Roy Kift (born 30 January 1943) in
Bideford
Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
Toponymy
In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...
,
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, is an English writer.
Life
Roy Kift read French and
Romance studies
Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...
at the
University of Wales in Aberystwyth, graduating with a BA in 1964. Between 1965 and 1968 he followed an acting course at the
Drama Centre London
Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitue ...
. This was followed by acting seasons in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
,
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, London and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. Since 1970 he has devoted his life mainly to writing and translating theatre plays and other texts, with a few excursions in directing and acting. His works include
theatre plays,
travel guide
A guide book or travel guide is "a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists". It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying det ...
s and
children's books
A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...
. He translates from French, German and Italian into English. Amongst the best-known authors he has translated are
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
,
Goldoni,
Patrick Süskind
Patrick Süskind (; born 26 March 1949) is a German writer and screenwriter, known best for his novel '' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'', first published in 1985.
Early life
Süskind was born in Ambach, Bavaria. His father was writer and jo ...
and
Heinar Kipphardt
Heinar Kipphardt (8 March 1922 - 18 November 1982) was a German writer. He came to prominence with the documentary theatre during the 1960s.
He is best known for '' In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer'', a dramatization of the Oppenheimer securi ...
. Roy Kift contributes regular articles and criticism to the New York theatre magazine "Western European Stages".
Roy Kift was married to the social historian
Dagmar Kift and has two daughters. He currently lives in the state of
North Rhine Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabi ...
, Germany.
Prizes and awards
* 1962 1st Prize University of Wales Eisteddfod playwriting competition for ''And Betty Martin…''
* 1974 Thames Television Theatre Prize for ''Downers''
* 1981 Winner. Preis der Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft "Hilfe für Behinderte" for ''Stärker als Superman''
* 1984 Winner Competition organised by the Württembergische Staatstheater,
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, for ''Joy'' (Opera libretto. Composer: Susanne Erding)
* 1985 Literary award from the City of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
* 1987 as a radio director: Radio Play of the Year:
Howard Barker
Howard Barker (born 28 June 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter and writer of radio drama, painter, poet, and essayist writing predominantly on playwriting and the theatre. The author of an extensive body of dramatic works since the 197 ...
's ''
Scenes from an Execution
''Scenes from an Execution'' is a play by the English playwright Howard Barker. The plot revolves around a female artist's struggles against the Venetian city-state in the aftermath of the 16th century Battle of Lepanto. Although the city commiss ...
'' Radio Bremen/SWF/RIAS Berlin.
* 2013 1st prize XXIV International Theatre Festival "Bez Granic" for "Camp Comedy" (KOMEDIA OBOZOWA)
Works (selection)
Theatre plays
* 1962: ''And Betty Martin…''. (1st Prize University of Wales
Eisteddfod
In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music.
The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...
)
* 1968: ''The Continuing Tale of the Supermale''. Sheffield Playhouse
* 1970: ''Mary Mary''. Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, later European tour incl. Amsterdam and Zurich. La Mama Theater, New York
* 1971: ''Genesis''. Freehold Theatre, London
* 1974: ''Downers''. Bradford University
* 1976: ''The Complete Whole Earth Catalogue''. Royal Shakespeare Company, Donmar Theatre, London
* 1976: ''Smile for Jesus and the Cameraman''. ICA London
* 1976: ''Cakewalk''. Hampstead Theatre, London
* 1977: ''Happy and Glorious''. (co-author Patrick Barlow), Almost Free Theatre, London
* 1978: ''Land of Hope and Glory''. (co-author Patrick Barlow) Theatre Royal Stratford East
* 1980: ''Stärker als Superman.'' World Premiere: GRIPS Theatre, Berlin
* 1981: ''Stronger than Superman''. Unicorn Theatre, London (translated into 21 languages)
* 1984: ''Joy, Opera libretto''. Composer: Susanne Erding. World premiere. Kiel Opera House, Germany
* 1992: ''Dreams of Beating Time''. Holocaust play on Wilhelm Furtwängler and his former colleagues in the Theresienstadt concentration camp
* 1999: ''Camp Comedy''. (Holocaust play about Kurt Gerron and the cabaret in the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Translations: German, Polish, French. World amateur premiere, CUNY GENESEO 2003, directed by Randy Kaplan. World professional premiere, Legnica, Poland, September 2012) The production was invited to the prestigious Warsaw Theatre Meeting in April 2013 and was later awarded the Grand Prix at the XXIV "Bez Granic" International Theatre Festival in Cieszyn (Poland/Czech Republic).
* 2005: ''Cathedral of Heresies''. S. Fischer Verlag (On problems in the Roman Catholic Church)
* 2010: ''Nothing''. Stage adaptation of Janne Teller’s novel for young people. (Strident Press, GB)
* 2011: ''The True Story of Adam and Eve as personally dictated by God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth to his prophet Moses between 2.41 pm on the 28th May and 9.27 am on 3 June 1423 BC and later published in a condensed version in the Book of Genesis for the salvation of humanity''. (A three-person comedy debunking the GENESIS myth as a man-made fiction to justify an authoritarian, male-dominated world. German and English versions.)
* 2011: ''The Day God went on Facebook'', a satirical comedy in 2 Acts.(also available in German and Polish)
* 2013: ''One, Two, Free'', a play for two persons about the performance of Verdi's Requiem in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1944.
* 2015: ''Eden's Garden'', a play about Britain's refusal to help the Jews in Poland during the Second World War
* 2019: ''The Clearing'', a dramatic parable about consumer terror, climate change and human cruelty. 3 actors.
TV plays
Several TV plays for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
,
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
and
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
.
Theatre translations
From French:
* Molière's ''Don Juan''
* Molière's ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' (for the BBC)
From Italian:
* Goldoni's ''Mirandolina''. BBC
* Gozzi's ''King Stag (Il Re Cervo)''. Arts Theatre, London
From German:
* Volker Ludwig's ''Things that go Bump in the Night''. Unicorn Theatre, London
* Volker Ludwig's ''Mr Robinsons’ Party''. Tricycle theatre, London
* Volker Ludwig's ''All in Stitches''. Richmond Theatre
* Rainer Hachfeld's ''Mugnog Kids''. Unicorn Theatre
* Reiner Hachfeld's ''The Magic Granddad''. Unicorn Theatre
* Patrick Süskind's ''
Der Kontrabaß
''Der Kontrabaß'' (''The Double Bass'') is a play by Patrick Süskind. The monologue in one act premiered in 1981.
History
The manuscript of the play by Patrick Süskind dates back to 1980. The monologue in one act, the author's first work for ...
'' (''The Double Bass''). National Theatre, London (at Edinburgh Festival)
* Heinar Kipphardt's ''Brother Eichmann''. (Library Theatre, Manchester)
Other translations (selection):
Books:
* Dagmar Kift's ''The Victorian Music Hall''. Cambridge University Press
* FIFA: ''100 Years of Football''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London.
* ''Magic Places''. (English edition of the catalogue for the exhibition „Magische Orte" in Germany 2011)
Children’s book
* ''Franz, Anna und die Zechengeister''.
Klartext Verlag, Essen 1997,
Travel guides
* ''Tour the Ruhr''. 4th edition, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2011,
* ''The Wupper Valley. Wuppertal, Solingen, Remscheid and the Bergisch Land''. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2005,
* ''Düsseldorf, Aachen and the Lower Rhine''. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2008,
* ''The Complete Ruhrgebiet'' Klartext Verlag, Essen,2018.
Teaching activities
Roy Kift has lectured and taught at institutions like Tel-Aviv University, Glasgow University, the City University of New York (CUNY)in Geneseo, the Institut Francaise in London, Drama Centre London, the Fritz-Kirchhoff Theaterschule in Berlin, and the University of Cambridge (GB).
Articles and lectures on theatre
* "Getting to Grips with children’s theatre". In: ''Theatre Quarterly'', Vol X, no 39. 1981
* ''Hoping for the Unexpected: The Theatre of Peter Zadek''. In: New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 1, 1985
* ''Illusion and Reality in the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp''. In: New Theatre Quarterly, Vol 12, 1996
* Reality and Illusion in the Theresienstadt Cabaret. In: Claude Schumacher (ed.): ''Staging the Holocaust. The Shoah in drama and performance'' .Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1998, , pp. 147–168
* ''Singing in the Face of Death. A Study of Jewish Cabaret and Opera during the Holocaust''. In: Rebecca Rovit/Alvin Goldberg (eds.): ''Theatrical Performance in the Holocaust. Texts, Documents, Memoirs''. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore et al. 1999, , pp. 125–132
Film work
* 1984:
ARD. Director: ''Unter deutschen Dächern. Teure Freunde'' (a film on the English occupying force in West Berlin)
* 2006: Narrator in Ilona Ziok's documentary film ''Kurt Gerrons Karussell'' (with Ben Becker, Ute Lemper and others)
* 2015: "The Cabaret of Death" (a Polish documentary film about Jewish humour in the holocaust: director Andzej Celinski), Gold Medal New York Arts Festival 2015. Prix Italia, 2015
References
External links
Roy Kift's official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kift, Roy
1943 births
Living people
British writers