Strauss, Botho

Strauss, Botho (1944– ), German playwright, novelist, and poet, whose non-naturalistic plays scathingly attack modern materialism. After co-editing Theatre Today, 1967–70, he wrote The Hypochondriacs (1972) and Familiar Faces (1975). He then won international praise with Three Acts of Recognition (1977; NY, 1982), about relationships between people at an art gallery the day before an exhibition begins. His next play, Big and Little (1978), deals in 10 episodes with the experiences of a middle-aged bag-lady, filled with unshakeable optimism, in modern society. It was performed in New York in 1979 and in London, as Great and Small, with Glenda Jackson, in 1983. Other plays include The Park (1984; NY, 1988), in which Titania and Oberon from A Midsummer Night's Dream find themselves in a modern park; and The Tourist Guide (1986; London, 1987), set in Greece, about an affair between a female tourist guide and a middle-aged German teacher. Strauss worked with Stein at the Schaubühne, 1970–5, adapting for production such plays as Ibsen's Peer Gynt (1971) and Gorky's Summerfolk (1974); Stein also directed the world première of Big and Little there.