Kaspar and Other Plays

the story of kaspar hauser, the nineteen century autistic child discovered in germany, unable to communicate -- and of his gradual and ultimately tragic re-programming into society, as movingly told by austrian playwright peter handke. handke became something of a cult figure in the seventies and then fell into disfavor in european cultural circles during the nineties, for his support of the serbs during the bosnian conflict. a fascinating journey into the human condition as kaspar becomes self-aware; by turns dealing with physical pain amidst the panic of alienation and after learning to express himself, replacing physical hurt with emotional (shame). worthwhile reading for folk who don't require car chases in every plot.

Found on the shelves of Book World in New Haven. Seen on the stage in Chicago. And years later in Palo Alto. Read in excerpts often and in entirety every few years.I'm not sure why the play Kaspar has such a hold on me. But it thrills me. Perhaps because it points back to before my mind was stuffed with concepts. Perhaps because I sense my thoughts are in a rut. I don't know. What words to choose? What choice? I know no similar work of literature. Wonderful to see performed. Still, the theatrics are only a part of Kaspar's challenge. Why do you think as you do? How much of one's thinking is explanatory fiction? Where did the store of phrases come from? Is it helping? In some strange attachment, the play Kaspar figures deeply in my self-definition. Foolish, to let a powerful warning about language define me. I don't even think I understand it that well. But long after I have set aside many books, this one continues to challenge and amaze me.

Kaspar is the kind of play of truly incredible depth that only comes along once in a great while. In my mind it is on the same level as the tragedies of Shakespeare and the Greeks. At first glance, this is a rather pretentious play about language and language aquisition, but it runs much deeper and has all sorts of implications for all sorts of people. If you are at all interested in language, society, psychology, psycho, socio, or antho-liguistics, human development, if you have ever worked with mentally [handicapped] or autistic children, or if you are interested in what it is to be human, check out this play. One caveat, though: One reviewer commented that the play consists of two columns of text designed to be _read_ simultaneously. This is not true, the play is not meant to be read at all, it is meant to be performed. Unless you put considerable energy into penetrating the text, you will get little out of reading it without seeing it performed. The other plays in this volume are also interesting and worth checking out, although a bit self-referential to the theatre. I have heard that the translator has changed the new edition, including altering the title of "Offending the Audience" to "Public Insult" wich, to me, ruins it completely. Anyway, check out this book, but go see a performance if you can.

...goes to Peter Handke's Kaspar. I first read the play because I had been cast in the show, and frankly I thought it was another psudo-intellectual work intended only to confuse the audience with bitter attempts at meaning through poetry which, at the time, I had seen and worked on all too much of. Kaspar was different. Seven years later, I'm still reflecting on the experience I had with that text, re-reading it, discovering new things, and marveling at the genius of Peter Handke in every regard. I have never known any contemporary playwright to be so didactic yet at the same time so evocative. Most writers with this kind of material just dish out a pile of footnotes in dialogue form. Handke does neither; rather, he paints many unseen facets of profound themes surrounding socialization, language development, and object recognition, to name a few. The way Handke deals with concepts of learning and how we take a typical learning process for granted is illuminating in ways that no theory book or psychology text can offer - and shouldn't that really be the point of theatre? To offer the audience something they can't get anywhere else?This is a directors play, an actors play, even a designer's play - but most triumphantly it is Handke's play. I can think of few writers outside Shakespeare who can manage to leave so much to those producing the work while still leaving an indelible thumbprint on the final product. My only lament is that the english language is deprived of a writer of this magnitude.