Talk:Struwwelpeter

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[edit] Heinrich Hoffmann

Hello here, I came here through a link at "Hilf Mir", a song of the new Rammstein album, but either the link to the writer or the text is not correct; When clicking on Heinrich Hoffman, a nazi appears who was born in 1885, 40 years after he should have searched for a comic book...

Regards,

Torero (@ Dutch Wikipedia)

[edit] Shockheaded Peter

I have greatly shortened the treatment of the Shockheaded Peter musical, since it dominated this article, with information that was too detailed and not encyclopedic, in my judgment. If this play is really notable, then it deserves its own article. Here is the complete text:

Shockheaded Peter (SHP) is a musical entertainment based on Struwwelpeter, created and devised by Julian Bleach, Anthony Cairns, Julian Crouch, Graeme Gilmour, Tamzin Griffin, Jo Pocock, Phelim McDermott, Michael Morris and The Tiger Lillies (Martyn Jacques, Adrian Huge and Adrian Stout).
SHP combines elements of pantomime and puppetry with musical versions of the poems. Generally, the songs closely follow the text of the poems, but there are significant differences, tending towards giving the songs a much darker tone than the poems. Whereas the children in the poems only sometimes die, in the musical they all do. Fidgety Phil ends up being stabbed to death by the cutlery he throws into the air, and the bullyboys don't get dipped in black ink, instead they get their heads cut off. This makes the musical a much darker entertainment than the original book, and somewhat disturbing to younger children, but undoubtedly contributed to its huge popularity with adults.
Another difference between the book and the musical is the essentially mimed play concerning the parents of Struwwelpeter. Instead of simply being a dirty boy, Struwwelpeter is a monster of sorts, arriving as a baby brought by a stork and already sporting talon-like nails and hideous hair. In disgust, his parents eventually bury him under the floorboards of their home, where his sinister scratching eventually drives his mother to madness and his father to drink. Segments of this play are interspersed with the musical numbers, providing an element of linear plot development lacking from the songs themselves.
The entertainment is guided by an MC, the self-proclaimed "greatest actor that has ever existed", who warns the audience of the horrors to come, comments darkly on the fates of the children and adults, and generally makes a mess of things. It is, as he proclaims towards the end, "just a little bit different".
Commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds and the Hammersmith Lyric in West London, the show debuted in 1998 in Leeds before moving to London for three weeks at each theatre. The response of audience and critics led to three extended returns to the Lyric Hammersmith as well as runs in London's West End and world tours, with a slightly shorter but faster-moving show.
At the time, shows at the Lyric were not eligible for Olivier Awards, but during its first West End run in 2001, SHP was nominated for the Best Entertainment (won), Best Supporting Performance in a Musical or Entertainment (Martyn Jacques, won), Best Set Designer (Julian Crouch and Graeme Gilmour) and Best Costume Designer (Kevin Pollard) categories.
For all but one of the runs, the show featured the Tiger Lillies, an English cabaret act best known for their eccentric musical style and the falsetto voice of the lead singer Martyn Jacques, and they have a CD featuring the songs from Shockheaded Peter [1]. For the 2002 London run, the Tiger Lillies were replaced with David Thomas and Two Pale Boys with mixed results.
The main U.S. production closed on May 29, 2005, but a U.S. tour is in the works for 2006. Because of the popularity of the original book in Germany, several different productions of Shockheaded Peter have also been put on there, including at least one where Martyn Jacques' role was performed by a woman.

Joshua Davis 18:54, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

(I acknowledge that of the thousand plus theatre shows I've seen, it's my favourite, so NPOV is difficult for me.) I think it is notable enough to have a longer section - you have to be notable to win the Olivier, and this won two. On the other hand, I don't think it deserves a separate article - the book and the show are so intimately tied together. I'll have a think about how much longer to make it. Certainly the awards need mentioning, don't they? Lovingboth 21:34, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Roald Dahl influence

Does anyone have any proof for the impact of Struwwelpeter on Roald Dahl? The claim is made, but not substantiated. I'd like to know if it is true! Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 131.227.230.190 (talk) 20:11, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] St Nikolas or Agrippa?

In the version I've seen, Agrippa dips the miscreants into the ink. However, this is an English translation. Is St Nikolas in the original German? Mon Vier 09:15, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Hi, Mon Vier. The entire text is available at the German Wikisource: [2]. It is indeed Nikolas there. Joshua R. Davis 15:48, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
Thank you - in that case, I agree - best to keep as close to the original as possible. Mon Vier 17:31, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
In the German text he's called "Nikolas" and he's similar to, but definitely different from Saint Nikolas (i. e. no bishop's insignia). According to the German Wikipedia he might have been modeled after Tsar Nikolas. 87.139.81.19 11:19, 21 May 2007 (UTC)
I agree. When I originally wrote "St. Nikolas", I was making an inference. Now I have edited it down to "Nikolas". Joshua R. Davis 14:09, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Struwwelhitler-reprint-2007.jpg

Image:Struwwelhitler-reprint-2007.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:23, 30 November 2007 (UTC)