Max Frisch Forum

Max Frisch

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do u know anything fire raisers

>>By babette (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:57)

help i cant do my Theatre Studies coursework!

>>By eeek (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:57)

i need info on Fire raisers but all i get is stupid book sales and old performances

>>By eeek (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:57)

His work is unusual and different , i like it!

>>By ariel (Saturday, 25 Jan 2003 12:57)

Maybe you all should realize that his intentions are stated under the title "A Learning Play Without a Lesson". This is a wonderful script but you do have to realize it is to be taken lightly.

>>By JanisJ (Tuesday, 25 Feb 2003 20:01)

to eeek, you need help?
I can help--e mail me at michael@mail.utexas.edu.

to JanisJ:
"taken lightly"?--
yeah, like, the present Irak invasive war is to be taken lightly, too!!
There's another side to that coin.

>>By michael zadora (Tuesday, 1 Apr 2003 01:41)

again, eeek, if that's you;
e mail me; I'll do your coursework for the "firebugs" drama--a pleasure indeed, and by a discussion you'll be that much better off, as the play is an exemplary instance of the form of dramaturgy that is accessible and relevant to the general world of politics, people and events . . .
my address is michael@mail.utexas.edu, or you can use hispanosuiza@hotmail.com

of course, I would benefit too, cause exchange and discussion of such a piece is mighty fine to do, and learn from.

>>By m zadora (Tuesday, 1 Apr 2003 22:37)

Ive recently been in a production of fire raisers for my A-level exam and now i need notes on the relevence of the play today, but i can't find any usefull information on Frisch,can anyone help?

>>By G-Bro (Friday, 6 Jun 2003 15:34)

Frisch is a fascinating writer, indeed. I love his examination of self and the desire to deny and avoid responsibility for that "selfhood." How much of our "self" do we deny? Are we ever really prepared to take responsibility for it in its totality?

>>By redcatdave (Sunday, 8 Jun 2003 09:13)

There's a good description here about firebugs: http://www.fkoester.de/biedermann/lehrstueck.html#TofP

But that's in German, might be a problem, I tried google's language tools, but they translated Max Frisch as "Max Freshness". Therefore I will try my own "language tools" and give my interpretation of the main points on that site: People get confronted with the destructive effects that certain developments in society can have. But, although they know about this, they do not take any action against it. You could take the rise of the power of Hitler as an example, people saw all the signs of the oncoming terror, but ignored them, following ( or not wanting to oppose) the general opinion. One could say that during WWII, many Germans "gave shelter" to Hitler as the Biedermanns gave shelter to their arsonist guests. In both cases they knew or at least could know about what their "guests" where up to. You could extend this to the current society by considering that many people do not want to take action against anti-democratic powers in our society, from whatever source these may be, when opposing such things would be not socially accepted.

The subtitle was added eleven years later, according to that review, because of Max Frisch's consciousness that it's not possible to actually influence the viewer/reader. They refer to a part of "Diary 1946-1949" where Frisch discusses his aim to raise questions by his audience, not to give answers, but realizes that people don't want unanswered questions.

Some pages in English:

Very short biography of Max Frisch, with all the main points:

http://www.fortunecity.de/lindenpark/goethe/1/frischebio.htm

Useful review of "firebugs":
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2002/2002_07_26.biederman26.html

As I am thinking of all this, I think the reason I like the work of Max Frisch is that he treats moral issues without trying to place himself on a higher moral level than others or the reader. That makes it easy to follow and accept his contemplations on almost every imaginable subject. It's a shame he seems more or less forgotten here in Holland, it was only because of a newspaper that used questions from his Diary 1966-1971 for a weekly column that I had heard from him. Since then I read several of his works (Dutch translations found in second-hand book stores), but unfortunately missed the staging of the "Biedermann play". His "Blätter aus dem Brotsack" was really an eye-opener for my view on the Swiss neutrality in WWII.

>>By pim (Sunday, 8 Jun 2003 12:08)

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