A man is not a man

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A man is not a man is a comedy by Dagmar Seifert . The world premiere took place on January 29, 1989 at the Ohnsorg Theater in Hamburg under the Low German title Een Mann is keen Mann . The Low German adaptation comes from Jürgen Pooch . In the same year, the piece was broadcast in a High German television recording in the evening program of ARD .

The play takes place in a luxury bungalow in a posh Hamburg suburb. Marie Lübbers suffers from her role as the neglected housewife because her husband Peter only thinks about business and rushes from one appointment to the next. Out of sheer desperation, Marie even called a callboy into the house. When her resolute aunt Inge comes to visit, she advises Marie not to sink into self-pity, but to take her life into her own hands. After initial hesitation, Marie embarks on this adventure. Soon she is so absorbed in it that Peter now feels himself neglected. Aunt Inge intervenes again to get the marriage ship afloat again. The action takes place over a period of about one and a half years.

people

  • Marie Lübbers : wife of a successful businessman. Unhappy in her situation as a neglected wife
  • Aunt Inge : Resolute, fun-loving aunt in her prime, who intervenes to help when her niece's life is in crisis
  • Peter Lübbers : businessman who has successfully worked his way up and forgets his private life
  • Jasmin : Cheeky housemaid of the Lübbers family, but they have a good core
  • Senator Bottermelk : Distinguished elderly gentleman who soon finds himself at Aunt Inge's side
  • Axel Christiansen : pilot who unexpectedly appears at the Lübbers one evening - and conquers Marie's heart
  • Mausi Schröder : Marie's friend, who is also in a difficult marriage
  • Sascha : Callboy, who doesn’t get much more than playing cards on Marie's job.

action

1st act

In the luxury bungalow there are two people who couldn't be more different: On the one hand the smart, attractive and perfectly styled callboy Sascha in a good mood, on the other hand the mistress of the house, Marie, in a plain dressing gown and with curlers and hairnet on the head makes a rather grumpy impression. Although Sascha tries hard to do justice to the actual tasks of a call boy, Marie does not get involved in anything more than to play Mau-Mau with him . Her goal is that her husband Peter - who only has the business on his mind and no longer contributes to the married life - comes home at the right moment, finds the callboy, ponders about it and the marriage gets all right again. But instead of Peter, Marie's resolute aunt Inge appears as an unexpected guest. While Sascha fled, Aunt Inge grasped the situation, laid the cards for her niece and gave some well-intentioned advice along the way. In addition to a small job outside the home, Marie should also get a lover, because "a man is not a man". Marie is indignant, but when Peter shows up briefly to pick something up and Marie humiliates him in front of Aunt Inge, Marie is fed up. When another unexpected visitor turns up that evening with the attractive pilot Axel Christiansen, Aunt Inge's proposal begins to bear fruit.

2nd act

A few weeks later. The housemaid Jasmin has been hired so that Marie can pursue her new life . She is still very inexperienced when it comes to working for a wealthy family and is constantly instructed by Aunt Inge, who is still staying in the house. Despite this friction, neither the cheeky Jasmin can deny a certain respect nor Aunt Inge a maternal affection for the other. Meanwhile, Marie has blossomed: She is smartly dressed and has her hair, does sports, works in a boutique and meets up with Axel regularly. One day this suddenly appears at the Lübbers' premises. Marie and Aunt Inge fear that everything will be discovered and try to save the situation. But it turns out that Axel came here on the pretext of wanting to buy the Lübbers' dinghy to take a closer look at Peter. Axel disappears again, and Peter has not noticed anything of his wife's connection to the pilot. On the contrary - in front of Axel ', as in front of other people, he spoke completely unabashedly about Marie as "my little fat one". Meanwhile, Aunt Inge forges delicate bonds with the distinguished Senator Bottermelk.

3rd act

Some time has passed. Jasmin is in love and is walking on the path of self-discovery, which she reports on Marie's friend Mausi Schröder while the two wait for Marie and Aunt Inge (who is now married to Senator Bottermelk) to return from a baptism. Mausi has the cards laid down too, and Aunt Inge prophesies that something will soon change in her unhappy marriage. After Aunt Inge, Mausi and Jasmin have left the house, Peter uses the peace and quiet to approach his wife. By now he has realized that something is wrong in his marriage, but he is choosing the wrong way to change it. He wants everything to be the same as it used to be: His wife should run the household completely herself again, be at home all the time and wear the old dressing gown because it was always "so cozy". In an emotional outburst, Marie lets him know that this is exactly what she doesn't want - in the dressing gown and with no real task she was completely unhappy and, above all, she is tired of always having to stand in the kitchen when there are guests in the house. Peter can just promise that a party service will be hired for the next big occasion before Jasmin bursts into the debate to pack her bags - Aunt Inge will send her to a fine girls' boarding school, so that from the lovely, but also somewhat cheeky girl becomes a lady, because Jasmin's new friend is Björn, of all people, Senator Bottermelk's foster child . But even after Jasmin's move out, there is no peace and quiet - when Peter tries to get closer to his wife again, he thinks of an appointment and she storms out of the house. Peter is left hurt and alone.

4th act

A few months later. Peter's birthday is coming up. Because she could not find a suitable replacement for Jasmin, Marie is once again in the kitchen herself, despite the large evening gown and party service. Nevertheless, she is doing well - she enjoys working in the boutique, and after the end of the affair with Axel, a new beau is in prospect. Peter, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be happy about his big party. While the house is filling up with guests, Aunt Inge confronts her niece. She is quite innocent. Hadn't Aunt Inge herself given the advice: "A man is not a man"? Aunt Inge admits that after a moment's hesitation, but she reminds Marie that this advice meant that all three should feel good: Marie herself as well as her husband and her lover. But Marie's current behavior is just selfish. While Marie is thinking about it, Aunt Inge gets Peter to turn the tables and pretend to be looking for a lover himself. This makes it clear to the Lübbers what mistakes they have made in the past and they start all over again. Jasmin has observed the reconciliation scene and admits how jealous she is to see the Lübbers happy together after so many years and is now a little afraid of the marriage with Björn. Whereupon Aunt Inge gives the advice "A man is not a man" - but this time there is a much more level-headed meaning behind it than with Marie some time ago.

Actor of the TV recording of the ARD

Production: Michael Koch

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerd Spiekermann: 100 Years of Ohnsorg Theater - The Hanse - Sabine Groenewold Publishers, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-434-52600-5