Editing Friedrich Dürrenmatt (section)

==Dramatic works==
Like [[Bertolt Brecht]] Dürrenmatt explored the dramatic possibilities of [[epic theatre]]. Next to Brecht he has been called its "most original theorist".<ref>{{cite book |first=Christoph |last=Siegrist |chapter=Nationalliterarische Aspekte bei Schweizer Autoren |title=Hansers Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Literatur vom 16. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart |publisher=Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag |location=Munich/Vienna |date=1986 |isbn=978-3-423-04352-6 |volume=10 |page=665 |language=de}}</ref>

When he was 26 his first play, ''It Is Written'', premiered to great controversy. The story of the play revolves around a battle between a sensation-craving cynic and a religious fanatic who takes scripture literally, all of this taking place while the city they live in is under siege. The play's opening night in April 1947 caused fights and protests in the audience. Between 1948 and 1949 Dürrenmatt wrote several segments and sketches for the [[anti-Nazi]] [[Cabaret Cornichon]] in Zürich including the short single-act grotesque play ''Der Gerettete'' (''The Rescued'').<ref name="ReteDueIlSalvato2010">[http://retedue.rsi.ch/home/networks/retedue/colpodiscena/2010/12/10/il-salvato.html ''RSI Il Salvato, di Friederich Dürrenmatt''], for [[Rete Due]], ''Colpo di scena'', December 2010</ref>

His first major success was the play ''[[Romulus the Great]]''. Set in the year A.D. 476, the play explores the last days of the [[Roman Empire]], presided over and brought about by its last emperor, [[Romulus Augustulus|Romulus]]. ''[[The Visit (play)|The Visit]]'' (''Der Besuch der alten Dame'', 1956) is a [[grotesque]] fusion of comedy and tragedy about a wealthy woman who offers the people of her hometown a fortune if they will avenge the wrongs done to her. The satirical drama ''[[The Physicists]]'' (''Die Physiker'', 1962), which deals with issues concerning science and its responsibility for dramatic and dangerous changes to the world, has also been presented in translation.

Radio plays published in English include ''Hercules in the Augean Stables'' (''Herkules und der Stall des Augias'', 1954), ''Incident at Twilight'' (''Abendstunde im Spätherbst'', 1952) and ''The Mission of the Vega'' (''Das Unternehmen der Wega'', 1954). The two late works ''Labyrinth'' and ''Turmbau zu Babel'' are a collection of unfinished ideas, stories and philosophical thoughts.