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© Barbara Klemm |
At the beginning of the 1990s, his cultural essay “Anschwellender Bocksgesang” (“Swelling Goat Song”), a critical examination of the 1968 generation, triggered a major controversy about the author’s changing political convictions.
His work as a writer has been recognised with numerous international prizes and his dramas are among the most performed in German-language theatres.
Today, Botho Strauß lives as a freelance writer in Berlin and the Uckermark and is a member of the PEN Centre of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Prizes and Awards:
- 1975 Dramatists’ Prize of the City of Hanover
- 1981 Literature Prize of the Bavarian Academy of the Fine Arts
- 1982 Mühlheim Dramatists’ Prize
- 1987 Jean Paul Prize
- 1989 Georg Büchner Prize
- 1993 Berlin Theatre Prize
- 2001 Lessing Prize
Plays
List of works – Selection

- “Schändung” (i.e., “Violation”)
Premiered at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, Paris, 2005, German premiere: Berliner Ensemble, 2006 - “Nach der Liebe beginnt ihre Geschichte” (i.e., “After Love Begins Its History”)
Premiered at the Schauspielhaus, Zurich, 2005 - "Die Eine und die Andere" (i.e., “The One and the Other”)
Premiered at the Residenztheater, Munich, 2005 - “Unerwartete Rückkehr” (i.e., “Unexpected Return”)
Premiered at the Berliner Ensemble, 2002 - “Der Narr und seine Frau heute abend in Pancomedia” (i.e., “The Fool and His Wife Tonight in Pancomedia”)
Premiered at the Schauspielhaus, Bochum, 2001 - “Lotphantasie” (i.e., “Lot Fantasy”)
Premiered at the Theater in der Josephstadt, Vienna, 1999 - “Der Kuss des Vergessens” (i.e., “The Kiss of Forgetting”)
Premiered at the Schauspielhaus, Zurich, 1998 - “Mara”, theatrical version of the poem by Robinson Jeffers
Premiered at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, 1998 - “Die Ähnlichen. Moral Interludes” (“Similitude: Moral Interludes”)
Premiered at the Theater in der Josephstadt, Vienna, 1998 - “Ithaka” (i.e., “Ithaca”)
Premiered at the Munich Kammerspiele, 1996 - “The Balance” ("Das Gleichgewicht")
Premiered at the Salzburg Festival, 1993 - “Angelas Kleider” (i.e., “Angela’s Clothes”)
Premiered at the Styrian Autumn/Vereinigte Bühnen, Graz, 1991 - “Final Chorus” ("Schlußchor")
Premiered at the Munich Kammerspiele, 1991 - “Time and the Room” ("die Zeit und das Zimmer")
Premiered at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, 1989 - “Seven Doors” ("Sieben Türen")
Premiered at the Stockholm Stadsteater, 1988 - “Visitors” ("Besucher")
Premiered at the Munich Kammerspiele, 1988 - “The Tour Guide” ("Die Fremdenführerin")
Premiered at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin, 1986 - “The Park” ("Der Park") Premiered at the Städtische Bühnen, Freiburg, 1984
- “Kalldewey, Farce”
Premiered at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, 1982 - “Big and Little” ("Groß und Klein")
Premiered at the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer, Berlin, 1978 - “Three Acts of Recognition” ("Trilogie des Wiedersehens")
Premiered at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, 1977 - "Familiar Faces Mixed Feeling" (“Bekannte Gesichter, gemischte Gefühle”)
Premiered at the Württembergisches Staatstheater, Stuttgart, 1974 - “The Hypochondriacs” (“Die Hypochonder”)
Premiered at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, 1972