Democracy: A Play [Paperback]

Michael Frayn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0571211097 | ISBN-13: 978-0571211098 | Publication Date: November 25, 2004 | Edition: 1st

A brilliant exploration of character and conscience from the author of COPENHAGEN, set amid the tensions of 1960s Berlin

In Democracy, Michael Frayn once again creates out of the known events of twentieth-century history a drama of extraordinary urgency and subtlety, reimagining the interactions and motivations of Willy Brandt as he became chancellor of West Germany in 1966 and those of his political circle, including Günter Guillaume, a functionary who became Brandt's personal assistant-and who was eventually exposed as an East German spy in a discovery that helped force Brandt from office. But what circumstances allowed Brandt to become the first left-wing chancellor in forty years? And why, given his progressive policies, did the East German secret police feel it necessary to plant a spy in his office and risk bringing down his government?
Michael Frayn writes in his postscript to the play, "Complexity is what the play is about: the complexity of human arrangements and of human beings themselves, and the difficulties that this creates in both shaping and understanding our actions."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Frayn has been a newspaper reporter as well as a novelist, playwright, filmmaker, and translator. Among his most acclaimed works are the novel Headlong and the play Noises Off. He lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (November 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571211097
• ISBN-13: 978-0571211098
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #848,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. His novels include Towards the End of the Morning, The Trick of It and Landing on the Sun. Headlong (1999) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, while his most recent novel, Spies (2002), won the Whitbread Novel Award. His fifteen plays range from Noises Off to Copenhagen and most recently Afterlife.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Democracy: A Play, February 24, 2006

By 

Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Democracy: A Play (Paperback)

When you mention Michael Frayn's name in theatre circles, you'll likely conjure up images of his classic metatheatrical farce "Noises Off." But his recent dramatic works, including this, his current, have the potential to be more powerful, more influential and more epoch-making in the world of comtemporary theatre.

Based on the rise of Germany's first left-of-center coalition government since the Weimar Republic, headed by the legendary, painfully conflicted Willy Brandt, and his collapse in the wake of a Societ-bloc spy scandal, this play lays bare the fragility of international relations at the height of the Cold War. Structurally, it's a memory play from the point of view of the East German spy, Gunter Guillaume, with scenes shifting as his personal narrative demands. No specified set, few props, and only a handful of required light and sound cues make this a fairly easy staging.

Unless you count the actors and the director.

The director and the ten-member, all-male cast needs to research the history of divided Germany, the personalities of highly esoteric public figures, and even at one point the Norwegian language. Thankfully large portions of the information necessary to savvy the background for the play are found in a lengthy and detailed afterword, saving a great deal of headache in the creative process. But that doesn't take care of everything; these figures loom large in the history of the Twentieth Century, and recreating them on stage is work.

But the play is accessible, discussing technical aspects of German history without getting bogged down in dull repetitive detail. The characters are engaging and humanely rounded. The events happened nearly forty years ago, but they feel like they're happening right now.

This play is not for general audiences; its slow, contemplative pace and its interest in a political figure most Americans have never heard of will put of casual theatre-goers. But for dedicated fans of history, politics, and theatre, this articulate and thoughtful play will leave you with plenty to chew on long after the final curtain has wrung down.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wickedly smart, October 18, 2009

By 

John Verity (South Orange, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Democracy: A Play (Paperback)

Even as someone who doesn't often read plays, I much enjoyed this one in book form. Frayn's drama is a marvelous display of clever dialog and stage design telling a story full of intrigue and historical moment. In the back of the book, he provides a quite informative essay about the people who appear in the play - Willy Brandt, etc. - and the sources he used to create it. He explains, too, why he even bothered to write a play for English-speaking audiences about a seemingly momentary, merely locally-important scandal in 1970s West German politics. I wish I'd been able to see the New York (or London) production of this play, but reading this book offers a most entertaining and engaging alternative.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, April 7, 2005

By 

Coco Pazzo (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Democracy: A Play (Paperback)

A riveting play about the nature of representative democracies, human relationships and the cold war. Michael Frayn's best play.