Death and the Maiden (play)
Encyclopedia
Death and the Maiden is a 1990 play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman
. The world premiere was staged at the Royal Court Theatre
in London on 9 July 1991, directed by Lindsay Posner. It had one reading and one workshop production prior to its world premiere.
The time is the present and the place, a country that is probably Chile
but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship.
d by her captors, led by a sadistic doctor whose face she never saw. The rapist doctor played Schubert
's composition Death and the Maiden
during the act of rape; hence the play's title.
Years later, after the (also unnamed) repressive regime has fallen, Paulina lives in an isolated country house with her husband, Gerardo Escobar. When Gerardo comes back from a visit to the president, he gets a flat tire. A stranger named Dr. Miranda stops to assist him. Dr. Miranda drives Gerardo home and later in the night he returns. Paulina recognizes Miranda's voice and mannerism as that of her rapist, and takes him captive in order to put him on trial and extract a confession from him.
Unconvinced of his guilt, Gerardo acts as Roberto Miranda's lawyer and attempts to save his life. After hearing the full story of her captivity from Paulina, Gerardo formulates a confession with Roberto to appease Paulina's madness and set her free from her past.
Paulina records the entire confession and has Roberto write it out and sign it. She sends Gerardo out to get Roberto's car so he can go home. While they are alone for the last time, Paulina accuses Roberto of being unrepentant and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Throughout the play it is uncertain whether details are evidence of Roberto's guilt or Paulina's paranoia. At the end of the play it is unclear who is innocent.
A workshop production was staged and opened in Santiago, Chile
, on March 10, 1991:
Death and the Maiden had its world premiere at The Royal Court
Upstairs on July 9, 1991:
With the same cast and director, it transferred to the Mainstage at The Royal Court
on November 4, 1991.
The American Broadway
premiere of Death and the Maiden opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
on March 17, 1992, produced by Roger Berlind, Gladys Nederlander and Frederick Zollo, in association with Thom Mount and Bonnie Timmermann:
Indian premiere of Death and the Maiden (in Hindi) opened at India Habitat Centre
New Delhi on 17 th February, 2002,produced by Asmita Theatre, translation by Shalini Vatsa.
Death and the Maiden returns to London
's West End
20 years since it first premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
. The much awaited return was in 2011 at the Harold Pinter Theatre
.
A particular version of this play was held in 2010 in Haifa
, directed by Juliano Mer Khamis (who was assassinated few months later). The two main characters were played by Clara Khoury
and Saleh Bakri
.
directed a film of the work
, starring Sigourney Weaver
, Ben Kingsley
, and Stuart Wilson.
by Ariel Dorfman. The world premiere was staged at the Malmö Opera
on 20 September 2008.
Ariel Dorfman
Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
. The world premiere was staged at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London on 9 July 1991, directed by Lindsay Posner. It had one reading and one workshop production prior to its world premiere.
Characters
- Paulina Salas — around forty years old
- Gerardo Escobar — her husband, a lawyer, around forty-five
- Roberto Miranda — a doctor, around fifty
The time is the present and the place, a country that is probably Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship.
Synopsis
Paulina Salas is a former political prisoner in an unnamed Latin American country who had been rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by her captors, led by a sadistic doctor whose face she never saw. The rapist doctor played Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's composition Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden Quartet (Schubert)
The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, known as Death and the Maiden, by Franz Schubert, is one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, after the composer suffered through a serious illness and realized that he was dying, it is Schubert's testament to death...
during the act of rape; hence the play's title.
Years later, after the (also unnamed) repressive regime has fallen, Paulina lives in an isolated country house with her husband, Gerardo Escobar. When Gerardo comes back from a visit to the president, he gets a flat tire. A stranger named Dr. Miranda stops to assist him. Dr. Miranda drives Gerardo home and later in the night he returns. Paulina recognizes Miranda's voice and mannerism as that of her rapist, and takes him captive in order to put him on trial and extract a confession from him.
Unconvinced of his guilt, Gerardo acts as Roberto Miranda's lawyer and attempts to save his life. After hearing the full story of her captivity from Paulina, Gerardo formulates a confession with Roberto to appease Paulina's madness and set her free from her past.
Paulina records the entire confession and has Roberto write it out and sign it. She sends Gerardo out to get Roberto's car so he can go home. While they are alone for the last time, Paulina accuses Roberto of being unrepentant and guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Throughout the play it is uncertain whether details are evidence of Roberto's guilt or Paulina's paranoia. At the end of the play it is unclear who is innocent.
Productions
Death and the Maiden had a reading at the Institute for Contemporary Art in London on November 30, 1990:- Paulina — Penelope WiltonPenelope WiltonPenelope Alice Wilton, OBE is an English actress.-Life and career:Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant...
- Gerardo — Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
- Roberto — Jonathan HydeJonathan HydeJonathan Hyde is an Australian-born English actor, well known for his roles as J. Bruce Ismay, the managing director of the White Star Line in Titanic, Egyptologist Allen Chamberlain in The Mummy and Sam Parrish/Van Pelt, the hunter in Jumanji. He is married to the Scottish soprano Isobel Buchanan...
- Directed by Peter James
A workshop production was staged and opened in Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, on March 10, 1991:
- Paulina — Maria Elena Duvauchelle
- Gerardo — Hugo Medina
- Roberto — Tito Bustamante
- Directed by Ana Reeves
Death and the Maiden had its world premiere at The Royal Court
The Royal Court
The Royal Court is a music production crew created by producer King Logan King arrived on the scene in 2007 with the hit single "Ice Box" by Omarion , co-produced with Timbaland, which generated over 100,000 radio spins and fostered more than 15 remixes.-Omarion - 21:*"Ice Box" *"Beg For It" The...
Upstairs on July 9, 1991:
- Paulina — Juliet StevensonJuliet StevensonJuliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, CBE is an English actor of stage and screen.- Early life :Stevenson was born in Kelvedon, Essex, England, the daughter of Virginia Ruth , a teacher, and Michael Guy Stevenson, an army officer. Stevenson's father was in the army and was posted to a new place every...
- Gerardo — Bill Paterson
- Roberto — Michael ByrneMichael Byrne (actor)Michael Byrne is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris...
- Directed by Lindsay Posner
With the same cast and director, it transferred to the Mainstage at The Royal Court
The Royal Court
The Royal Court is a music production crew created by producer King Logan King arrived on the scene in 2007 with the hit single "Ice Box" by Omarion , co-produced with Timbaland, which generated over 100,000 radio spins and fostered more than 15 remixes.-Omarion - 21:*"Ice Box" *"Beg For It" The...
on November 4, 1991.
The American Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
premiere of Death and the Maiden opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 256 West 47th Street in Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was constructed as the Mansfield Theatre by the Chanin brothers in 1926. After 1933, the theatre fell into relative disuse until 1945, when Michael Myerberg...
on March 17, 1992, produced by Roger Berlind, Gladys Nederlander and Frederick Zollo, in association with Thom Mount and Bonnie Timmermann:
- Paulina — Glenn CloseGlenn CloseGlenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
- Gerardo — Richard DreyfussRichard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
- Roberto — Gene HackmanGene HackmanEugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...
- Directed by Mike NicholsMike NicholsMike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
Indian premiere of Death and the Maiden (in Hindi) opened at India Habitat Centre
India Habitat Centre
The India Habitat Centre, located in New Delhi, India, was conceived to be a catalyst relationship between individuals and institutions working in habitat related areas to increase their effectiveness...
New Delhi on 17 th February, 2002,produced by Asmita Theatre, translation by Shalini Vatsa.
Death and the Maiden returns to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
20 years since it first premiered at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
. The much awaited return was in 2011 at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Harold Pinter Theatre
The Harold Pinter Theatre formerly the Comedy Theatre until 2011, is a West End theatre, and opened on Panton Street in the City of Westminster, on 15 October 1881, as the Royal Comedy Theatre. It was designed by Thomas Verity and built in just six months in painted stone and brick. By 1884 it was...
.
- Paulina - Thandie NewtonThandie NewtonThandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
- Gerardo - Tom Goodman- Hill
- Roberto - Anthony Calf
- Directed by Jeremy Herrin
A particular version of this play was held in 2010 in Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, directed by Juliano Mer Khamis (who was assassinated few months later). The two main characters were played by Clara Khoury
Clara Khoury
Clara Khoury is an Israeli - Palestinian actress.Clara works in film, television and theater, acting in Arabic, Hebrew, English and French.- Biography :...
and Saleh Bakri
Saleh Bakri
Saleh Bakri - is a Palestinian actor. He began his career in the theater and in 2007 played in two films, The Band's Visit and Salt of this Sea thereby launching a new career...
.
Film adaptation
In 1994, Roman PolanskiRoman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
directed a film of the work
Death and the Maiden (film)
Death and the Maiden is a 1994 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play by Ariel Dorfman. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.-Plot summary:...
, starring Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
, Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, and Stuart Wilson.
Opera
An opera based on the play has been composed by Jonas Forssell with the librettoLibretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Ariel Dorfman. The world premiere was staged at the Malmö Opera
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre
Malmö Opera and Music Theatre is an opera house in Malmö, Sweden. An opera company of the same name presents seasons of opera in this house....
on 20 September 2008.