''Taking Sides'' is a 1995 play by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for '' The Dresser'' (for ...

, about the post-war United States denazification investigation of the German conductor and composer

Wilhelm Furtwängler Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , ; ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is regarded as one of the greatest Symphony, symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a majo ...

on charges of having served the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

regime. Harwood drew '' inter alia'' on a detailed diary kept by Furtwängler of his interrogation sessions. Although the investigation that is the focus of the play resulted in formal charges being brought against Furtwängler, he was eventually cleared by the tribunal.

Original London production

The original

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

production was performed at the Criterion Theatre in

Piccadilly Circus Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End of London, West End in the City of Westminster. It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly. In this context, a ''List of road junctions in the Unite ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It starred Daniel Massey as Wilhelm Furtwängler and Michael Pennington as Major Steve Arnold. Massey was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in 1996 for his role as Furtwängler. Harwood was also nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. The cast had originally performed the play at the Minerva Theatre in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

, which was directed by

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 ...

. It premiered there on 18 May 1995. The play then transferred to the West End and premiered on 3 July 1995.

Broadway

When the play transferred to Broadway for a limited run in 1996,

Ed Harris Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in '' Apollo 13'' (1995), '' The Truman Show'' (1998), '' Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Awa ...

took over the role of Major Steve Arnold, and Daniel Massey reprised his award-winning role as Wilhelm Furtwängler. The first of 15 previews of the production commenced on 4 October 1996 and the show officially opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 17 October 1996. 85 performances of the play were shown before the production closed on 29 December 1996. For his performance in the role of Furtwängler, Massey was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play.

Film adaptation

In 2001, the play was adapted into a motion picture of the same name, directed by Hungarian director

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungary, Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian language, Hungarian- ...

. Harwood wrote the screenplay for the film himself. ''Taking Sides'' premiered at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on 13 September 2001 and was released to cinemas in the US and UK, on 5 September 2003 and 21 November 2003 respectively. The film stars

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

as Major Steve Arnold and Stellan Skarsgård as Furtwängler.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taking Sides (Play) 1995 plays Plays by Ronald Harwood British plays adapted into films