Der Besuch der alten Dame

In the organizer's words:

The Visit of the Old Lady - A Tragic Comedy - by Friedrich Dürrenmatt - Premiere on September 30, 2023 - Schauspielhaus, Großes Haus - Drama

Like an avenging angel in a Western, Claire Zachanassian returns to her native town of Güllen after decades and demands retribution for the injustice of the past: as a 17-year-old she was unintentionally pregnant and abandoned. The child's father denied everything and won the subsequent trial with the help of bribed witnesses. Humiliated and penniless, the young woman was forced to leave the city. She lost her child, became a prostitute, married a super-rich entrepreneur from the oil industry and finally became a multimillionaire herself. Her fortune enables Claire Zachanassian to launch an attack on the male clique in Güllen and act like a heroine of Greek tragedy or from a Quentin Tarantino film. First she buys up all the factories and land in the area until there is nothing left of the former prosperity. Then she offers a billion for the head of her former tormentor Alfred Ill, by now a contender for the post of mayor. The poverty in Güllen is bitter, the temptation great and humanly the willingness to get used to the inhuman.

The title role is played by Rosa Enskat. The production is directed by Laura Linnenbaum, who most recently staged "Maria Stuart," "Trauer ist das Ding mit Federn" and "Die Wand" at the Düsseldorf Schauspielhaus. She celebrates the character of Claire Zachanassian as an absolute avenger with wit and charm in a setting between Alpine Western and grotesque.