I Am a Camera | |
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Written by | John Van Druten Adapted from the Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood |
Characters | Christopher Isherwood Fraulein Schneider Fritz Wendel Sally Bowles Natalia Landauer Clive Mortimer Mrs. Watson-Courtneidge |
Date premiered | November 28, 1951 |
Place premiered | Empire Theatre, New York City |
Subject | An English writer living in Berlin before the rise of the Hitler regime |
Genre | Drama |
Setting | A room in Fraulein Schneider's flat in Berlin 1930 |
I Am a Camera is a 1951 Broadway play by John Van Druten [1] [2] adapted from Christopher Isherwood's 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin, which is part of The Berlin Stories. The title is a quotation taken from the novel's first page: "I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking." [3] The original production was staged by John Van Druten, with scenic and lighting design by Boris Aronson and costumes by Ellen Goldsborough. [1] It opened at the Empire Theatre in New York City on November 28, 1951 and ran for 214 performances before closing on July 12, 1952. [4]
The production was a critically acclaimed success for both Julie Harris as the insouciant Sally Bowles, winning her the first of five Tony Awards of her career for Best Leading Actress in a play, and for Marian Winters, who won both the Theatre World Award and Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play. The play also won for John Van Druten the New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best American Play (1952). [4] It also earned the famous review by Walter Kerr, "Me no Leica". [5] [6]