Cyril Tourneur

Cyril Tourneur (* 1575, † February 28, 1626 in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland ) was an English playwright.

Life

About life Tourneur, whose last name also appears in the spellings Turner and Turnour, little is known. He stood for long periods of time in the service of two politically influential families of the English aristocracy, the Veres and Cecil, for whom he worked in various military positions as secretary and courier in the Netherlands and probably also in France and Germany. In one of his poems he describes himself as a " soldier ". 1617 Tourneur was detained for unknown reasons in the Tower, but was released again at the instigation of Edward Cecil after a month in prison. In 1625 he took part in a naval expedition against the Spanish port of Cadiz under Cecil. On the way back broke on the ships of an epidemic and the ill, including Tourneur were placed on the naval base at Kinsale on the Irish coast on land. He died there on 28 February 1626.

Work

In 1600 he wrote the political- clerical satire The Transformed Metamorphosis, which was only rediscovered in 1872. 1607 was published anonymously The Revenger 's Tragedy, as its author Tourneur was long, but is accepted by the today that it was written by Thomas Middleton. 1611 appeared The Atheist 's Tragedy, the only remaining drama that can be attributed with certainty to Tourneur. The 1612 under Tourneur's name in the Stationer 's Register reported " tragicomedy " The Nobleman is missing, as is the play The Bellman of London, is named as the co-author Tourneur. Both The Revenger 's Tragedy and The Atheist 's Tragedy are variations of popular Tourneur's time to revenge tragedy. Stylistically and atmospheric they are close to the stage works of John Marston and John Webster.

In addition, Tourneur wrote a series of shorter poems, including a Funeral Poem in honor of Sir Francis Vere, who died in 1609 a military commander in the Eighty Years' War. In 1613 he also published an elegy on Prince Henry of Almain with the simple title Elegy.

The Revenger 's Tragedy is still played play: 1972 it was under the title " The tragedy of the Avenger " in a translation by HC Artmann listed under the direction of Claus Peymann at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus. The role of the " Sordido " was here played by Dieter Ohlendiek. Michael Urie embodied in the Culture Project 2005 " Lussurio ". The Atheist 's Tragedy is listed rare, but experienced et al, 1994 a successful staging at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Werkausgaben

• The Plays and Poems of Cyril Tourneur, ed with crit. introd. and notes by John Churton Collins, in 2 vols, London 1878 Reprint: Freeport1972.
• The Works of Cyril Tourneur, ed with introd. Allardyce Nicoll by, London 1929 Reprint: New York 1963.