By Wolfgang Borchert, translated & adapted by Rob Walker.
A German soldier is ready to face death after the conclusion of the Second World War, but Death might not be ready for him.
Corporal Beckmann, only just returned from the Eastern Front to find his wife in bed with another man, is about to jump into the frozen River Elbe. But so unwanted is he that even the River (played here by Fenella Fielding) rejects him.
Borchert subtitled his play ‘A play that no theatre wants to perform and no audience wants to see’; in fact its first performance on German radio in 1947 was very successful and the first theatrical production followed in November of the same year, just a day after his death.
Cast:
Beckmann.........Jonathan Moore
The Other.........Anthony Ofoegbu
Road sweeper/Mad General.........Graham Crowden
River Elbe.........Fenella Fielding
God.........Hugh Dickson
Colonel.........Roger Hammond
Theatre Director.........Stephen Thorne
Girl.........Tracy-Ann Oberman
Frau Kramer.........Carolyn Jones
One-legged man.........Ioan Meredith
With David Brooks, Janet Maw, Alison Pettitt & Christopher Scott
Music by David Chilton
Directed by Jeremy Mortimer
Size 100MB. Length 109 Minutes. Bitrate 128kbps
Replies
Thank you!
Intriguing storyline. Thanks, William.