Elfriede Jelinek's play Clara S. Musikalische Tragödie [Clara S.: A Musical Tragedy] premiered on 24 September 1982 at the Theater der Stadt Bonn, Germany, directed by Hans Hollmann. Critical and audience responses were mixed, a typical reaction to early Jelinek performances. The writer explores one of her central topics: the world of art in its pretensions, its connection to gender, its exploitation, and its commercialism. She expanded this theme later in Die Klavierspielerin [The Piano Player, 1983]. As in her other plays, Jelinek uses intertextuality in order to expose concepts, myths, clichés and collectively accepted ideas. She does not want to imitate life on stage: “Actors should say what no person says, because it [theater] is not life” (Theater heute 83, 102). Her protagonists produce clichés like cartoon bubbles, and the stage...
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Citation: Kraft, Helga W.. "Clara S. Musikalische Tragödie". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16878, accessed 17 December 2025.]
