Great scene by the river

The big scene by the river is a contemporary drama by Tankred Dorst , which premiered on September 25, 1999 under the direction of Klaus Emmerich in the Allerheiligen-Hofkirche in Munich.

The German mercenary Speed ​​drives the law of the fist to extremes on a non-European theater of war .

content

At the front , on the bank of an African river, the Russian reporter Budd interviews the two German Foreign Legionnaires Speed ​​and Osso about the circumstances surrounding the shooting of their 23-year-old comrade, the poet Harko.

The Russian investigates, among others, in conversation, the trained locksmith Osso, a former GDR citizen, used to serve for years in the NVA . Speed ​​cannot be heard about himself at all, but nevertheless admits the "execution" and adds: "He [Harko] was intolerable!" Speed ​​and Osso tell the reporter that they both did it without an assignment. The two Germans, who are still in the pay of an anonymous power for a year, do not reveal any further details.

In the course of the conversations between the three men it turns out that not only was Harko, but also Osso is - regarding everyday war life - carved out of wood that is too soft. The experienced war correspondent Budd recognizes this and becomes aware of the danger that Speed ​​poses in the course of the interview. When the latter attacks the Russian - initially making his camera unusable - the reporter flees. Budd gets away with it - but not Osso. When the East German swims through the river, Speed ​​shoots him with a targeted head shot while trying to escape.

Productions

• May 2000 at the Ernst Deutsch Theater Hamburg. Director: Kai-Uwe Holsten. With Thomas Wenke as Speed, Bruno Bachem as Osso and Georg Münzel as Budd (see link Brigitte Scholz, below under “Reception”).
• December 10, 2010 at Theater Rampe Stuttgart. Re-performance of Daniel Klumpp's 2007 production.

reception

• Nothing is safe. The viewer may or may not believe the narrators Speed ​​and Osso. Roeder goes into the play in more detail and notes that the author of the prologue “The Other Aeneid ” is probably the dead poet Harko. Speed ​​probably killed Harko. Nobody could escape the war. What remains is speed.
• Brief discussion at theatertexte.de
• Brigitte Scholz on May 8, 2000 in the “ Hamburger Morgenpost ”: “Successful: Tankred Dorst's“ Big Scene on the River ”in the EDT. Truths for the wimp "

radio play

• 1999, SWR . Director: Hans Gerd Krogmann . With Christian Koerner as Osso, Jens Wawrczeck as Speed ​​and Christian Berkel as Budd.

literature

Text output

• Tankred Dorst, collaboration with Ursula Ehler: Large scene on the river. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1999 (1st edition). 74 pages, ISBN 3-518-12131-6 .
• Large scene on the river pp. 263–293 in Tankred Dorst. The joy of life and other pieces. Collaboration with Ursula Ehler . Edition 7 (content: The legend of poor Heinrich . What should we do . Harry's head . Closed because of wealth . Big scene by the river. The joy of life . Kupsch ). Epilogue: Wend Kässens. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2002 (1st edition), without ISBN, 396 pages (edition used).

Secondary literature

• Anke Roeder: “In search of the lost poet.” Pp. 70–76 in: Heinz Ludwig Arnold (Ed.): Text + kritik Issue 145: Tankred Dorst . Richard Boorberg Verlag, Munich, January 2000, ISBN 3-88377-626-2
• Gero von Wilpert : Lexicon of world literature . German Authors A-Z . Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-520-83704-8 , p. 126, left column.

Web links

• literaturhaus-stuttgart.de
• Kurhaus on the Titisee

annotation

1. ↑ ... WHO ARE THE ON THE SHORE THERE / I ASKED THE OVER THE RIVER / WANT TO GO TO THE OTHER COUNTRY ... (Quote from the edition used, p. 265, 7th Zvo)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Edition used, p. 266, 1. Zvu
2. ^ Erken bei Arnold, p. 88, left column, penultimate entry
3. ↑ Edition used, p. 266, 2nd Zvo
4. ↑ Edition used, p. 274, 6th Zvu
5. ^ Roeder bei Arnold, p. 75, 3. Zvo
6. ↑ Edition used, p. 278, 5th Zvu
7. ↑ betacity.de ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ HörDat