33 Variations

by Moisés Kaufman

A mother coming to terms with her daughter. A composer coming to terms with his genius. And, even though they're separated by 200 years, these two people share an obsession that might, even just for a moment, make time stand still. Drama, memory and music combine to transport you from present-day New York to nineteenth-century Austria in this extraordinary American play about passion, parenthood and the moments of beauty that can transform a life.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre

107 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2011

About the author

Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project. He is best known for writing The Laramie Project with other members of Tectonic Theater Project. He is also the author of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and 33 Variations. He was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to New York City in 1987.

Kaufman is of Romanian and Ukrainian Jewish descent. He described himself in an interview by saying "I am Venezuelan, I am Jewish, I am gay, I live in New York. I am the sum of all my cultures. I couldn’t write anything that didn’t incorporate all that I am."

Kaufman was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002. He made his Broadway directing debut in the 2004 production of I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most moving scripts I have read in recent years. Having seen it live, I wanted to read for myself how the playwright blended the music of Beethoven with the text; it is an astonishing accomplishment. Profoundly moving.

5/5

[Mackenzie Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking story about music, illness, passion and love. Uses Music to enhance and dramatize the dialouge.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came to this book (script) the opposite way of many other reviewers. I saw a brilliant, moving, and often funny production by the Little Theatre of Alexandria (VA) and yes, it included the music, played live by a gifted pianist who was on stage throughout in an alcove that was lit when he was playing. The other seven characters were brought to life in such unforgettable performances, and the text so tightly layered between Beethoven and his coterie, and the contemporary characters, that I had to purchase the book for further contemplation. If you get a chance to see the play, do not delay!

While music is the framework, the real heart of the matter is the human heart and, as the character Katherine tells us, "transfiguration" -- becoming more of what you are. Perhaps life, with its infinite variations, is the real protagonist of this drama.

[Livi Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is such a silly play lol. love the combination of really really cool, well written, moving scenes, and then goofy scenes and lines that are so silly to me. overall i like it! very anxious to see how my nazarene school will portray the above goofy scenes in the fall lol

[Angelique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Although there are a few convenient events that happen (like the nurse and the person in Bonn who ALSO knows someone with ALS!), it has some magic and possibly one to stage myself.

[Maralyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this study of how Beethoven was driven to fully explore the variant possibilities inherent in a simple composition. In fact I am aching to play the musicologist who becomes obsessed with understanding his compulsion. [The rôle was performed on Broadway by Jane Fonda.] The character's struggle with ALS and her concern for an unmarried daughter are subjects I can relate to on a very personal level, but what lifts the play into a more universal appeal is the music itself which is woven around and through the play's time-jumping scenes placed both in Beethoven's era and in contemporary America. (I discovered YouTube recordings of the Variations by a myriad of accomplished pianists which will enable the reader to get a sense of how it must have felt to experience the play in performance.) You are likely to recognize something of yourself and people you know in each of the play's characters and a lot of the show's humor plays well on paper making this a provocative and entertaining read.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moises Kaufman's 2009 play parallels the efforts of a musicologist battling ALS as she writes a radical new interpretation of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations with the composer's efforts to write those variations while coping with increasing hearing loss. Although a complicated production, there's much to recommend in the way he shapes the characters and the theatricality with which he presents their struggles.

[Claire Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find plays that juxtapose a journalist/researcher/professor explaining events to the audience with a dramatization of the historical events a little gauche. That being said, I think the integration of Beethoven's music is beautiful and helps emphasize the theme of "expanding time."

[Dara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I stumbled across this play, because I was looking for another work by the same playwright. I didn’t know we just to expect and it was an s axing interweaving of present, past, and music. A real commitment to craft, but also using that craft to convey a story about relationships.

[val · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love art that’s about loving other types of art. 💜

also katherine’s obsession with beethoven’s obsession is so meta. she’s kinda like me fr.

i can only hope my favorite artist appears to me in a hallucination on my deathbed.

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was recommended this book by a colleague and I couldn't get into it until I started playing the variations with the text. Much improved but I think it would be better seen than read

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for writing class, Pretty interesting portrayal of Beethoven.

[Pau Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful play about beethoven’s variations and a story about a mother and daughter. would want to see it in real life.

[Henry Dolgoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a powerful and beautiful story

[Zoe ⋆⭒˚.⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good, but it felt kinda flat but I think the reason for that was because I was reading the script and not watching actors show the characters emotions.

[Mir Blumanstock · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

mm it wasn’t bad, but need to see it not read it

[Anthony Roebuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10

I fear that this is my favorite play of all time. I don’t think there’s a single thing I don’t like about it. I need to perform it again.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this play very much. On the whole, it's witty, engaging, honest, and tugs at the heartstrings without begging you to feel. That said, I found it a little gimmicky in places (particularly the minuet sequence) and a little slow in others.

I suspect (and am assured by others) that it plays better on stage than it reads on the page. I hope I get the chance to find that out for myself sometime.

[Jeannie Zeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This play reminded me of Margaret Edson's Wit: both plays are about academic women who are terminally ill and have personal lessons to learn before they die. Kaufman's play deals with a musicologist who is fascinated by Beethoven's 33 variations on Diabelli's waltz. She researches Beethoven and struggles with her relationship with her grown daughter. One effort illuminates the other.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to see this show, but it MUST have the music with it. I only made it about 1/2 way through the book b/c it needs the music. I could feel Bethoven's obsession and his drive to continue to develop the variations. I quit the book b/c it was too empty without the music. MUST SEE PLAY....

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't know the Diabelli Variations very well and imagine that several of the scenes here only achieve their gull power when being staged, this is a deeply moving and insightful play about the discord and harmony of music and human relationships.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I now want to see this staged so badly. It had everything I love, the exploration of history to explain the present, overlapping of time. The ending reminded me of Arcadia in the best possible way, but is still it's striking, separate image.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The exploration of history, time, music, and relationships was interesting and beautiful. I'd love to see it staged sometime. I'm sure that the music alone would add amazing layers of complexity to the piece.

[G. Derek Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really beautiful show -- technical features [music, lights, sound, video] demanding, but not impossible. The use of space and the stage language is really amazing. Admittedly I'm kind of a sucker for 'music' shows.

[Robert Parks Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling historical mystery as a contemporary musicologist unravels the story of one of Beethoven's greatest compositions for the piano. Splendid acting roles here.

[Perry Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

both read and saw this play. Loved it. It's a fabulous piece with many layers.