A Painted Window is a relatively unknown one act play from the former East Germany. Due to Soviet repression, the author's name is unknown to this date. The play revolves around three nights where art influenced history. The first night shows Communist Leader V.I. Lenin's awakening to class conciousness as he stares at a painting yet to be identified. The scene is a monologue that can drag at times, but holds a fair amount of historical research that has been validated. The second scene involved one night in the life of Adolf Hitler. It depicts the night after he is rejected from The Vienna Art Institute. In the off-off broadway production of this play, the actor Charles Hurburt starred in the role of Adolf (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0378517/). The final scene involves a young Pope John Paul II staring at the statue Christo Invalido as a polish Museum closes around him. It enspires him to join the clergy and become a "beacon for peace" in the world.
Little of the play has been translated into english. Parts from the second monologue about art school rejection have made their way into scene books and online collections but little else. Due to the difficulty in obtaining copies of the play and the relative unpopularity of the show, only a few attempts have been made to translate it in its entierty.
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