Andorra

A play based on a work by Max Frisch

ACTUALLY, NONE OF THE RESIDENTS OF ANDORRA HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST ANDRI, the teacher’s foster son, but he’s simply different because he’s a “Jew.” That’s why they say he has a knack for money, cowardice is in his blood, and he’s devoid of emotion. That’s just how it is with Jews. And Andri begins to believe it. He understands that different rules apply to him and that everything is always a little harder. But he does have feelings: He loves Barblin, the teacher’s daughter, and wants to marry her. But his supposed foster father forbids it. After all these years of lies, the truth must finally come to light: The teacher is Andri’s biological father, which means the two lovers are half-siblings, and Andri is by no means Jewish. But no one wants to hear that. Then fear and uncertainty spread through Andorra, for overnight, Andorra is attacked by the “Blacks.” They announce: Anyone who isn’t Jewish has nothing to fear. Andri, who isn’t Jewish, now wants to be one. All his life he’s had to put up with labels and rejection, and suddenly he is exactly what they’ve always said he was…