Customer Reviews

Hamlet-Machine and Other Texts for the Stage

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent collection of Muller for anyone seriously interested in theatre. The German author's remarkable work spans political changes before, during, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall and represents a pivotal time in German society and theatre. With new treatments of classical texts (like Hamlet and Medea) as well as innovative works exploring themes of devotion and sexuality (like Quartet), this collection of short plays is a great starting point for theatre enthusiasts interested in tackling Muller.

While translations of Heiner Mueller are often difficult, his plays are nonetheless fascinating. What is often lost in translation of Heiner Mueller is his play on words- the German language allows Muller to build words with fragments that themself have meaning. Also, readers of Mueller should understand that his works are commonly a vivasection of another work's theme, expanded to explore and highlight the conflict. Mueller's work draws from the writings of Shakespeare, Brecht, Kafka, and others.

Mueller's writing is political and often historical, examining relationships and conflicts from East German history.

Hamlet Machine is Mueller's best known work, though probably not his best. The other plays included in this volume are all great.

Carl Weber's traslations of Muller's works are incredibly powerful, this collection of plays is a must for any Drama Student interested in modernism, surrelism or history. Muller's works are amazing and in depth studies of present history and well worth the read (and the challenge involved in staging them).

I studied theater production in college, and the anthology of drama I had to buy for my theater history courses included the play Hamletmachine. Hamletmachine was not included in the required reading for my course, but I happened upon it one day flipping through my textbook, and fell deeply in love. If you are interested in feminism, socialism, or Brechtian theater, you will adore this book. It includes a history of Heiner Muller for beginners, interviews, and his most "influential" plays. Truthfully, I haven't read them all yet. I keep coming back to Hamletmachine, as I find it so beautiful that I read it obsessively over and over (I've even gotten Ophelia's monologue tattooed over a large chunk of my body!) It is awesome to hold this book in my hands and feel this man's energy, and learn more about him, and what moved him to create such beautiful poetry.