Franz Xaver Kroetz (German: [fʁant͡s ˈksaː.vɐ kʁœt͡s] ; born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. Persistent, Farmyard, and Request Concert, all written in 1971, are some of the works conventionally associated with Kroetz.
Kroetz is part of a generation of playwrights who modified the critical folk-piece, emphasizing in his works of the early 1970s the underside of West Germany's affluence through realistic portrayals of the lives of the poor. He later began writing for television, which led to a wider audience. His more analytical, Brecht-influenced plays were generally not well-received, though Upper Austria (1972) and The Nest (1974) achieved critical and commercial success. Some later works of social realism like Through the Leaves (1976) and Tom Fool (1978) are also highly regarded.
Kroetz's plays have been translated and performed internationally. Simon Stephens argued in 2016, "Kroetz was identifying how poverty can give rise to brutality, to cynicism, despair and fear. His plays are as resonant now as they've ever been."
2017
as Max Althammer
2016
as Otto von Wettin
2012
as Willy Kamrad
2008
as Brandner Kaspar
2002
as Pater Joachim Haspinger
2002
as Andi Urbauer
2001
as Franz Schnabel
1993
as Schiermoser
1989
as Bruno Lasky
1986
as Baby Schimmerlos
1985
as Höck
1983
as Lenz
1982
as Bruno Martens
1982
as Self
1981
as Wendelin
1980
1979
as Self
1978
as August Kühn
1973
as Self
1971
as Georg Pranger
1970
as Walter Schwarz
1970
as Toni Feistl
1970
as Karl Stadler
1967
as Hermann Sterr