Thomas Bernhard is widely considered to be one of the most important German playwrights in the post-war era. Highly acclaimed, he has written over twenty plays and novels and gained a reputation as one of Austria's most controversial authors. He wrote Heldenplatz in 1988 as a response to the fiftieth anniversary of the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria by Hitler's Germany. Highly controversial in Austria, the play concerns a Jewish professor who returns to Vienna after the Second World War and discovers that his fellow Austrians are as anti-semitic as ever. 'Heldenplatz' is the square in Vienna where the Austrian-born Hitler made his first speech after the Anschluss.

A well known, controversial play. Opened at the Arcola Theatre in February 2010.

About the Author
Meredith Oakes' first play, The Neighbour, was produced at the Royal National Theatre, London in 1992, and is published by Oberon Books. The Editing Process was first produced by the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1994. Her translation include The New Menoza by Lenz, Horvath's Italian Night, and Bernhard's Elizabeth II. Opera Libretti include The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit and Solid Assets.

Reviews
"""Bernhard's dialogue already evokes so stirringly and with such cliche free precision what it feels like to live in the shadow of the Holocaust"" - Robert Shore> - The Metro ""What is initially strange continues to be strange, but the sheer strangeness becomes mesmerising, and then marvellous... Deftly translated by Meredith Oakes and Andres Tierney"" - Jeremy Kingston, The Times "" - it is as much an absurdist comedy as a piece of toxic rhetoric - this is an important European play that pins down a particularly fearful moment in Austrian history with ferocious elan."" - Michael Billington, The Guardian,"



Book Information
ISBN 9781840029956
Author Thomas Bernhard
Format Paperback
Page Count 132
Imprint Oberon Books Ltd
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 130mm * 8mm