The well-known painter, Oskar Kokoschka, also produced a considerable and significant body of literary work: plays, a few poems, essays and autobiographical stories. The present volume contains all his plays ( some in more than one version) and the poems, plus one short prose passage. All the pieces in this collection, apart from the play Comenius, were written in the period 1907-1918. The plays, despite Kokoschkas dislike of the term, reflect the style of Expressionism current in Germany during the period. Indeed, the early ones anticipated and, to as certain extent, helped to define Expressionism.

The author was one of the major Expressionist painters of the first half of the 20th century, and also wrote a number of plays, poems, and stories. These autobiographical writings, first written for his wife, are an intense evocation of incidents and moments which reveal his spiritual development. Translated from 'Das schriftliche Werk'.

This volume contains seven plays, written between 1906 and 1926, which demonstrate the basic forms, tenets and preoccupations of German Expressionist drama, which has been described as the forerunner of Absurdist theatre and is characterized by both visual and verbal violence. These plays, taken together, offer an excellent introduction to the entire movement. Kokoschka's "Murderer, Hope of Womankind", for example, has that strong ritualistic quality which characterizes so many other Expressionist writings, and Stramm's terrifying "Awakening" recalls the threatening absurdities of Ionesco's theatre. These plays, with their visionary elements and their timeless quality, speak as clearly to audiences today as they did at the time of their creation.