Franz Xaver Kroetz (; born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. ''Persistent'', ''
Farmyard'', and ''
Request Concert'', all written in 1971, are some of the works conventionally associated with Kroetz.
Kroetz is part of a generation of playwrights who modified the critical folk-piece, emphasizing in his works of the early 1970s the underside of West Germany's affluence through
realistic portrayals of the lives of the poor. He later began writing for television, which led to a wider audience. His more analytical,
Brecht-influenced plays were generally not well-received, though ''Upper Austria'' (1972) and ''The Nest'' (1974) achieved critical and commercial success. Some later works of
social realism like ''Through the Leaves'' (1976) and ''Tom Fool'' (1978) are also highly regarded.
Kroetz's plays have been translated and performed internationally.
Simon Stephens argued in 2016, "Kroetz was identifying how poverty can give rise to brutality, to cynicism, despair and fear. His plays are as resonant now as they've ever been."
Life
Kroetz was born in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and did poorly in high school. He attended an acting school in Munich and the
Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna. He worked as a day-laborer. In the late 1960s, when he was unable to enter mainstream theater, he was active in the alternative theater scene in Munich, and also wrote and acted in works of the ''Bauerntheater'' (peasant
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...
s with figures who act out stock situations).
He became a member of the German Communist Party (
DKP) in 1972,
[ leaving in May 1980] when it had negligible political influence in West Germany.
He was affiliated with Suhrkamp Verlag until 1974, with his radical politics being problematic for the publisher. Kroetz admitted in a 1978 interview to being a somewhat combative person.[ Michael Toteborg wrote in 1978 that the best-known of the early plays are ''Wildwechsel'' (''Game Crossing'' or ''Jailbait'', 1968), ''Mannersache'' (''Men's Business'', 1970), and ''Farmyard''. He said that in ''Munich Child'' "Kroetz ]ives
Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist
* Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor
* Charles Ives (1874–1954), Ame ...
a convincing political dimension to the private experiences of his characters." His plays in the 1970s portrayed people who had been rendered speechless by their own social misery. He has named Marieluise Fleißer as a major influence on his early writing, as well as Ödön von Horváth. He became famous when in 1971 the premiere of his plays ''Heimarbeit'' (translated as "House-work" or "Houseworker") and ''Hartnäckig'' (''Persistent'') were disrupted by neo-fascists. ''Houseworker'' caused controversy for containing explicit scenes.
His later plays contain less violence and sexuality, and are more influenced by Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
.[ ''Oberösterreich'' (''Upper Austria'', 1972) and ''Das Nest'' (''The Nest'', 1974) garnered popular and critical acclaim.] The former marked a shift from portraying (in Kroetz's words) the "milieu of the extreme" to portraying average people who lack pent-up frutrations and communicate more effectively. Donna L. Hoffmeister wrote that the work "was presented, according to my count, by forty different theaters between 1974 and 1976 and the play Das Nest (1974) by about twenty theaters in the 1976/77 season". In ''The Nest'', the protagonist is a truck driver. His boss orders him to dump toxic waste into a lake, thus soiling his "nest."
After the early plays, he tried writing works for television because he wanted to reach a wider audience, and his move to TV had this effect, with ''Maria Magdalena'' viewed by five to 15 million. The contemporary television fare cautioned through comedy against activism by workers, and Kroetz wished to refunction televisual ''Volkstheater'' for progressive aims. His works for television have been described as "metacritiques of the television industry" that thematize its detrimental impact on viewers. ''Das Nest'' was first produced for television in 1976, and aired in West Germany in 1979. ''Upper Austria'' was first broadcast in 1973. The broadcaster ZDF postponed ''Upper Austria'' for months due to its politics. Kroetz moved into social realism with ''Through the Leaves'' (1976) and ''Tom Fool'' (1978), the latter of which was a success. He considers ''Upper Austria'', ''The Nest'', and ''Tom Fool'' to form a trilogy.
He wrote a libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
based on his play '' Stallerhof'' (1971) for an opera of the same name which Gerd Kühr composed in 1987/88. It was premiered at the first Munich Biennale in 1988. The play was staged at the Burgtheater in 2010 by David Bösch.
In her book ''Franz Xaver Kroetz: The Construction of a Political Aesthetic'', Michelle Mattson of the Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
summarizes: Franz Xaver Kroetz – banana-cutter, hospital orderly, fledgling actor and, more significantly, Germany's most popular contemporary dramatist of the seventies and early eighties. This study, which situates Kroetz's aesthetics in a political context, focuses on four plays that mark crisis points in his development of a political aesthetic.
Kroetz wrote for the television series Tatort, ''Spiel mit Karten'' in 1980 and ''Wolf im Schafspelz'' in 2002. He is also known for his role as the gossip columnist 'Baby' Schimmerlos (roughly 'Baby Clueless') in the television series '' Kir Royal''. His income from acting made writing without financial worries possible.[Michael Schleicher]
Franz Xaver Kroetz: "Altern ist ein Massaker"
Interview, Münchner Merkur 22 February 2011
From 1992 to 2005, Kroetz was married to the actress Marie-Theres Relin. They have three children. As of 2011, Kroetz lived in the Chiemgau and on Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
.
Some of Kroetz's plays have also been translated into French and performed in France.
Style
According to Holmberg, critics "refer to Mr. Kroetz's plays as constituting a drama of the inarticulate. The hallmark of his style is to draw characters unable to find the half-word they need to express sorrow or rage."[ The early plays of Kroetz also end violently. Mel Gussow describes Kroetz as reliant on words rather than images, and quotes the playwright as having been disturbed by the "garrulity" of most theater of the same time.] Kroetz has also argued, "A dramatist must be tough on his characters. Sentimentality is a trap, and it's tempting because audiences love sentimental plays." The extreme naturalism of '' Request Concert'' has led to retrospective comparisons of it with Chantal Akerman's film '' Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (1975), and also with Marsha Norman's '' 'night, Mother'' (1983). Gautam Dasgupta has compared him to David Storey and Rainer W. Fassbinder, and also stated that his plays are "structured around cliches in the manner of Ionesco". ''Tom Fool'' has been compared to Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
's play '' The Homecoming'' for its depiction of a decomposing family.[
Susan L. Cocalis writes that early on Kroetz does not give readers a way to "locate the events on stage in a hypothetical framework and thus gain some distance to the action. He does not even bother to supply any discernible criteria for identifying the good and the evil, for in these plays a just order of the universe ..simply does not exist." She also sees Kroetz as implying that the material interests of the family unit determine the code of ]normative
Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A Norm (philosophy), norm in this sense means a standard for evaluatin ...
sexuality.[
These plays have been described as impacting audiences primarily through compassion, and after 1972 he moved to a more analytical form of political drama about broader economic issues. Kroetz has referred to the early works as "descriptive realism" and the later works as "analytic realism" or "engaged realism". ''Sterntaler'' and ''Heimat'' include film clips of workplaces, and socially critical songs by workers.][ According to Craig Decker, Kroetz in his television works dramatizes how TV can constrain viewer consciousness; the playwright hopes to create people who break away from commercial culture and act as citizens rather than consumers.] Gérard Thiériot divided his mainstream work into three phases: up to 1972, 1972–1980, and 1980 onward. ''The Nest'' has been called a morality play
The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...
, and different from most of the works in the second phase. Rolf-Peter Carl, in ''Franz Xaver Kroetz'' (1978), divides his works into those before 1972, an "experimental" phase (1972–73), and those since 1974.[
In a 1996 article about ''Bauern sterben'' (1985), Moray McGowan wrote that Bavaria's Catholicism, obstinate conservatism and distrust of modernization were emphasized as elements of Kroetz's work in the early 1970s, but that the contribution of his Bavarian identity to certain tensions in his work later became ignored.][
]
Awards
* 1972 – Deutscher Kritikerpreis
* 1974 – Hannoverscher Dramatikerpreis
* 1976 – Mülheimer Dramatikerpreis for ''Das Nest''
* 1985 – Ernst-Hoferichter-Preis
* 1995 – Bertolt-Brecht-Literaturpreis
* 1996 – Oberbayerischer Kulturpreis
* 2005 – Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...
* 2007 – Marieluise-Fleißer-Preis
* 2008 – Bayerischer Filmpreis for ''The Legend of Brandner Kaspar''
Reception
Early works
Michael Toteborg wrote that while Kroetz writes controversial content for serious purposes and "never wanted to raise himself above the characters interacting on the stage ..the question concerning the aesthetic and political worth of Kroetz's dramatic productions is debatable". Carl accused the playwright of theoretical banalities but also defends the earlier works against the playwright's later indictments. He praised '' Farmyard ''as capable of stirring audiences to social involvement, but criticized ''Men's Business'' for its ending and ''Munich Child'' for its "demagogy". Henry J. Schmidt, reviewing Carl's book on Kroetz, criticized Carl for discussing the political effectiveness of ''Men's Business'' without recourse to audience response, however, and described the ending of ''Men's Business'' as "one of Kroetz's most effective scenes".
In a review of ''Farmyard and Four Plays'' (which contains ''Farmyard'', '' Request Concert'', ''Michi's Blood'', ''Men's Business'', and the ''Men's Business'' revision ''A Man, A Dictionary''), Dasgupta billed the playwright's works as "lyrical, scathing, humane dramas".[ Jeanette R. Malkin referred to ''Farmyard'' and ''Ghost Train'' as the most important dramas of his early period.] Frank Rich wrote in a review of ''Michi's Blood'' that it is not one of Kroetz's best work, and said the playwright engages in "uncharacteristic point-making, by force-feeding his heroine .. Beckett-isms". ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'''s David Richards argued, "Unpleasant as it may be, 'Michi's Blood' is on to something about people deprived of language, purpose and the awareness of their own feelings."
Brecht-influenced works
Cocalis claimed that by 1972 Kroetz had drawn some criticism for being too repetitive or too apolitical. Works like ''Lienz – Gateway to the Dolomites'' (1972), ''Maria Magdalena'' (1972), ''Sterntaler ''(1974), ''Heimat ''(1975), and ''Agnes Bernauer'' (1976) were neither critically nor commercially successful. In ''Maria Magdalena'' Kroetz in her view struggles with his own formal idiom, and the Brechtian elements of ''Sterntaler'' and ''Heimat'' make them less powerful than previous works, akin to melodrama or soap opera. Critics of ''Agnes Bernauer'' found the heroine unconvincing and the socio-economics oversimplified.[
]
''The Nest'' (1974)
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'''s Susannah Clapp expressed a lukewarm view of ''The Nest'', describing some scenes as moving but arguing, "There is uplift at the end but the unremitting intensity takes its toll on the pace. Detail is a double-edged sword. Some of the most striking episodes stretch the patience most: there is a long sequence when a suicide attempt gradually turns to farce." In a 2001 review of Alexander Gelman's ''A Man with Connections'', about a man who is viewed by his wife as responsible for an industrial accident that harmed their son, Lyn Gardner argued that Kroetz handles a similar scenario better in ''The Nest''. In 2016, however, she said ''The Nest'' has didactic impulses and "now looks a little simplistic and old-fashioned" despite a topical environmental message.
''Through the Leaves'' (1976)
Barry V. Daniels lauded ''Through the Leaves'' as thematically "far beyond the specific naturalism of Antoine. When the generally middle class, educated audience confronts the essential matter of the play – its profound humanness – the barrier between them and the lower class characters breaks down". Reviewing a 1987 performance of ''Through the Leaves'' at the Dallas Theater Center, Jeannie M. Woods praised the play's psychological insight, calling it "a profoundly disturbing play ..Her Pollyanna attitude seems to flourish on Otto's abuse and on his inability to express his affection. ..The harsh reality is tempered both by the warmth of Martha and by grotesque comedy." Frank Rich of ''The New York Times'' wrote in 1984 that the play "is not pleasant, but it sticks like a splinter in the mind." He said that even certain impediments of the production he had attended (like Downey's English translation being relocated in Queens) did not "mute the jarring strains of roetz'sgenuinely disturbing theatrical voice."
In 2003, ''The Guardian''s Michael Billington gave a Southwark Playhouse performance four out of five stars and wrote, "What makes Kroetz an exceptional dramatist is that he links behaviour to economics." He also argued, "Without a hint of patronage or condescension, Kroetz shows how both characters are victims of circumstance." Gardner called it "a gripping but gruelling dissection of a relationship that flounders on mismatched desire, conditioned responses and the utter failure of language ..one of his best plays".
''Tom Fool'' (1978)
Mark Brown praised the playwright as understanding the 'double burden' of class and gender carried by working class women, and added that "arguably his best writing is reserved for Otto's solitary musings on his position ..The great beauty of ''Tom Fool'' is that it manages to address the politics of capitalism without a hint of polemic. Kroetz relies upon the emotional dynamics and powerful poetry that are the hallmark of great theatre".[ ''The Guardian'''s Mark Fisher gave a 2006 performance three out of five stars, praising the performances but arguing, "By showing not only the explosions but also the mundane business of clearing up, the play has a fragmented rhythm". Gardner gave a positive review to a 2007 performance, arguing that Kroetz is able to make mundane events "hypnotic"; she claimed that the majority of the play is "like watching an unstable building sway and fall in agonising slow motion." ''Tom Fool'' was described as "superb" in '' The Herald''.
]
1980s and beyond
According to Dominic Dromgoole, Kroetz was for some "the guiding light of the 1980s. For others, he was the most mind-bogglingly boring playwright history had ever thrown up."[ Arthur Holmberg of '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote in 1984 that "literary critics rank him as one of the most important of Europe's young playwrights."
The surrealistic["Kroetz, Franz Xaver." ''The Oxford Companion to German Literature''. Eds. Garland, Henry, and Mary Garland. : Oxford University Press, . Oxford Reference. Accessed 10 Jun. 2021] ''Neither Fish Nor Flesh'' (1981) was controversial, with half the audience at its Munich premiere leaving by the end of the third act.[ A reviewer for '']Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' lauded Kroetz as accurately depicting the social conditions and languages of the people portrayed. Hellmuth Karasek praised ''Bauern sterben'' (1985) in the same magazine. Discussing the same play, McGowan criticized the city-country dichotomy in which the former is depicted as soulless and the latter is glorified, though he dubbed the play "powerfully and self-consciously theatrical", saying it contains "a series of elemental, powerful images." In 1998, Angelica Fenner noted that the negative characterizations of female protagonists who choose abortion had garnered him some praise from conservative factions.
''Der Drang'' (''The Urge'', 1994), an extended version of ''Lieber Fritz''[ (''Dear Fritz'', 1971), drew controversy for its sexual content. ''Ich bin das Volk'' (''I Am the People'', 1994) garnered mixed responses.][
]
Selected plays
* ''Wildwechsel'' (''Game Crossing''), premiered in 1971 Theater Dortmund
Theater Dortmund is a theatrical organization that produces operas, Musical theatre, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Dortmund, Germany. It was founded as the Stadttheater Dortmund in 1904. Supported by the German Government, the organiz ...
* ''Heimarbeit'' (''Homeworker'' or ''Home-work''), premiered 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele
* ''Michis Blut'' (''Michi's Blood'') A Requiem in Bavarian, premiered in 1971 ''pro T München''
* ''Hartnäckig'' (''Persistent''), premiered in 1971 Münchner Kammerspiele
* ''Dolomitenstadt Lienz'' (''Lienz – Gateway to the Dolomites'') farce with song (music: Peter Zwetkoff), premiered in 1972 Schauspielhaus Bochum
* ''Männersache'' (''Men's Business''), premiered in 1972 Landestheater Darmstadt – Would later go on to become ''Durch die Blätter'' (''Through the Leaves'')
* '' Stallerhof'' (''Farmyard''), premiered in 1972 Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
* ''Globales Interesse'' (''Global Interest''), premiered in 1972 Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel
* ''Oberösterreich'' (''Upper Austria''), premiered in 1972 Städtische Bühnen Heidelberg
* ''Männersache'', 1972
* ''Wunschkonzert'' (''Request Concert''), premiered in 1973 Württembergisches Staatstheater Stuttgart
* ''Maria Magdalena'' after Friedrich Hebbel, premiered in 1973 Städtische Bühnen Heidelberg
* ''Lieber Fritz'' (''Dear Fritz''), premiered in 1975 Landestheater Darmstadt
* ''Geisterbahn'' (''Funhouse Ride''/''Ghost Train''), premiered in 1975 Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt Wien
* ''Das Nest'' (''The Nest''), premiered in 1975 Modernes Theater München
* ''Ein Mann ein Wörterbuch'' (new version of ''Männersache''), premiered in 1976 Ateliertheater am Naschmarkt Wien 1976
* ''Agnes Bernauer'', premiered in 1977 Leipziger Theater[
* ''Mensch Meier'' (''Tom Fool''), premiered in 1978, text seen in Brasil, play first performed in ]Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
* ''Der stramme Max'', premiered in 1980 Bühnen der Stadt Essen, Ruhrfestspiele
* ''Nicht Fisch nicht Fleisch'' (''Neither Fish Nor Flesh''), premiered in 1981 Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
* ''Münchner Kindl'' (''Munich Child''), premiered in 1983 ''Theater k'' in Schwabinger Bräu München
Translations
In 1976 Michael Roloff translated some of Kroetz's plays into English, namely ''Stallerhof'' (''Farmyard''), ''Michis Blut'' (''Michi's Blood''), ''Männersache'' (''Men's Business''), and ''Ein Mann ein Wörterbuch'' (''A Man a Dictionary''). Roger Downey translated ''Wunschkonzert'' (''Request Concert''), ''Durch die Blätter'' (''Through the Leaves'', the final version of ''Men's Business''), and ''Das Nest'' (''The Nest''). Some of Kroetz's plays have been performed in the United Kingdom, for example, in 2002, ''Through the Leaves'' at the Southwark Playhouse, in the United States, for example, in 1982, ''Michi's Blood'' in New York, as well as in Australia.Interview: Franz Xaver Kroetz
Theatrenotes 2009
Actor
* '' Trokadero'' (1981)
* '' Kir Royal'' (1986, TV series, 6 episodes)
* ''Der Leibwächter'' (1989, TV film)
* ' (2002, TV film)
* ' (2008)
* ' (2016, TV film)
Further reading
* Richard W. Blevins: ''Franz Xaver Kroetz. The emergence of a political playwright.'' New York u. a.: Lang 1983.
* Gérard Thiériot: ''Franz Xaver Kroetz et le nouveau théâtre populaire.'' Berne u. a.: Lang 1987. (= Contacts; 1; 4)
* Ingeborg C. Walther: ''The theater of Franz Xaver Kroetz.'' New York u.a.: Lang 1990. (= Studies in modern German literature; 40)
* Michelle Mattson (Assistant Professor of Germanic Studies, Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
): ''Franz Xaver Kroetz. The Construction of a Political Aesthetic.'' Berg 1996[
]
References
External links
...was ich fürs Theater geschrieben hab in 45 Jahren
kroetz-dramatik.de
imagi-nation.com
*
Franz, bring dich nicht um!
Interview Die Zeit
(, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles.
History
The first edition of was ...
2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroetz, Franz Xaver
1946 births
Living people
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Writers from Munich
German male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century German dramatists and playwrights
21st-century German male writers
21st-century German dramatists and playwrights
20th-century German male writers
Male actors from Munich