"Includes the plays Italian Night and Tales from the Vienna Woods Written in 1930s Europe, these plays describe the decay of a society haunted by inflation and succumbing to a rising tide of fascism. In Hampton's translation of Tales from the Vienna Woods (staged at the RNT in 1977) von Horvath portrays, with compassion and impartiality, the interplay between individual selfishness and the pressures of a society in crisis. Italian Night, in this new translation by Meredith Oakes, has a group of friends deciding to hold a republican 'Italian Night', only to discover the fascists have chosen the same day for a German Day parade."

Translated by: Christopher Hampton