Big and small

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Big and Small is a well-known play by Botho Strauss , which premiered on December 8, 1978 at the West Berlin Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer under the direction of Peter Stein (leading role: Edith Clever ). A film was made from this staging (camera: Michael Ballhaus ).

content

The protagonist of the play is a woman named Lotte, who seeks social connection but is repeatedly rejected. The piece deals with the topic of loneliness. It shows that people generally long for closeness, but are increasingly unable to maintain lasting relationships beyond casual acquaintances.

Others

The role of “The Turk”, which is in the personal inventory of the play, led to the first wave of Turkish-born actors being employed at more important German theaters. In the staging of the world premiere she was embodied by Meray Ülgen , for example . Previously, actors of Turkish origin in the Federal Republic of Germany could only be seen in small, mostly Turkish-speaking playgroups that were hardly noticed by the German public .

literature

  • Alexander von Bormann: " Big and small - existentialism without a subject? On the theatrical semiosis in Botho Strauss." In: Gerd Labroisse / Gerd Peter Knapp (ed.): Literary tradition today. Contemporary German-language literature in its relationship to tradition. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1988, pp. 201-224.
  • Franz-Josef Deiters: Drama at the moment of his fall. On the allegorization of drama in modern times. Attempt a constitution theory. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1999, pp. 257–272 (“Botho Strauss: 'Big and Small'. The Hope for the Performance of the Allegorical Form”).