Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Translator's Preface
- Dedication
- Black German
- White Mother, Black Father
- Our Roots in Cameroon
- My Father's Story
- The Human Menagerie
- School
- The Reichstag is Burning
- Circus Child
- The Death of My Father
- Berlin-Karlshorst
- Undesirable
- As an “Ethiopian” in Sweden
- On My Knees in Gratitude
- The Lord is My Shepherd
- The Nuremberg Laws
- War Begins
- Hotel Excelsior
- Munich
- Hotel Alhambra
- Cinecittà
- Münchhausen
- Thoughts Are Free
- Forced Laborer
- New Quarters
- Air Raid
- Fear, Nothing but Fear
- Aryans
- A Miracle
- Liberated! Liberated?
- The Russians
- Dosvidanya
- Victors and Non-Victors
- Mixed Feelings
- Lessons in Democracy
- Displaced Person
- A Fateful Meeting
- An Excursion
- A New Family
- Butzbach
- Disasters Big and Small
- A Job with the US Army
- A Meeting with Some “Countrymen”
- Show Business
- Reunion with My Brother and Sister
- Workless
- Theater
- Radio
- Television
- Hard Times
- In the Sanatorium
- A Poisoned Atmosphere
- An Opportunity at Last
- The Decolonization of Africa
- Studying in Paris
- A New Beginning
- The Afrika-Bulletin
- Terra Incognita
- African Relations
- In My Father's Homeland
- Officer of the Federal Intelligence Service
- A New Afro-German Community
- Experiences
- Light and Dark
- Homestory Deutschland
- A Journey to the (Still) GDR
- Back to the Theater
- Loss and Renewal
- Last Roles
- Reflecting on My Life
- Thanks
- Explanatory Notes
- Chronology of Historical Events
- Further Reading in English
Show Business
from Black German
- Frontmatter
- Table of Contents
- Translator's Preface
- Dedication
- Black German
- White Mother, Black Father
- Our Roots in Cameroon
- My Father's Story
- The Human Menagerie
- School
- The Reichstag is Burning
- Circus Child
- The Death of My Father
- Berlin-Karlshorst
- Undesirable
- As an “Ethiopian” in Sweden
- On My Knees in Gratitude
- The Lord is My Shepherd
- The Nuremberg Laws
- War Begins
- Hotel Excelsior
- Munich
- Hotel Alhambra
- Cinecittà
- Münchhausen
- Thoughts Are Free
- Forced Laborer
- New Quarters
- Air Raid
- Fear, Nothing but Fear
- Aryans
- A Miracle
- Liberated! Liberated?
- The Russians
- Dosvidanya
- Victors and Non-Victors
- Mixed Feelings
- Lessons in Democracy
- Displaced Person
- A Fateful Meeting
- An Excursion
- A New Family
- Butzbach
- Disasters Big and Small
- A Job with the US Army
- A Meeting with Some “Countrymen”
- Show Business
- Reunion with My Brother and Sister
- Workless
- Theater
- Radio
- Television
- Hard Times
- In the Sanatorium
- A Poisoned Atmosphere
- An Opportunity at Last
- The Decolonization of Africa
- Studying in Paris
- A New Beginning
- The Afrika-Bulletin
- Terra Incognita
- African Relations
- In My Father's Homeland
- Officer of the Federal Intelligence Service
- A New Afro-German Community
- Experiences
- Light and Dark
- Homestory Deutschland
- A Journey to the (Still) GDR
- Back to the Theater
- Loss and Renewal
- Last Roles
- Reflecting on My Life
- Thanks
- Explanatory Notes
- Chronology of Historical Events
- Further Reading in English
Summary
Up to then I hadn't tried to pick up on my experience with the circus and in films. It was show business that came to me. It started with a role in Sartre's play The Respectful Prostitute. Heinrich Bitsch, playwright and later the city officer for cultural affairs in Giessen, was managing the theater studio in the Amerika-Haus and producing contemporary works by French and American authors. One day, in the army canteen in Giessen, he asked me whether I would take on the role of the “Negro” in that play. There was no money in it, though, since he had practically no funding. When I told him that my small roles in films and the circus had given me some performing experience he was astounded. I accepted the offer; it would at least be a change from the boring routine of translation. The rehearsals took place in the evening and so didn't clash with my daytime work.
The production was a great success and got good reviews. Years later I acted in Konrad Wagner's production of the television version of the same play, together with Mady Rahl, Harry Mayen and Ernst Schröder. The broadcast, by the Hessian broadcasting agency Hessischer Rundfunk, won a television prize in 1957.
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- Black GermanAn Afro-German Life in the Twentieth Century By Theodor Michael, pp. 134Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2017