Franz Richard Behrens – poet, soldier, screenwriter, and journalist covering jazz, cinema and football. Born in 1895 in Brachwitz near Halle (Saale). Even as a young man, he established himself at the very forefront of the avant-garde of modern poetry.
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EXPRESSIONIST ARTILLERIST
The editor of the Expressionist magazine *Der Sturm* served as a soldier for four years during the First World War. Afterwards, he led the life of a bohemian artist in Berlin.
The ‘Expressionist Artillerist’ wrote numerous screenplays during the golden age of silent film in the 1920s. His most famous achievement was the film ‘Hamlet’, starring the Danish actress Asta Nielsen in the lead role. The film is now regarded as one of the first feminist films. Behrens did not base the screenplay on Shakespeare’s play, but drew freely on a Norwegian myth according to which Hamlet was a woman. By 1925, all trace of Franz Richards had vanished; there are very few records of him. In the post-war period, he worked as a journalist. In 1961, he found himself trapped behind the Berlin Wall.
Impoverished and almost blind, Behrens died in 1977 in the GDR, in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district – almost forgotten. Were it not for the poet Gerhard Rühm, who turned up in East Berlin in 1976.
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“Silvio Beck, who conceived the idea for this inspiring evening of theatre, also directed the production. Astrid Kohlhoff and Alexander Ernst give it their all on stage: *Expressionist Artillerist or My Best Friend Hamlet* is a fabulous collage of recitation, drama and live music.”
Andreas Montag, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
“The woman who almost single-handedly carries the evening’s performance takes on the role of Princess Hamlet. Astrid Kohlhoff not only recites expressionist poetry here, but also provides texts that explain the characters’ life journeys, plays the saxophone with great skill and gets to demonstrate her talent as a silent-film actress.”
Wolfgang Schilling, tagesschau.de
“Using all manner of instruments with keys that can be played percussively, Alexander Ernst weaves the evening’s soundscape, whilst also performing live on the accordion, trombone and electric guitar. As he evidently enjoys singing too, the odd expressionist pop song also makes its world premiere. The ever-energetic Franz Richard Behrens would probably have liked it very much.”
Wolfgang Schilling, MDR-Kultur
Dates
September 2026
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