Kjeld Abell (25 August 1901 - 5 March 1961) is a Danish playwright and theatrical designer. Born in Ribe, Denmark, Abell's first designs were seen in ballets directed by George Balanchine at Copenhagen's Kongelige Teater and London's Alhambra Theatre. August 25 is the 237th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (238th in leap years), with 128 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... Ribe is a municipality in south-west Denmark, in Ribe (county) on the peninsula of Jutland. ... The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ... George Balanchine (January 9 (O.S.) = January 22 (N.S.), 1904–April 30, 1983) was one of the 20th centurys foremost choreographers, and one of the founders of American ballet. ... Copenhagen (Danish: København) is the capital of Denmark, and the name of the municipality (Danish, kommune) in which it resides. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... In 1874 Leicester Square was dominated by the Alhambra Theatre. ...

Roughly the dramatic work of Abell might be divided into three phases: a) criticism of middle class conventions, b) fighting Nazism and c) criticism of post-war pessimism and urge for death. Perhaps he is the first consequent modernist among Danish playwrights with his use of a flash back Chinese box system and a growing use of symbols and parallel actions. The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Half full or half empty? Pessimism describes a general belief that things are bad, and tend to become worse; or that looks to the eventual triumph of evil over good; it contrasts with optimism, the contrary belief in the goodness and betterment of things generally. ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ...

His first play was Melodien, der blev vœk 1935, (Engl. transl. The Melody That Got Lost, 1939). The play is an expressionistic piece that utilizes non-verbal and unrealistic elements, undoubtedly inspired by ballet. The first production of this play was in 1935 in Copenhagen followed by a production a year later in London by the Arts Theatre. In this play Abell describes the life of the ”white collar worker” limited by old-fashioned conventions and it is a fantasy about the mental emancipation of “the little man”. A young, disrespectful attitude together with a both lyric and imaginative dialogue has let it remain his most popular work and some of its song lines have become classics. The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) which inspired 20th century Expressionists Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele Rehe im Walde by Franz Marc On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Arts Theatre was a small club theatre in London, England. ...

Both before and during the Nazi occupation of Denmark, Abell used his plays to protest the loss of freedom. Themes in these plays explore freedom and escapism as self-annihilation. These works include Anna Sophie Hedvig (1939, engl. transl. 1971), a defence of violence as a necessary mean against tyranny and a criticism of passive humanism, beyond any doubt inspired by the Spanish Civil War, and Dronning gaar igen (The Queen on Tour, 1943). Abell spent much of his time during the occupation in hiding due to his anti-Nazi activism. Silkeborg (1946) expresses the criticism of Danish passivity and accept of the German occupation. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Violence refers to acts —typically connotative with aggressive and criminal behaviour —which intend to cause or is causing of injury to persons, animals, or (in limited cases) property. ... A tyrant (from Greek τυραννος) is a usurper of rightful power, possessing absolute power and ruling by tyranny. ... Humanism is a broad category of active ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on our ability to determine what is right using the qualities innate to humanity, particularly rationality. ... The Spanish Civil War (July 1936–April 1939) was a conflict in which the incumbent Second Spanish Republic and political left-wing groups fought against a right-wing nationalist insurrection led by General Francisco Franco, who eventually succeeded in ousting the Republican government and establishing a dictatorship. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ...

Following the war many of his plays took on complex mystical elements. These plays include Dage paa en sky ("Days on a Cloud", 1947), Den blå pekingeser ("The Blue Pekingese", 1954), Kameliadamen ("The Lady of the Camellias", 1954 - a personal version of the drama by Dumas) and Skriget (The Scream, Engl. transl. 1961). The much debated Dage paa en Sky both takes place among the the Olympic goddesses and in the brain of a suicidal scientist, it warns against the atomic war and accuses scientists of prostituting themselves to the rulers. The even more complex Den blå pekingeser takes place in the head of a man too while his former love is threatened by death, also here the message is to break one’s isolation and to accept life. Abell died in Copenhagen. Mysticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alexandre Dumas, fils Alexandre Dumas, fils (July 27, 1824 – November 27, 1895) was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, who followed in his fathers footsteps becoming a celebrated author and playwright. ... Olympic can refer to: The Olympic Games, an international multi-sport event International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organization managing the Olympic Games Various stadiums in the world are known as Olympic Stadium Olympic Airlines, state run airline for Greece and successor to Olympic Airways Olympic Aviation, subsidiary of Greek flag... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally ending ones own life. ... Nuclear war, or atomic war, is war in which nuclear weapons are used. ...

Hailed in his prime as a fresh and humorous reformer, critic and teaser of Danish theatre and later respected for his anti-fascist attitudes Abell was after the war both accused of being a fellow traveller and criticised for being too complicated and strained. This together with his growing disappointments with the left wing partly led to isolation. However he is probably still regarded the most important new-thinker of Danish drama of the inter-war period. In European dramatic literature he has been compared to French names like Giraudoux and Anouilh. Besides he both acted as a song writer of revues and wrote some film scripts. A fellow traveller is a person who sympathizes with the beliefs of a particular organization, but does not belong to that organization. ... Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (October 29, 1882 - January 31, 1944) was a French dramatist who wrote internationally acclaimed plays. ... Jean Anouilh (June 23, 1910 – October 3, 1987) was a French dramatist. ...

Sources

• Banham, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. Oxford University Press, 1983.
• Frederick J. Marker: Kjeld Abell. Gloucester, Mass. 1976.
• Sven Møller Kristensen: Dansk litteratur 1918-1952. 2. ed. Copenhagen, 1965 (entirely in Danish)

External links

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0008538/ (filmography)