the idea of performing it as a two-person show. Hare states himself that he was not the first person to do so. In 1981 when the theatrical rights fell temporarily out of copyright several stage versions were crafted and performed. |
| + | Otherwise Hare's adaptation is not far from the original. | ||
| - | In addition to his plays and fiction, Schnitzler meticulously kept a diary from the age of 17 until two days before his death, of a [[Cerebral hemorrhage|brain hemorrhage]] in Vienna. The manuscript, which runs to almost 8,000 pages, is most notable for Schnitzler's casual descriptions of sexual conquests — he was often in relationships with several women at once, and for a period of some years he kept a record of every orgasm. Collections of Schnitzler's letters have also been published. | + | '''The characters:''' |
| - | ==Selected works== | + | *The Girl (Irene) (Scene I & X) |
| - | ===Plays=== | + | *The Cab Driver (Fred) (Scene I & II) |
| - | *''Anatol'' (1893), a series of seven acts revolving around a bourgeoisie playboy and his immature relationships. | + | *The Au Pair (Marie) (Scene II & III) |
| - | *''Flirtation'' (''Liebelei'' - 1895), also known as ''The Reckoning'', which was made into a film by [[Max Ophüls]] and adapted as ''[[Dalliance]]'' by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[playwright]] [[Tom Stoppard]]. | + | *The Student (Anton) (Scene III & IV) |
| - | *''Fair Game'' (''Freiwild'' - 1896) | + | *The Married Woman (Emma) (Scene IV & V) |
| - | *''[[Reigen (play)|Hands Around]]'' (''Reigen'') also called ''La Ronde'', is still frequently presented. [[Max Ophüls]] directed the first movie adaptation of the play in 1950; [[Roger Vadim]] directed a second version in 1964; and it was recently reworked by British playwright [[David Hare]] as ''[[The Blue Room]]'' | + | *The Politician (Charles)(Scene V & VI) |
| - | *''Paracelsus'' (1899) | + | *The Model (Kelly) (Scene VI & VII) |
| - | *''The Green Cockatoo'' (''Der grüne Kakadu'' - 1899) | + | *The Playwright (Robert) (Scene VII & VIII) |
| - | *''The Lonely Way'' (''Der einsame Weg'' - 1904) | + | *The Actress (Scene VIII & IX) |
| - | *''Der Ruf des Lebens'' (1906) | + | *The Aristocrat (Malcolm) (Scene IX & X) |
| - | *''Countess Mizzi'' (''Komtesse Mizzi oder Der Familientag'' - 1909) | + | |
| - | *''Living Hours'' (1911) | + | Syphilis or any other sexually transmitted disease is never explicitly mentioned in either Schnitzler's original or Hare's adaptation. Scene VI contains the only reference to this when the politician is concerned about 'hygiene' having just slept with the model. |
| - | *''Young Medardus'' (''Der junge Medardus'' - 1910) | + | |
| - | *''The Vast Domain'' (''Das weite Land'' - 1911), adapted as ''Undiscovered Country'' by [[Tom Stoppard]]. | + | |
| - | *''Professor Bernhardi'' (1912) | + | |
| - | *''The Comedy of Seduction'' (''Komödie der Verführung'' - 1924) | + | |
| - | ===Novels=== | + | [[Sam Mendes]] had asked Hare to adapt Schnitzler's ''Reigen''. |
| - | *''The Road Into the Open'' (''Der Weg ins Freie'' - 1908) | + | |
| - | *''[[Therese (novel)|Therese. Chronik eines Frauenlebens]]'' (1928) | + | |
| - | ===Short stories and novellas=== | + | ''The Blue Room'' was first performed at the [[Donmar Warehouse]], London on 10 September 1998 with [[Nicole Kidman]] and [[Iain Glen]] as actors. It was directed by Mendes, designed by [[Mark Thompson]], lit by Hugh Vanstone with music by Paddy Cunneen. The production was a commercial success and later moved to the [[Cort Theatre]] in New York (with the same cast), but received mixed reviews. |
| - | *''Dying'' (''Sterben'' - 1895) | + | |
| - | *''Lieutenant Gustl'' (''Leutnant Gustl'' - 1900) | + | |
| - | *''Berta Garlan'' (1900) | + | |
| - | *''Blind Geronimo and his Brother'' (''Der blinde Geronimo und sein Bruder'' - 1902) | + | |
| - | *''The Prophecy'' (''Die Weissagung'' - 1905) | + | |
| - | *''[[Casanovas Heimfahrt|Casanova's Homecoming]]'' (''Casanovas Heimfahrt'' - 1918) | + | |
| - | *''Fräulein Else'' (1924) | + | |
| - | *''[[Dream Story]]'' (''Traumnovelle'' - 1925/26), later adapted as the film ''[[Eyes Wide Shut]]'' by American director [[Stanley Kubrick]]) | + | |
| - | *''Night Games'' (''Spiel im Morgengrauen'' - 1926) | + | |
| - | *''Flight into Darkness'' (''Flucht in die Finsternis'' - 1931) | + | |
| - | ===Nonfiction=== | + | London critic [[Charles Spencer (journalist)|Charles Spencer]]'s review for the [[Daily Telegraph]] concluded with the now iconic phrase, "It's pure theatrical Viagra."<ref>[[Daily Telegraph]], 23 September 1998. Reprinted in [[Theatre Record]] for 1998.</ref> |
| - | *''Youth in Vienna'' (''Jugend in Wien''), an autobiography published posthumously in 1968 | + | |
| - | *''Diary, 1879-1931'' | + | |
| - | Comedies of Words and Other Plays (1917) | + | |
| - | ==Publications== | + | Kidman's brief nudity, the short flash of her [[buttocks]] on a semi dark stage caused a hullabaloo and brisk ticket sales.[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,286188,00.html] Iain Glen's full frontal nudity while cartwheeling attracted far less attention.[http://www.leisuresuit.net/Webzine/articles/blue_room.shtml][http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,286188,00.html] Several reviewers commented on the best seats to view Kidman's nudity.[http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,286188,00.html][http://www.leisuresuit.net/Webzine/articles/blue_room.shtml] |
| - | * [[Theodor Reik]] ''Arthur Schnitzler als Psycholog'' (Minden, 1913) | + | |
| - | * H. B. Samuel ''Modernities'' (London, 1913) | + | |
| - | * [[James Gibbons Huneker|J. G. Huneker]] ''Ivory, Apes, and Peacocks'' (New York, 1915) | + | |
| - | * [[Ludwig Lewisohn]] ''The Modern Drama'' (New York, 1915) | + | |
| - | ==See also== | + | The 1950 movie ''[[La Ronde (1950 film)|La Ronde]]'' by [[Max Ophüls]] was based on ''Reigen'' and has influenced many stage adaptations, including ''The Blue Room''. |
| - | * [[Richard Plant]]{{GFDL}} | + | |
| + | {{GFDL}} | ||
Revision as of 20:25, 21 February 2011
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The Blue Room is a 1998 play by David Hare, adapted from Der Reigen written by Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), and more usually known as La Ronde.
Schnitzler's play
Having completed the play in 1900 Schnitzler did not intend it to be performed, even calling the series of scenes 'unprintable', he intended them to be read by friends. The play was too sexually explicit to be performed at the time. Subsequently it was read and then performed in private. Its first public performance in 1921, under the now accepted title Reigen, was closed down by the Vienna police—Schnitzler was prosecuted for obscenity.
Reigen was meant as a dramatic expose of the decadence of the Austrian society. Schnitzler, being a doctor approached the decadence of society from a medical point of view, studying the journey of Syphilis through all classes of society. The title Reigen would be best translated as 'round-dance' or 'roundelay'. This refers to the daisy chain of sexual encounters, which also determines the format of the play. It is divided into ten scenes and each scene holds two characters (always male and female) and their sexual encounter. The following scene contains one character of the previous scene and a new one. A has sex with B, B has sex with C and so on; until in the tenth scene the circle closes with J having sex with A.
Hare's adaptation
Hare's adaptation transfers the action from Vienna to 'one of the great cities of the world, in the present day'. The characters change accordingly, the soldier becomes a cab driver, the parlour maid becomes an au pair, etc...
Hare's major difference from the original piece is the idea of performing it as a two-person show. Hare states himself that he was not the first person to do so. In 1981 when the theatrical rights fell temporarily out of copyright several stage versions were crafted and performed. Otherwise Hare's adaptation is not far from the original.
The characters:
- The Girl (Irene) (Scene I & X)
- The Cab Driver (Fred) (Scene I & II)
- The Au Pair (Marie) (Scene II & III)
- The Student (Anton) (Scene III & IV)
- The Married Woman (Emma) (Scene IV & V)
- The Politician (Charles)(Scene V & VI)
- The Model (Kelly) (Scene VI & VII)
- The Playwright (Robert) (Scene VII & VIII)
- The Actress (Scene VIII & IX)
- The Aristocrat (Malcolm) (Scene IX & X)
Syphilis or any other sexually transmitted disease is never explicitly mentioned in either Schnitzler's original or Hare's adaptation. Scene VI contains the only reference to this when the politician is concerned about 'hygiene' having just slept with the model.
Sam Mendes had asked Hare to adapt Schnitzler's Reigen.
The Blue Room was first performed at the Donmar Warehouse, London on 10 September 1998 with Nicole Kidman and Iain Glen as actors. It was directed by Mendes, designed by Mark Thompson, lit by Hugh Vanstone with music by Paddy Cunneen. The production was a commercial success and later moved to the Cort Theatre in New York (with the same cast), but received mixed reviews.
London critic Charles Spencer's review for the Daily Telegraph concluded with the now iconic phrase, "It's pure theatrical Viagra."<ref>Daily Telegraph, 23 September 1998. Reprinted in Theatre Record for 1998.</ref>
Kidman's brief nudity, the short flash of her buttocks on a semi dark stage caused a hullabaloo and brisk ticket sales.[1] Iain Glen's full frontal nudity while cartwheeling attracted far less attention.[2][3] Several reviewers commented on the best seats to view Kidman's nudity.[4][5]
The 1950 movie La Ronde by Max Ophüls was based on Reigen and has influenced many stage adaptations, including The Blue Room.
