SYNOPSIS
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Collaboration - Duchess Theatre
The second of two dramas to be showcased on the stage at the Duchess Theatre, Collaboration continues the theme of art and politics during the Second World War in a companion piece to Taking Sides. This time, instead of the horrors faced with being a conductor with ties to the Nazi regime, we focus on Richard Strauss and Stefan Zweig, the latter of which is very much a victim of the regime itself. The play is written by the acclaimed playwright Ronald Harwood, responsible for many hit plays and award winning movies (including both the play and the film version of Taking Sides). Together, both Collaboration and Taking Sides will display the conflict between art and the world of politics.
Collaboration takes us back in time to 1931 at a time when the Second World War is just around the corner. We meet Richard Strauss, a composer who decides to embark on a professional partnership with the writer Stefan Zweig on a worthwhile artistic endeavour. The problem lies with the shadow of the Nazi regime, for Zweig is Jewish and Hitler’s army has plans of its own.
With Michael Pennington taking on the role of Richard Strauss, Stefan Zweig will be performed by David Horovitch. He has had a long career that spans forty years and includes the role of Inspector Slack in Miss Marple, a role for which most remember him. However he has also appeared in many other television programmes and theatrical productions. For the stage he has appeared in Forty Years On, The School For Scandal and The Importance of Being Earnest amongst others, involving himself with work in the West End and for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Onscreen he has appeared in Casualty, Foyle’s War, Peak Practice, Drop The Dead Donkey and Agatha Christie’s Poirot.
Taking on the role of Stefan Zweig (as well as Major Arnold in Taking Sides), he will be working from the pen of Ronald Harwood. His previous credits include theatrical productions like The Dresser and Mahler’s Conversation with film credits such as The Pianist (awards include Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award and Best Film BAFTA), The Dresser (which was Nominated for a Best Screenplay Academy Award), Oliver Twist, Being Julia and in more recent years The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (winner of BAFTA award).
Collaboration is at the Duchess Theatre from Friday 22nd May 2009 to Saturday 29th August 2009.
