The joy of life (Tankred Dorst)

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The joy of life is a contemporary drama by Tankred Dorst , which premiered on January 12, 2002 under the direction of Harald Clemen at the Bonn theater.

Who killed Elfie Steinheuer? Several men at the scene of the action, a small town, were very interested in the wife of the waterworks director Ernst Steinheuer. As a literary work of art, the nebulous painting of the time does not, of course, provide a criminal investigation into the act of violence.

content

Ernst Steinheuer and his ten-year-old daughter Beatrix are waiting for the end of the choir rehearsal for Haydn's oratorio “ The Creation ”. Beatrix cannot sing. Steinheuer claims that she inherited this quality from him. That turns out to be one of Steinheuer's white lies. When he later visits Elfie's grandmother, it turns out that Steinheuer is not Beatrixen's father at all.

When the time of waiting in front of the hall door came to an end, the two Steinheuers were told by the stepping out chorus singer Elmar Griebel that Elfie was already together with the surgeon and choir singer Dr. Harry Hallwax up and away. Only the audience learns in the next two scenes that Elfie is having a fuss with the doctor. Then the stupid woman Steinheuer disappears with the mustached Karl Holzer in the forest. While looking for his wife, Steinheuer meets a few members of the choir in the “Blauer Bär” restaurant. These feign astonishment and bring the conversation to two serious killers - the poet Hermann Dechant and the waiter Bruno. In principle, Dechant does not publish anything. It is rumored that the poet killed one of his last lovers. And the waiter Bruno has enriched himself on lonely women and is sitting for it.

When Steinheuer finally discovered his wife in heat on the street at night, it was slapped in the face. Elfie does not fight back and will avoid her home in the future. The mother of two, who lost her parents early, would have to look after her little son Benni in addition to Beatrix.

As I said - Elfie can't help it. Steinheuer finds his wife in Dechant's apartment. The next scene continues with the change of men. Attorney Dr. Neuner had given Elfie his apartment key - presumably at the choir rehearsal. Of course, the willingness to pair runs towards the tête-à-tête. The lawyer gets violent during the little rendezvous.

Next, Elfie seeks the cultivated Mr. Griebel. The marriage of the elegant Hanna Griebel is broken. The woman drinks till she drops. Elfie laughs herself half-dead when Hanna's husband Elmar stands naked in front of her.

That is not enough. The nude revue continues. Elfie - meanwhile drunk - visits Dechant again and strips naked in his apartment. Dechant sends the woman away. When she hastily put on her, she forgets one of her shoes. She wants to go to Nuremberg. At the train station Elfie lets the train to Nuremberg depart and meets Elmar Griebel, who is again properly dressed. Of course she also had a relationship with this gentleman and demands a large sum of money. Griebel doesn't say anything and follows her. The next morning, the above-mentioned homicide turns out. Murder is suspected in the city.

Steinheuer admits the act and meets Bruno in the detention center. According to small-town talk, however, others in the suspect crowd appear much more suspicious than the husband; for example Dechant and Griebel. The whereabouts of the second shoe would have to be researched.

shape

The round of well-off citizens who have sexual intercourse with Elfie or who have had sexual intercourse behind them makes the piece rather confusing. A vague picture emerges from the set pieces - if at all - only towards the end of the performance. This claim can be illustrated with the example of Elmar Griebel. The gentleman must be assigned to the latter of the two sexual intercourse groups of men just mentioned. Tankred Dorst does not share the profession of the “slim, colorless person”. The Griebel couple are among the fine people of that small town. In the sixth of the 27 scenes, Frau Griebel appears correctly dressed, carefully made up and with a pearl necklace. Not only Ms. Griebel is dissatisfied with her husband. Elfie deliberately splashed Griebel's perfectly tailored jacket with red wine. Only the very attentive viewer learns about Elfie's intention, and only in scene 19 - after a number of other admirers have confused the normal viewer: Elfie demands money for sexual intercourse (see above under “Content”).

The faded in short passages from Haydn's “Creation” prove that the title is meant ironically. When Elfie is punished by her husband for straying with slaps in the face, the chorus resounds:

“... Because he has heaven and earth
Dressed in glorious splendor! "

Dorst and Ehler write: "... the picture of the world, which is sensibly arranged in all parts [,] seems like a distant dream."

The manners are rough and the tone occasionally slips into the ordinary. Elfie passes the blows received from her husband on to her own grandmother as thrusts. The events on the stage culminate in the absurd. You shoot yourself in rows and get up again in the next scene at the latest - just like that. Only Elfie really dies. Some leisure activities are also surprising. Dechant's world of living is intended to present a shimmering blue cosmos and Steinheuer is also concerned with the big bang in more detail .

Performers comment on the future of other characters in the next scene.

reception

See also

Tankred Dorst satirizes Zola's “ The Joy of Life ”.

literature

Text output

Secondary literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edition used, p. 393, last entry
  2. ↑ Dorst and Ehler in “text + kritik”, p. 3, 7. Zvo
  3. ↑ Edition used, p. 305, 4. Zvo
  4. ↑ Edition used, p. 311, 3 Zvo
  5. ↑ The Creation, Part 1, No. 10
  6. ↑ Dorst and Ehler in “text + kritik”, p. 3, 10. Zvo