LATEST NEWS
I have just moved to Berlin and am delighted to be back in the city I first moved to some 40 years ago!

"Stronger than Superman" enjoyed a very successful Greek premiere in Athens in October 2018 and was proving a box office hit until Covid put a stop to it all shortly at the end of March 2020. The good news is that it is now being revived for yet another season 2021-2022.
Now a Russian translation has been completed, but a premiere then will depend on how the political situation develops. Whatever the case I look forward to celebrating the play's 50th anniversary in 2030 (if I'm still alive, that is!)

WELCOME!
This website will introduce you to some of the activities I am involved in as a writer and translator. I have been working in theatre since 1968 when I left Drama Centre London, where I trained as an actor. Before that I read French and Italian at the University of Wales, during which time I spent a year as a teacher in St.Etienne in the Massif Central, where I wrote a BA thesis on "Jacques Copeau, Jean Daste et La Comedie de St.Etienne". I moved to Berlin from London in 1981 after my play Stronger than Superman had opened at the GRIPS theatre.
I lived in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1989 to 2021, and during this time I wrote three travel guides, "The Wupper Valley", "Dusseldorf, Aachen and the Lower Rhine" and "Tour the Ruhr", now updated and retitled as "The Complete Ruhrgebiet". My other activities included a one-man cabaret show in German on the area, talks, lectures, theatre criticism and workshops, and in 2010 I curated an exhibition of major living European poets for the RUHR.2010 cultural capital of Europe celebrations, entitled "Europe...a poem". A German/English book was published by Klartext Verlag to accompany the exhibition which was revived in Castrop-Rauxel in 2014 as part of the town's anniversary celebrations. The book gives facsimiles of the original handwritten poems, German and English translations of all the poems, along with essays, photos and biographical details.
And to finish where I began - the theatre.
I have now completed a new tragi-comedy - in German and English - entitled "The Clearing". It needs a single setting - a clearing in a forest - and three actors (1 M around 50-60 years old, 2 F, one of whom around 60 years old or older: or 2 M, 1 F). Even better in my opinion would be to dispense with 3 actors and use a complete ensemble of all ethnic origins, genders and ages who could swap roles with every stage exit and entrance ( i.e. die and be reborn in another body) during the play, irrespective of the time scale. Although the action of the play is realistic there are seemingly illogical irritations (like different time scales for the two main characters, one of whom lives on our time scale and the other claims to have lived over millions of years, possibly in different bodies. As you might now surmise, although the play is superficially realistic, on the human level there are realistically illogical factors that allow me to explore a transcendent mythical reality, including the question of what happens to us when we die, and how best to live in preparation for a possible rebirth. I'm not talking about a Christian heaven and hell here but rather a Buddhist reality leading to nirvana. Digital technology and effects would help immensely to emphasis the basic unreality. Reader requests from innovative theatre-makers are welcome by email: roykift@googlemail.com
The Covid break has meant that I have finally given up all professional activities (apart from cultural translations which I enjoy immensely), to live a more relaxed balanced life. This includes developing my Buddhist practice with the Triratna Buddhist movement, and making the most of the rest of my life in worldly matters.

All other information about me can be found on Wikipedia (English und deutsch)